On our last day in La Thebauderie even the tiny, 3cm, snail on the window was frowning, sad I am sure to see us go.
Just a few days before, after a lot of sorting and packing, we put everything we wanted to keep on a pallet-container to be shipped to Oregon.
I sketched flowers out the window and a view of France.
Munch, the artist, said, “I paint what I saw, not what I see,” so I did a cityscape.
On Sunday our friends had a going-away party, complete with strawberry cake. It reminded me of strawberry shortcake, one of my favorite things. These four people have become dear friends, we will surely miss them a lot.
On the last couple of days I sketched and painted, thinking of Provence where we will be in just a few days.
Tuesday morning we said our final goodbyes and headed for Étretat to see the iconic arch in the ocean.
We ended up at a hotel/spa near Monet’s garden, Domaine de la Corniche. You can tell we are living the POSH life by the cars in the lot. I will let you guess which one is our rental car.
This morning I had a much needed relaxing coffee with my morning readings. I know… who carries a press and a grinder to a hotel, je fais.
Today we had tickets to visit Monet’s garden. We were here 24 years ago with our daughter Alexis, Tricia’s sister and nieces. There were no tickets, and few other people. Today, what a change. It was like Disneyland on a busy day, the idyllic sensation was nowhere to be found. Yet I did a couple of sketches and even attracted some attention. Thank you Tricia for the photo.
We were ready for a relaxing lunch so headed back to our hotel. We had lunch outside, on the lawn, at the bistrot.
We are sitting outside on our terrace, writing, editing, listening to music. When this is done I think I will even play a bit of music myself. After the two weeks of packing and cleaning this is just what we need. Tomorrow we drive to Paris, Gare du Nord, where we turn in our rental car and get ready for our train to Annecy. Oh how I love it here.
theTravelsketcher 
Regarding the cars, I already knew which was yours by knowing our age and which car would not require contortions to get into. lol
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True, and not to mention our budget. But the thought of driving a Lamborghini is pretty nice, my old legs can still do a clutch and gas peddle.
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Yes, I still love manuals. The feeling of actually DRIVING the car is so palpable when you have a stick shift. But the contortions one has to go through to get into a supercar becomes more difficult with each passing year. Nevertheless, if given a chance I would sure do the contortions.
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This entire posting made both of us smile. The unhappy snail slowly ‘waving’ goodbye–iconic. I’m keeping that photo. What a wonderful send off for you both; good friends, good memories. Jim really, REALLY wants a piece of that strawberry cake. Your journey from Torchamp to your next destination seems to be a well earned and idyllic one. We would like to know what was on those two luncheon plates. We don’t understand….we think maybe salmon on one…maybe–I don’t know on the other. You are adventurous eaters. The photo of Travelsketcher being captured by tourists is fabulous. Perhaps they thought you were one of Monet’s descendants…? Peut-être- qui sait. ENJOY the next phase of your adventure; can’t wait to read the next chapter….! Shirley & Jim
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The entree was shrimp gyoza with mushrooms. The main was grilled fish with polenta, sorry Jim, pas du viande. When we come back let’s find strawberries and have shortcake.
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PS–The watercolor of the trees in Provence is one of my favorites. Beautiful!
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Most of the time in France people do not stop and watch when I sketch, unlike the USA. I do like chatting with folks, and of course it was very Monetesque.
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I am loving this more impressionist/abstract style. Can’t wait to get back to US where my easel and paints will be waiting.
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So hard to say goodbye.
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Wistful sigh. . . . Although I so look forward to the many times we will now have together in the PNW, I join the little snail in being sad to see you go.
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It was so cute to see him there.
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