Last week Dave proposed that I join him for a weekend escapade over in France where he was invited to play for a friend’s birthday party. It was only the evening before leaving that I realized we were heading down to the Mediterranean, up in the hills above Perpignan, just above the Spanish border, an 8 hour drive.
Dave had mentioned that his friends lived out in the country and as we winded up a mountain roads to at last pass through the small village of Trévillach, before heading off into the back hills.
We were only a half hour drive in from the Seaside, but because the area remained uninhabited after the folks who used to live there moved out a couple of generations ago (the land was not suitable for modern farming technologies), it pretty much became grazing grounds for sheep.
It has only been recently that a few old houses have been restored, but water is rare and electricity do-it yourself so as you can see from my sketches, there aren’t many neighbors.
Not that any of that prevented us from spending the weekend eating, enjoying the tasty local wines, playing music and generally having a good time. A great birthday party!
PS: I sketch with a Pentel Pocket Brush, a small brush pen with a real brush. It works well once you get used to the fact that the brush remains drier than a brush dipped into an ink jar.