Is there an abstract painting in this photo? (Click to enlarge photos)

Do you know what crop this is? I didn’t. It is flax. The dainty blue flowers are wondrous and just wave in the breeze.

All of us were enamored by this field of flax

The delicate flax flower

Monday morning, 4 of us decided to leave the intimate village of Giverny and explore the town of Les Andelys about 40 minutes away. Our first stop was to be the 12th-Century Chateau Gaillard which majestically overlooks Les Andelys above the Seine along with stunning white cliffs. But first, the delicate sky blue flax fields visually captured us and we had to stop.

Lone poppy amongst the wheat

This wheat field was across from the flax field. It was not uncommon to see wild red poppies along the road. They make one smile.

Carol standing in a flax field

View of Chateau Gaillard as we drove toward Les Andelys

Below are my fellow artists painting the Chateau, which is in the process of finally being renovated after centuries of neglect.

Artists painting above the Seine. Chateau Gaillard is to the left of this scene.

My attempts to paint the landscape were, shall we say, abominable. The muse just wasn’t clicking, but it was delightful time and I will always remember the scene.

White cliffs and fields above the town of Les Andelys

We then drove into town (I was also looking for a bank to obtain some Euros), for more painting opportunities. Since my previous attempt had not been at all successful and I knew we would be painting in Monet’s Gardens later that evening, I decided to make an economic contribution to the local shops in Les Andelys. An over stuffed eclectic store provided me with a couple of hats, scarves, gifts to take home and funky jewelry. It was great fun!

Elizabeth Mowry painting with pastels along the Seine in Les Andelys

After a quick power nap (isn’t that an oximoron?), I headed over to Monet’s Gardens with everyone else for our 6-8pm slotted painting time.

The colors in the gardens seemed deeper that evening

Aren't these pink peonies beautiful?

….but the Lily Pond kept calling me back.

There is something about the water lily that captivates me, and you??

Again, I set my easel up by the pond and tried a different approach to my field study. I have painted “windows” before in my work and decided to try it en plein air for the first time!

Watercolor underpainting for water lily field study

Field study of water lily in pastel

Here is the large purple hat I purchased earlier in the day. A funky stylish hat and I had to buy it because it is PURPLE with a flower!  How could I resist?

Top view of my French purple hat

If you have been reading these blog posts about my trip to Giverny, how have I usually ended the day? With food of course! The weather cleared up and gave us a lovely dinner outside at the Inn.

During good weather, we ate outside on their patio surrounded by their gardens.

Tomorrow is our ‘official’ field trip day. Where will we go?

…to be continued.