(Sketching at the tomb of Paul Cézanne)

In a week where the south of France saw many more rainy days then it usually does, our European Art Classroom crew continued to make the most out of every day.  Our Mondays and Thursdays here in Aix-En-Provence, are our only days where we truly have a set schedule. We begin the day with French class, followed by a well informed art history class by Dave.

Then we head into town on the bus as a group with Jen where we walk to our favorite Cafe, “Le Festival.” Here we partake in our literature class, where we also get to order our favorite mornings drinks. Most of us prefer Coffee with milk, or hot chocolate while a few of us enjoy freshly squeezed orange juice.

After literature, we are free to head into town for lunch and we are allowed to enjoy a few hours in Aix before heading home in the later afternoon.

On Tuesday of this week we traveled to Paul Cezanne’s “Terrain des Peintres” where we were able to paint his favorite place: Mont Ste. Victoire. He painted this beautiful mountain  72 or more times. Afterwards we picnicked, it was a truly amazing experience.

On Wednesday, we visited the Victor Vasarely museum. Vasarely is considered to be the “grandfather” of the Op art movement. Seeing his work first hand was quite cool, and you can definitely recognize how many modern illusion artists have been inspired by him. In the afternoon we were set free into Aix, where we ate lunch in smaller groups.

On Friday, we fell victim to pouring rain. We were supposed to head into the French countryside to paint, but unfortunately we could not.

The day was far from ruined though, as we visited two amazing museums in town where we got to see works from Picasso, Cezanne and so many more. When the sun began to set we headed home, where we ordered pizza and had a movie night.

Saturday and Sunday were our official days for parents weekend! Lucas’ mom and Matilda's parents made the trip to come visit us and spend the weekend with us. On Saturday we headed to a small medieval coastal town named Miramas Les Veux.

(Eating Crepes)

Here we ate lunch, visited a professional artist, and walked around town. Afterwards we visited an old Roman bridge and went wine tasting! On Sunday most of us had a relaxed day where we were allowed to have some chill time and catch up on work, while Lucas and Matilda spent the day out and about with their parents.

We had a delicious home-cooked dinner made by Ian and Sydney (couldn't find a pic, so we'll have these two instead). Yet another amazing week here in France making memories I am sure none of us will ever forget. Check back next week for more updates!

~ Patrick '19