Painting & Drawing in France with Jamie & Rachel

Painting & Drawing in France 

It was the first of our art lessons and we couldn’t wait to show off our artistic talent.  With our canvases ready Dominic showed us how to draw the arrangement of flowers in the vases he had prepared. Our creative juices flowed as we focused on our masterpieces. We all agreed they looked fabulous. We even signed them like real artists! 

There was a great little market in the local town of Etaples. Everyone was keen to try and converse with the stall holders so in our best French we brought some great gifts, searching for a bargain or two! We couldn’t resist the smells of the freshly baked French bread and other produce for our lunch.

Back at the Gites we all enjoyed playing some pool and table football and games whilst putting some cool songs on the jukebox! 

 We love celebrating a birthday on one of our holidays and this time we had double celebrations! 

An amazing morning was spent at the Nausicaa Sea Life Centre. We had a fantastic time seeing sharks, sting rays and a very large manta ray who gave us an amazing display in the water. We walked through an underwater tunnel with all the sea life swimming over our head. It was amazing as we listened and learnt about their well fare and how they are looked after. It was a great experience! 

Making the most of the glorious sunshine we headed to the local seaside resort of Berck and strolled along the promenade, admiring the long stretch of the golden, sandy coastline. An ice cream was welcomed, and we all picked a variety of flavours and toppings. There was a spot of souvenir shopping as we browsed the quaint little shops.

Our second art lesson commenced as we were guided through how to paint a pig, duck, a sheep and a baby lamb. We achieved some amazing artwork, learning how to mix our colours. At the end of the session Dominic very kindly gave us a recipe book that his daughter had written, and he had illustrated. We thanked him and we were all very grateful for this special gift.

Taking advantage of this beautiful weather we enjoyed a few BBQ dinners, with everyone getting stuck in to help. Of course we couldn't resist a toasted marshmallow or two! 

It was off to Le Crotoy for our steam train experience. We brought our tickets and took our seats on the old fashioned carriages and we were soon chugging out of the station. Our relaxing scenic journey took us around Dela Baie del Somme, alongside the stunning coastline with lots of wildlife to be spotted. Arriving at our destination at St Vallery, a quaint seaside port we were able to enjoy a leisurely stroll along the estuary to the sea where we were lucky enough to see seals bobbing and swimming around. 

We still had a little time left in the day, so we visited an amazing chocolate factory where we watched the chocolatiers  demonstrate how they make some delicious chocolate treats. Luckily for us we got to sample a few of the products and we were sold! Everyone bought some gifts to take home…..well if they made it that far! 

We took a drive to  Le Touqutte, a beautiful seaside town. We set up camp and as the tide was out we had to walk quite a way down to the shore. So much fun was had splashing, jumping and swimming in the sea; the perfect way to cool down. Before the tide turned we made use of the vast sandy space and played some ball games. We then sat and enjoyed our picnic; we couldn’t resist the French bread! Relaxing in the glorious sunshine we topped up our tans.  

With a number of us being interested in war history and some knowing that their great grandfathers who had served in World War l, we were keen to visit the was cemetery at Etaples. This is the largest site where a hospital once stood during the war and contains 10,771 graves, the earliest dating from May 1915. 35 of these burial graves are unidentified. It was very peaceful and moved us all. 

What an amazing time we have had in France. We thanked our hosts Helen and Laurence for their wonderful hospitality and making us feel at home.