Thought I'd better do an update before I headed off to Lyon for Christmas. I had the greatest day last Friday. I was invited to learn the traditional art of weaving baskets with willow. Denis is a friend of the couple that I am renting the house from in Eyment. I met Denis and his wife the week before and we struck a deal that I would help Denis with his English and he would help me with my French. Denis is part of an association dedicated to keeping the traditional art of Bouyricou alive. I was so fortunate to be invited to join him and another woman and learn this art. I never caught on to knitting to I was a little concerned that this would be really difficult. It is difficult. You need to have dexterity and strength. A times I was all thumbs and I would lose count of where I was. I think Denis and Aurelie made 3/4 of the basket that I was working on. I am hooked though. I think once you get the hang of it, the process is both creative and meditative. I love the baskets, they are so natural and no two are the same. Denis and Aurelie make it look easy but I can really appreciate the work that it takes. I am hoping to be able to join them again after the holidays.
The following link will take you to a short video about the basket making.
http://www.wat.tv/video/fabrication-bouyricou-k3wa_2grab_.html
It was a busier week than usual for me!!! Basket making on Friday, there was another Jazz night on Saturday - the Thierry Fanfant quartet, Sunday I went for to Plum Village and Monday I had my French lesson and then I met up with Denis for a little tour and then dinner with his family. One stop on the tour was the smallest village in France, Castelmoron d'Abret. As Denis said, "A very long name for a very small village." It was like stepping back in time - a wonderful village. For Christmas almost every window had a creche - there was a traditional one, a contemporary one, one made of wool, one clay, one from Provence, one from Africa, etc. etc. The one that made me giggle though was the Canadian one - it had little teepees and first nations characters.
Tomorrow, I catch the train to Lyon to spend Christmas with the Bouchayer's and then New Year's with my friends. I was hoping to do one of my Christmas newsletters but if I don't get it done, I will take this opportunity to wish you all the best for the holidays and a happy, healthy 2013.
PS. I added a photo of the Siggy look alike to the previous post. And to answer my sister's question about Siggy's name - her full name was Sigalas. She was named after a bottle of Sauterne from Chateau Sigalas that we were drinking the night we got her. The wine we had with dinner was Fat Bastard and we thought the neighbours would be offended every time we called her to come in if that was her name.
Joyeux Noel.
The following link will take you to a short video about the basket making.
http://www.wat.tv/video/fabrication-bouyricou-k3wa_2grab_.html
It was a busier week than usual for me!!! Basket making on Friday, there was another Jazz night on Saturday - the Thierry Fanfant quartet, Sunday I went for to Plum Village and Monday I had my French lesson and then I met up with Denis for a little tour and then dinner with his family. One stop on the tour was the smallest village in France, Castelmoron d'Abret. As Denis said, "A very long name for a very small village." It was like stepping back in time - a wonderful village. For Christmas almost every window had a creche - there was a traditional one, a contemporary one, one made of wool, one clay, one from Provence, one from Africa, etc. etc. The one that made me giggle though was the Canadian one - it had little teepees and first nations characters.
Tomorrow, I catch the train to Lyon to spend Christmas with the Bouchayer's and then New Year's with my friends. I was hoping to do one of my Christmas newsletters but if I don't get it done, I will take this opportunity to wish you all the best for the holidays and a happy, healthy 2013.
PS. I added a photo of the Siggy look alike to the previous post. And to answer my sister's question about Siggy's name - her full name was Sigalas. She was named after a bottle of Sauterne from Chateau Sigalas that we were drinking the night we got her. The wine we had with dinner was Fat Bastard and we thought the neighbours would be offended every time we called her to come in if that was her name.
Joyeux Noel.