Chanaz France - Church by the River

Our tour guide made a wrong turn one day and discovered this off the beaten path little town.  It was a perfect place to spend a day painting and enjoying great food.  This church was probably painted by every one of us because there it sat, reflecting in the water just begging to be painted.

Lucky the cat

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I just returned from a relaxing week at our little lake house on Lake Sam Rayburn in East Texas.  Turns out a stray cat (Lucky) has adopted the place.  He now has his very own heated cat house (shown in photo) and a special food dispenser that will hopefully keep him in kibble while we're away.  Very loving and friendly fellow.  He kinda got to me! -

Hotel Au Coeur des Pres, Combloux France

This is the door at the back of our hotel leading into the spa area.  This hotel was so incredible - I felt like Heidi staying there.  From my balcony I looked out at Mont Blanc and the beautiful countryside with roaming cows listening to their cow bells!  Each room had window boxes full of blooming geraniums so looking at the back of the hotel was stunning.  (See actual photo below) Very unique and great place to stay!!

 Backside of our hotel with blooming flowers!!

St Nicholas Church, Combloux France

We stayed in Combloux, France just on the other side of the Swiss border in a wonderful hotel.  From our parking lot I could see this church which stood out among the trees.  At night it was lit up, but I couldn't paint in the dark.  Every day the mountains looked different.  With the way the sun fell or the clouds rolled by - I could have done nothing but paint the changing views of the mountains every day.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time to do that.  This little painting is from my watercolor journal.

Swiss Countryside

This is a larger painting I did of the Swiss countryside with Lake Geneva in the background.  This is also the last of my Switzerland paintings from the trip.  There wasn't a big difference between the Swiss and French Alps in the area we visited.  We were pretty much right on the Swiss/France border.  One of the things that resonated strongly with me was "clean" - the air, the towns - all very clean and pristine. 

The next series of posts will be from the French side. 

Hibiscus along the Promenade

As we walked to the Chateau in Montreux I stopped and took photos of some of the beautiful landscaping.  Had to add this one to my journal.  Great day - tired feet.

Chateau de Chillon

This is my journal entry for Chateau de Chillon in Montreux Switzerland.  We took the train from Geneva to this wonderful town.  It's known for this large Chateau, it's beautiful waterfront promenade and Freddie Mercury.  We walked the three miles along the promenade to the castle.  The walk was stunning with a full array of blooming flowers and trees.  We stopped many times to photograph the landscaping.  (That's another journal entry)  We did see the large Freddie Mercury statue along the way.  He is pretty much a hero in Switzerland.  I didn't know he'd lived there, but they totally claim him. 

Lighthouse on Lake Geneva

Since I just returned from two wonderful trips to Europe, I thought I'd share my travel journal.  The first trip was to the Swiss & French Alps.  We landed in Geneva and toured that area first.  This is a sketch of a lighthouse on the lake.  We took a boat tour later that day to get a good feel for the area.  Lucky us - perfect weather for this outing. 

David's Fishing Boat

I know I haven't posted in forever.  Decided after my last trip to Europe to get busy and post again.  This is a plein air sketch I painted at our lake house in East Texas.  We've named the place "Camp Brevell" and David loves his fishing boat.  This view was from the back porch rocking chair where we spend many hours daydreaming and watching nature.