Colors of France: A Painting Pilgrimage
by Joan Brown
Category: France

A travel essay and artist's sketchbook, tells the story of a watercolor artist's journey through France to paint in Monet's fabled gardens at Giverny. The realization of a secret dream nurtured since childhood, her meanderings begin among the red-tiled roofs of the Basque country of Southern France.Impressionistic watercolor-washed sketches intertwine with the story of the artist's own interior odyessy as she paints her way north to Brittany along the unbeaten paths of France and finally to Giverny.Much to her surprise and despite her inability to speak more than a few words of French, she finds herself welcomed into the homes and hearts of the people. Hoybach's renderings and word-sketches immerse the reader in every step of an evocative journey, a melange of exhilaration, humor, and frustration, crowned by the joy of fulfillment.