Last month I spent a couple of weeks in France. We were there for my wife's birthday. She's gotten more and more interested in cooking over the years and thought it would be fun to take a cooking class in France. She did some research and found a small cooking school called Le Calabash in the Loire Valley, Southwest of Paris.
Le Calabash is owned and operated by Sidney and Alison Bond, a wonderful couple that we got to know throughout our week there. I can't say enough about how terrific they were with us. They showed us the countryside, the local farms, and took us around to the local markets and chateaus. We had some wonderful late night conversations as we dined on all the great food that was cooked throughout the day. We can't wait to go back again.
While my wife took cooking classes during the day, I went around and did some painting and drawing. After a week of cooking, we spent a second week in Paris. Here are a few pages from my sketchbook and some small gouache paintings on paper.