JOURNAL
Spain & France 2005
Typically, you’ll find the journal from my last painting related trip here. I’m just back from a trip to Spain & France. This wasn’t exactly a painting trip, but it did provide me with the opportunity to take over 300 photos, many of which I’ll use for painting now that I’m at home. I’m not able to provide a link to my photos, but if you’d like to see all of them, I’m happy to send you an invitation to view them on my photo hosting service’s website. Send me a note at lisa@lisahartmann.com.
April 29/30, 2005
My husband and I, along with my parents, flew from Chicago to Barcelona, where we met up with our daughter Fran, who’s spent the year studying in the city.
We took off right away for the Basque country located in the northwestern part of Spain and extending up into France. It’s one of the most lush areas of Spain, and with its rolling hills/mountains and Tyrolean style architecture, it might pass for Switzerland. It’s believed that the Basques are the last of Europe’s indigenous people. They have their own language, Euskara, which has no connection to Spanish or French. The Basque region has the reputation for having some of the best food in Spain, so looked forward to that.
We arrived after dark in the tiny village of Urrotz, where we had rented a house that turned out to be right next to the church. It’s a big place built in 1922 in the traditional style of the area. Fran made a nice dinner for us, which we ate out on the terraza given it was such a warm night. We could hear bells that we thought were goat bells, but it was pitch dark so we couldn’t see anything.
Sunday, May 1
We woke up to see that the terraza overlooked a steep hillside, and that the bells belonged to cows, not goats. The church bells ring every hour (even in the wee hours of the night) twice, just in case you lose count the first time around.
Bob and I drove into the nearest town Doneztebe in a vain hope that we would find a store of some sort open. We did, however, see somebody with two loafs of fresh bread. Later we took off for San Sebastian, a rather sophisticated city seaside city on the Atlantic. Families were out everywhere on their way to Sunday lunch. We had a lunch of bacalao (salted cod), a Basque specialty, at a busy restaurant. Then we hiked up Mount Urgull nearly to the top for a good view of things.
We managed to find a grocery store open near the border with France, where many French citizens come for the cheaper liquor and cigarettes. We bought some jamon, fresh peas, and pasta for dinner that Bob and Fran prepared – and some Spanish wine, of course.
Monday, May 2
We started out the day with a hike up the rather steep hill leading above Urrotz. This is a busy farming community, and we saw several farmers along the way.
Our plan was to visit a village in France on the pilgrimage trail called Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The shortest way was up and over the Pyrenees on a very steep road with lots of switchbacks. The trip was quite lovely, and the rock ledges in the mountains near the top had an interesting turquoise color and iridescent sheen. Our destination on the Nive River was picturesque, but too touristy, so I took a lot of photos during our quick walk through. We stopped for a drink and a snack of pomme frites.
Next stop was Saint-Jean-du-Luz, a seaside French city just south of Biarritz. I liked the feel of this small city. We saw the Basque church where Louis XIV was married. In the main square we had seafood platters including two kinds of snails.
It was back to the house for late dinner. We had more bacalao, although there really wasn’t enough time to soak all of the salt out of the cod. Typically, it takes a whole day of soaking and changing the water, but it was good none the less.
Tuesday, March 3
We left for our next destination in the morning, driving northwest to France and then up to Toulouse, skirting the Pyrenees. Bob got a speeding ticket on the auto pista, so he had to slow down after that! We arrived at our bed & breakfast, Castell Rose, a lovely place with charming hosts (www.castellrose-prades.com) in a large park in Prades. We took a walk into the town which had some simple and appealing architecture that was in need of a bit of repair. We had a delicious dinner at Castell Rose made by our Swiss host Alex. It started out with an amazing charcuterie plate; our main was a nice creamed bacalao (we’ve had that before!) on toast. For dessert there was peach and meringue ice cream with fresh local strawberries.
Wednesday, March 4
After a leisurely breakfast, we began our exploration of the Pyrenees with a trip to the abbey of Saint Martin du Canigou near Casteil. There’s a steep 40 minute walk up to the abbey, which felt good after all the food we had eaten.
Then on to Villefranche on the Tet River, a really pleasant village that was quite quiet during our visit. We had lunch there and strolled through the town. Then it was back to the b&b for a nap/sketch time before we took off for a visit to Eus, a charming village built on a steep area, which appears to be an artist’s enclave.
We went in search of Les Orgues, rock formations in the shape of organ pipes, ending up in the winemaking region. The vines there are really short and stubby (especially this time of year), and we later learned they were probably grenache grapes. Unfortunately, most of the wineries were closed by the time we drove through (about 7 pm), but it was interesting to see the vineyards.
We saw the only golf course in the area, which was being developed by some Scots; it looked very rugged. There were some cute donkeys near by, as well as the ruins of a Romanesque church.
We had an excellent dinner at a local restaurant Le Jardin d’Aymeric recommended by our hosts, trying two of the regional wines.
Thursday, March 5
We said goodbye to Castell Rose and headed south for a short (2 hours in good traffic) drive to Barcelona. It turned out to be a holiday for the French, and many of them were heading south to Spain, so our trip ended up being a long one. We stopped in the Spanish city of Figueres to see Salvador Dali’s museum (along with many of the French holiday goers). It was very crowded, but definitely worth it. Dali designed the whole museum which is really like a fun house. There was much of his early work there, so it was interesting to track his development as an artist. We took a look at the separate museum area where his jewels were displayed. It was very quiet in there, and the jewels were amazing.
We arrived in Barelona and dropped off our things at the apartment we had rented in the Gracia neighborhood before heading for dinner at Senyor Parellada in the el Born neighborhood. We enjoyed a Catalan dinner with two of Fran’s friends.
Friday, March 6
We had breakfast (happily there was a bakery right next to our apartment) before heading off to the Picasso Museum. Picasso personally pulled together the work for this museum before his death. It includes a lot of his early work up until the time he became famous during his early Blue period. Then it jumps to his late series based upon Valasquez’s “Las Meninas.” It was really interesting. Out of all the tourist places we visited, the Picasso museum was one of the few times we heard people speaking English -- the place was full of Americans.
We walked through the Barrio Gotica, the oldest section of the city, and went to Fran’s favorite gelato place. We also did some shoe shopping, and took a long walk through several neighborhoods. Along the way I saw a shop window which I photographed, inspiring the dress paintings and dress form paintings on my gallery page.
Fran’s host family had invited us to dinner, which was very kind. She had told use that her host mother was an excellent cook, so we were looking forward to dinner. It was very good, beginning with a shrimp soup; salmon & leeks were served for our main, followed by a green salad. We finished with local strawberries and some Cordorniu sparkling wine.
Saturday, March 7
Our last day. This was to be our day for exploring the work of Gaudi, Barcelona’s best known architect who played an influential part in the development of the Modernista style, an offshoot of the late 19th/early 20th century Art Nouveau style. It’s often fanciful and heavily influenced by organic, natural forms. After breakfast at the apartment, our first stop was at Parc Guell commissioned as a private housing estate with Gaudi serving as the architect. Only two of the 60 planned house were planned, so it was a flop as a residential neighborhood, but very successful as a public park. Fran knew the park well as she lived nearby with her host family and often took the family dog for walk there. There were fantastic views from the top of the park.
Our next stop was the La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral begun in 1882 with Gaudi coming on board as chief architect in 1884. It’s a wild place. He spent 40 years on it before his death. Work restarted in 1926, and they are still only half done.
We did quite a bit of walking through the neighborhoods and visited another of Gaudi’s buildings -- one of his residential apartment buildings, where there was a gallery show of work inspired by Don Quixote. More walking and a second visit to the excellent gelato shop.
We had no definite plans for dinner, but went walking through the Gracia neighborhood, where we came upon a restaurant that was Argentine/Italian. (There are a lot of Italians in Argentina.) They made their own pasta, and we enjoyed our last dinner in the city very much.
Sunday, March 8
We heading out of Barcelona, saying goodbye to Fran at the train station. She was on her way to London, Prague, Amsterdam and southern Italy, and were on our way back to Chicago.
Spain & France 2005
Typically, you’ll find the journal from my last painting related trip here. I’m just back from a trip to Spain & France. This wasn’t exactly a painting trip, but it did provide me with the opportunity to take over 300 photos, many of which I’ll use for painting now that I’m at home. I’m not able to provide a link to my photos, but if you’d like to see all of them, I’m happy to send you an invitation to view them on my photo hosting service’s website. Send me a note at lisa@lisahartmann.com.
April 29/30, 2005
My husband and I, along with my parents, flew from Chicago to Barcelona, where we met up with our daughter Fran, who’s spent the year studying in the city.
We took off right away for the Basque country located in the northwestern part of Spain and extending up into France. It’s one of the most lush areas of Spain, and with its rolling hills/mountains and Tyrolean style architecture, it might pass for Switzerland. It’s believed that the Basques are the last of Europe’s indigenous people. They have their own language, Euskara, which has no connection to Spanish or French. The Basque region has the reputation for having some of the best food in Spain, so looked forward to that.
We arrived after dark in the tiny village of Urrotz, where we had rented a house that turned out to be right next to the church. It’s a big place built in 1922 in the traditional style of the area. Fran made a nice dinner for us, which we ate out on the terraza given it was such a warm night. We could hear bells that we thought were goat bells, but it was pitch dark so we couldn’t see anything.
Sunday, May 1
We woke up to see that the terraza overlooked a steep hillside, and that the bells belonged to cows, not goats. The church bells ring every hour (even in the wee hours of the night) twice, just in case you lose count the first time around.
Bob and I drove into the nearest town Doneztebe in a vain hope that we would find a store of some sort open. We did, however, see somebody with two loafs of fresh bread. Later we took off for San Sebastian, a rather sophisticated city seaside city on the Atlantic. Families were out everywhere on their way to Sunday lunch. We had a lunch of bacalao (salted cod), a Basque specialty, at a busy restaurant. Then we hiked up Mount Urgull nearly to the top for a good view of things.
We managed to find a grocery store open near the border with France, where many French citizens come for the cheaper liquor and cigarettes. We bought some jamon, fresh peas, and pasta for dinner that Bob and Fran prepared – and some Spanish wine, of course.
Monday, May 2
We started out the day with a hike up the rather steep hill leading above Urrotz. This is a busy farming community, and we saw several farmers along the way.
Our plan was to visit a village in France on the pilgrimage trail called Saint-
Next stop was Saint-
It was back to the house for late dinner. We had more bacalao, although there really wasn’t enough time to soak all of the salt out of the cod. Typically, it takes a whole day of soaking and changing the water, but it was good none the less.
Tuesday, March 3
We left for our next destination in the morning, driving northwest to France and then up to Toulouse, skirting the Pyrenees. Bob got a speeding ticket on the auto pista, so he had to slow down after that! We arrived at our bed & breakfast, Castell Rose, a lovely place with charming hosts (www.castellrose-
Wednesday, March 4
After a leisurely breakfast, we began our exploration of the Pyrenees with a trip to the abbey of Saint Martin du Canigou near Casteil. There’s a steep 40 minute walk up to the abbey, which felt good after all the food we had eaten.
Then on to Villefranche on the Tet River, a really pleasant village that was quite quiet during our visit. We had lunch there and strolled through the town. Then it was back to the b&b for a nap/sketch time before we took off for a visit to Eus, a charming village built on a steep area, which appears to be an artist’s enclave.
We went in search of Les Orgues, rock formations in the shape of organ pipes, ending up in the winemaking region. The vines there are really short and stubby (especially this time of year), and we later learned they were probably grenache grapes. Unfortunately, most of the wineries were closed by the time we drove through (about 7 pm), but it was interesting to see the vineyards.
We saw the only golf course in the area, which was being developed by some Scots; it looked very rugged. There were some cute donkeys near by, as well as the ruins of a Romanesque church.
We had an excellent dinner at a local restaurant Le Jardin d’Aymeric recommended by our hosts, trying two of the regional wines.
Thursday, March 5
We said goodbye to Castell Rose and headed south for a short (2 hours in good traffic) drive to Barcelona. It turned out to be a holiday for the French, and many of them were heading south to Spain, so our trip ended up being a long one. We stopped in the Spanish city of Figueres to see Salvador Dali’s museum (along with many of the French holiday goers). It was very crowded, but definitely worth it. Dali designed the whole museum which is really like a fun house. There was much of his early work there, so it was interesting to track his development as an artist. We took a look at the separate museum area where his jewels were displayed. It was very quiet in there, and the jewels were amazing.
We arrived in Barelona and dropped off our things at the apartment we had rented in the Gracia neighborhood before heading for dinner at Senyor Parellada in the el Born neighborhood. We enjoyed a Catalan dinner with two of Fran’s friends.
Friday, March 6
We had breakfast (happily there was a bakery right next to our apartment) before heading off to the Picasso Museum. Picasso personally pulled together the work for this museum before his death. It includes a lot of his early work up until the time he became famous during his early Blue period. Then it jumps to his late series based upon Valasquez’s “Las Meninas.” It was really interesting. Out of all the tourist places we visited, the Picasso museum was one of the few times we heard people speaking English -
We walked through the Barrio Gotica, the oldest section of the city, and went to Fran’s favorite gelato place. We also did some shoe shopping, and took a long walk through several neighborhoods. Along the way I saw a shop window which I photographed, inspiring the dress paintings and dress form paintings on my gallery page.
Fran’s host family had invited us to dinner, which was very kind. She had told use that her host mother was an excellent cook, so we were looking forward to dinner. It was very good, beginning with a shrimp soup; salmon & leeks were served for our main, followed by a green salad. We finished with local strawberries and some Cordorniu sparkling wine.
Saturday, March 7
Our last day. This was to be our day for exploring the work of Gaudi, Barcelona’s best known architect who played an influential part in the development of the Modernista style, an offshoot of the late 19th/early 20th century Art Nouveau style. It’s often fanciful and heavily influenced by organic, natural forms. After breakfast at the apartment, our first stop was at Parc Guell commissioned as a private housing estate with Gaudi serving as the architect. Only two of the 60 planned house were planned, so it was a flop as a residential neighborhood, but very successful as a public park. Fran knew the park well as she lived nearby with her host family and often took the family dog for walk there. There were fantastic views from the top of the park.
Our next stop was the La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral begun in 1882 with Gaudi coming on board as chief architect in 1884. It’s a wild place. He spent 40 years on it before his death. Work restarted in 1926, and they are still only half done.
We did quite a bit of walking through the neighborhoods and visited another of Gaudi’s buildings -
We had no definite plans for dinner, but went walking through the Gracia neighborhood, where we came upon a restaurant that was Argentine/Italian. (There are a lot of Italians in Argentina.) They made their own pasta, and we enjoyed our last dinner in the city very much.
Sunday, March 8
We heading out of Barcelona, saying goodbye to Fran at the train station. She was on her way to London, Prague, Amsterdam and southern Italy, and were on our way back to Chicago.
Urrotz, a tiny village in the Basque
region of Spain.
region of Spain.
The beautiful Basque countryside. Up above Urrotz.
San Sebastian
Saint-Jean-Pied-du-Port on the Nive River.
Two gentlemen in the Prades square.
The Castell Rose b& b in Prades, France.
Villefranche, France
My interpretation of a house in Eus, France
The priory at the Bacelona cathedral
Gelato!
Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
Lately, I’ve been taking a lot of photos of storefronts that catch my attention. Here’s a painting of some dresses based upon a shop window I saw in an upscale shopping area of Barcelona.