A Li'l Bit of Lille

We were off to France for a few days. Houston gave a talk at the university in Lille, in the north of France. It really is just a hop, skip and a jump from London. In fact it cost us more to get from Cambridge to London than it did to get from London to Lille, a mere 1 1/2 hour Eurostar train ride. My first time through the Chunnel. We got off at this lovely train station in Lille.




My sherpa, Houston directing the way.


We stayed in the old section of downtown, a beautiful city settled around 640. But on our way, we saw some fun sculptures. In one of the leaves on the right, 2 children are playing.


There is an offbeat, whimsical sense to this city (the 4th largest city in France). I saw these gnomes in many places, all uniformly giving me the finger. They were either doing that or peeing.


There was lots of graffiti in the town, in fact, I think they encourage it.


And the BIGGEST surprise of all were the dozen giant baby statues downtown. They stood maybe 25' tall, solid black with varying types of wings, scales, dinosaur-like appendages on diapered baby figures.










When I rounded the corner and saw all these babies against the backdrop of the very ancient buildings, I stopped dead in my tracks, put my luggage down and just laughed. I gotta hand it to them. I don't think this would happen in DC!


We were put up in this fabulous hotel. It's a combination of 2 old buildings, a new building and joined by a central atrium.


The walkway to our room.


Towards dinnertime, we really did look for a French restaurant, but found only Brazilian, Ethiopian, Italian, and ended up at a Moroccan restaurant. Yummy.


Our hotel was right on a canal waterway. This is the scene across the canal from our hotel.


The following day, I was left to my own devices and just meandered around the bustling city center. It doesn't look bustling yet, but I learned that I happened upon the biggest sales event of the year. It lasts an entire month and nearly everything is on sale. It was so crowded, lines to try on clothes, lines to pay, but it was fun even though I had a language problem. I swear, I am so bad at learning any language. When one of my items didn't come up as on sale, even tho I knew it was, I just sucked it up and paid the full price. Doh! That will teach me to be stupid. But everyone was nice and no one seemed in a hurry.


I don't know how my friend, Piver, snuck over to paint this wall, but it looks just like something she'd do.



I went into one store that had a mix of yarn, ribbon, feathers, beads, craft supplies and buttons, buttons, buttons. All in a tiny space of about 200 sq. ft.


I love buttons, amassing a large stash myself. But nothing compared to this. Old, new, vintage, bakelite, metal, shiny, dull, sparkly, prints, patterns, plain, and every imaginable color. WOW!


And the ribbons were delightful too.



I tend to look up a lot, looking at the architecture of the buildings. Your eyes get overwhelmed with what the shops want you to see with their stuffed windows, colorful wares and big sale signs. But look up and it's arched windows, curved cornices, gables galore and sometimes a painted advertisement.


But looking at the French bread is pretty peaceful.


or into walkways


I saw quite a few flower shops. They differ from ours (except for the smell. They all seem to smell alike, the deep wet, earthy smell with a high note of fragrance) in that they have unusual arrangements.


like this ambrosial display of not-fully-opened roses, sedum and something else I can't identify. I loved the color combo too.


The alternating kinds of thyme and sedum made for a nice patchwork of sorts.


Decorative chilis, sedum and white flowers


and at the end of the day, these were my sore feet, having walked and walked miles over the cobbled walkways and streets of Lille.

Studio Touring

A customer of mine, Lea, had mentioned awhile back that she was going to buy a little cottage in England. I learned that she had indeed bought the place and was even going to maybe be there while I was in the Dales. I wasn't sure if we would overlap or not but I thought since I'm so close I'm going to try to find it. She had given me the name of the village and luckily it was small. So small that Seal and I stopped a woman walking her dog and asked if she knew of a cottage that had just sold. She mentioned this little side street so we drove over there and knocked on a door that had a for sale sign on it. A lovely woman came out, not Lea, although she is lovely too, and told us that it was probably the white one down the lane. We walked to Hartley Cottage (as the sign on the wall says). We knocked on the doort, but sadly no one was there. I gandered a peek in the window and saw a colorful felt piece of art above the sofa and knew if must be Lea's place. I wrote a note (I heart Hartley Cottage), telling Lea when we were there and to give a call if she wanted.


She did call the next day and was so sorry she missed us. Darn! By just a couple hours too. It would have been great to see her and hear about her new village. It is really just so darling. Lucky girl! We did get a pic of me pretending to go in the door.


We reluctantly left and went about our business of visiting artists on the studio tour through the Dales.


The nearby bigger village has this amazing carved stone bench in front of one of the shops.


I could not believe our luck in the pure coincidence of having the North Yorkshire Open Studio falling on the same weekend as our visit to the Dales. I had also had the good fortune to happen on this tour 2 years ago, but I was with my 2 sons and husband who didn't think it was so lucky. Two years ago it was much earlier, in May. So I really didn't think we'd hit it.
Our first artist was Andrea Hunter of Focus of Felt. I had been to her studio 2 years ago and really wanted to visit it again. she does amazing landscapes with wool, both dyed and natural colors.


Leslie and Ken Jones are a husband and wife team, working and living out of a converted 'longhouse' (like the one mentioned in an earlier post). Their home is in Stalling Busk, the wee tiny village that was near our B&B. They are the nicest couple and are both so talented. Seal and I were smitten with her paintings, were very tempted to buy one, but resisted. We did get a number of small cards though.


Their studios meandered throughout their entire house. One of the reasons this studio tour is so fun is that you get a peek at the way they live and work. There are 5 rooms upstairs and only one was a bedroom, the others are their gallery space and each had their own studios.


This is the painting of poppies that Seal nearly bought.


Leslie's pallette was as nearly as pretty as her paintings.


She told us that she gets ideas from her whimsical pottery that she's collected from around the world.


Painting is not their only talent. They also play stringed instruments during the long, dark days of winter.


I could not get me flash to work for this pic, but her kitchen is bright turquoise and so cheerful.


An all white bouquet sat quietly in the corner, shying away from all the color in the rooms.


They remodeled the barn/house but kept the original doors.




Carol Tyler's studio was in Hawes, a central village in the Dales. Hawes was bustling the day we were there. In fact, all the villages were really busy. The markets are open on Saturdays and I guess that brings the villagers out for their errands. Anyway, Carol's studio was in her small house at the end of a row of stone cottages. Two cats (one hers, Tuppence, and one a neighbor's, Marmaduke) were out front rolling on the cobblestones, waiting for a tummy rub. Carol said she recognized me (!) and I remembered that she had been in an old church in another village during the tour 2 years ago. She had bought this house in those 2 years and it was nearly done with the renovation, so she opened it up for the tour. Her studio space was upstairs, full of light. Her artwork is abstract and has very subtle coloring, very soft and appealing. Just like her, except for the abstract part.We went to a few more studios, 12 in all. One was Winifred Hodge. She does swooping paintings of the Dales, but I wanted to visit just for her name. She sounds like Miss Marple's best friend.


Another marvelous thing about the tour is that you can see artist's gardens. They are always perfect, no weeds and so full of perennials, they are bursting in color. The grass is cut so short, it's just a pure green stubble. Angela Keeble's studio was a perfect example of this. Her house was in the small village of Bainbridge, near where we stayed. It faced the village green, but walking around the house one came to this beautiful tiered garden, 'green rooms' that led down to a stone wall that stopped just above the River Bain. (Yes, there's a one lane bridge that goes over it!) We spent a bit of time out there before going in, so long, that she offered us coffee and biscuits. We finally made it into her studio and kept gasping at the color in her paintings. Both Seal and I paint (I just dabble mostly) so we are in awe when someone can achieve the right juxtapostion of color, shape and design.


And this is the painting that Seal bought. It's about 36" x 36"! Crazy girl.


And here she is happy and content by the river.


Imagine our surprise when we came into Bainbridge on Sunday after driving through this sleepy hamlet at least 6 times and seeing no one and then to have hundreds of people on the village green for the annual Beamish Auto Rally. These old autos zip across the Dales to meet up in Bainbridge, have a big picnic and looksee, then drive on. We got there just as they were setting up, the proud owners showing off their motor cars and the crowd of passersby oogling the cars. It was the most magnificent day, the sun high, the sky clear and warm temps in the 70's after being cool and breezy for days. All the convertibles had their tops down.


Vintage motorcycles were also part of the display.


Having grown up around cars (my dad was a car dealer, an honest one!), I'm always still intrigued by antique cars. I love their chrome, the 'bubbliness' of them with their rounded shapes, the leather interiors and the big steering wheels.


This one doesn't appear to be too comfortable for driving.


I especially like old trucks. This locksmith truck caught my fancy.





I meant to get a pic of the man who was driving this rig. He looked all 'locksmithy' with his long coat and driving hat.


And at the end of a long day of seeing some awesome art (and some truly BAD #*it!) we made it to a pub for wine and dinner. This Shandy is really for Sara. She'll get it.

The Dales Part Deux

Ahhhh! My favorite area of England. For some reason, this place just captures me and holds me in awe. I love the green fields, the yellow expanse of buttercups (a very good year I hear), the small country roads barely a car width wide, and of course the wee stone villages tucked away in the valleys.


After going through a village of about 60 people, winding up and over hills and dales down this road, passing 2 farms, we came to our B&B for the night.


Blean House is a 'longhouse', once a long barn with the farm animals living on the bottom and the farmers living in the top. The animals kept the farmers somewhat warm. But now it is two homes, divided in half. Our hosts, Pat and Peter moved there two years ago, rehabbed the place and now have two bedrooms for a B&B.


A typical English garden flanks the front and the back has a large yard, enclosed by a stone wall of course, and a stunning view of the Dales beyond.


The view from the front. Another little garden with table and chairs.




This is Peter, our host. A cheerful guy for sure.


They are up on a high hill that overlooks this lake. It's a private lake with each farmer owning a bit of the lake whose land reaches it.



Another farm down below.


From the backyard.


The old carriage house, now a garage.


And the resident hens, who lay the eggs for our delicious breakfast.


This rooster lives just down the road and comes to visit the hens daily.


This pic is for Ann who will get it.


I took an early morning walk down the lane to the small village of Stalling Busk. Only about 5 houses and 4 miles from the main road. It used to be a large farm with the workers living in the houses, but now is inhabited by artists and a jam preserve business.


Most of the farmers get around on their 4-wheelers. One Border Collie was riding on board and the other running alongside. The running dog came up to me and I told him he had work to do so he'd better get on.


A fragrant, pretty wildflower that was in bloom all over the countryside. It might be cowslip.


Many of these stone barns dot the landscape. They are spaced about 1/8 mile apart in the fields.


Some need a little help staying together.



I love the texture, the rusty pieces, the colors of these old structures. I passed five of these barns in just my short walk. I made it back just in time for breakfast!