Itinerary

Sat 15 May
Arrive Nice [pick up from airport or train station b/w 10am-12noon]
Lunch in Nice then drive to our accommodation, our house at Entrevaux about 40mins in hills behind Nice. This is our base for one week.

Entrevaux is a medieval hilltop village, one of the “Plus beaux villages de France”. It is not a tourist village, and has the boulangerie and cafe only a few metres away. From here we are at easy distance from:

• Vence and the Fondation Maeght, St Paul de Vence, Antibes and the Picasso Museum in the Chateau Grimaldi.
• Vallauris and the Madoura studio where both Picasso and Chagall worked in the pottery,
• Cagnes and Musee Renoir
• Grasse and its perfumes.
• Nice and the Musee Chagall, Musee Matisse, Museum of Contemporary Art
• Nice and the old quarter, restaurants, markets and La Promenade des Anglais.
• Castellane and the Gorges du Verdon
• Nearby hilltop villages

During our week, we will have a mix of museum visits, exploring, painting, sketching, photographing, visiting markets, restaurants, taking in the view over a glass of wine or coffee at a local cafe, practising our French with the locals.

Saturday 22 May
Drive to Castellane, through the Gorges du Verdon to Moustiers St Marie.

Stay on the mountain top, with amazing views. Dinner, bed and breakfast at le Gite de Venascle at Moustiers.

Sunday 23 May
Explore Moustiers, drive along the plateau, visiting artist studios, towards Apt in the Luberon, Provence.

Sunday 23 – Sat 29 May
Stay at a gite near Apt, a family run bed and breakfast run by chef Gilles, Isabelle and their two boys. We are treated to fabulous food every night, local fresh cuisine and local wines. This is our home for the next 6 nights, only a few kms from the villages of Roussillon, Bonnieux, Gordes, Isle sur la Sorgue, Lacoste and many more. Spend the mornings visiting nearby villages, lunch at local markets, painting on site or back at the gite.

Roussillon is famous for its natural ochres. It is full of small galleries and art shops and the perfect place to restock on art materials.

Sat 29 May
Departure from Avignon or Valence or to be negotiated.

Costs

$4,500 [land content] Nice to Avignon.

7 people maximum on tour

Included:

• Tuition by well known established artist Emmy Mavroidis [www.nyorastudio.com]
• Accommodation and breakfasts for 14 nights
• Dinners 7 nights
• All museum and gallery entries
• All travel within France in minibus
• Experienced French speaking  guide, interpreter [and potter] Jane Annois
• Introductions to artists and studios

What is not included:

Airfares, other meals.

• We have a kitty for lunches and find local markets to buy local delights to share.
• Sometimes kitty lashes out for an aperitif.
• You will need to budget for a few restaurants in the evening and spending money.
• You will need to bring some basic art materials. You can buy more in France. TBA.
• It is best to bring credit cards and debit cards to use in ATMs to withdraw cash.
• Flexibility and sense of humour most valuable.

About Jane Annois

Jane Annois has been participating in French Potters markets every year since 1997. As a French teacher and ceramic artist she began combining these two lifetime interests to form an ongoing rapport with French ceramic artists and the French countryside.

Jane has also taught ceramics at TAFE, primary and secondary schools, as artist in residence and in specialist workshops. She has been a demonstrator and guest speaker at numerous conferences in Australia and overseas, a highlight being the Australian representative at an international symposium in Amiens in France in 2001. She has exhibited her ceramic art internationally, notably in Paris in 2000, assisted by an Australia Council grant. The contacts she has made over this time, allow her to share with her fellow travellers a rare insight to French culture, and the ceramic world. Zeste French Tours offers a truly unique tour to France.

Jane has organised an exhibition of French ceramic artists in Melbourne in 2007 and a reciprocal Australian ceramic exhibition in France in 2008.