Blog 41
Following is the first part of my travelogue of the fall painting trip of the Plein Air Ensemble:
Thursday,
September 29, 2016
Hélène and I are
on our way to Lake Clear in Eganville for the Plein Air Ensemble fall
painting trip. As usual, we go up a day early to get everything
organized. While we prepared as much as possible before the trip, we
still have to get maps, and buy wine for the Happy Hours of the week.
The weather is
great. The sun is shining and temperatures are supposed to go up to
17 degrees. At first, we got through nicely on the highway. Hélène
and I did not see each other over the summer, so we had lots to chat
about. This makes time just fly by. However, now we have been stuck
for about an hour at a construction site on the 17, just before
before the exit to Calabogie. What a waste of precious painting time!
***
When we finally made
it to Eganville, we went to the tourist information, then to the 4th
chute near the Bonnechere Caves. On our way, we saw two deer looking
at us from the side of the road. Unfortunately, I was not fast enough
to capture their image with my camera.
After a picnic, we
hiked along the Bonnechere River which was extremely low. There were
lot of picturesque spots to paint, but we would need a whole day to
make it worth dragging all of our equipment into the woods.
Instead we went back
to the lakeside and set up there for the afternoon. Hélène painted
the waterfall, and I was fascinated by the deep blue water of the
lake and the fall colours in the back. However, I started to struggle
when the sunny sky was pushed out by the clouds and the colours
changed dramatically. When I decide to incorporate the huge flocks of
Canada Geese that were swimming in the lake, I got really frustrated.
In the end, I wiped the birds out of my painting again. I was still
not happy with the painting when we had to pack up. I will give it a
couple of days before I will look at it again. Hopefully, I will feel
better about it at that point. If not, I have to figure out what
exactly is bothering me.
On our way to the
Opeongo Mountain Resort, Hélène and I were guided by the GPS
through the woods following Corrigan Road. Fortunately, we ended up
at Cormac Road where we saw two beautiful marshes.
We had just enough
time to pick a cottage and unpack before we went back into town to
meet our friends Sharon and Bill for dinner in “The Granary”. As
we knew from the last time how big the portions were, Hélène and I
shared a schnitzel in mushroom sauce. This way, there was enough room
for the restaurant's delicious desserts. Each of the different
desserts looked fantastic. If you are in the Eganville area, I can
highly recommend the restaurant for its very good food. Just be
advised that one plate easily serves two.
As Sharon and Bill
are taking part in the Madawaska Valley Studio Tour this weekend, we
enjoyed a special preview of their beautiful artworks displayed for
the tour.
On our way back to
the resort, through the dark landscape, both Hélène and I agreed
that we would not like to live so far out in the country. Driving
through the dark woods was putting me on edge. I was not surprised
that we saw more deer at the side of the road and a fox crossing the
road right in front of us.
Back at our cozy
cottage, it is now time to turn in for the night to be well rested
for tomorrow's adventures.
I hope you enjoyed
the first part of my travelogue and will join me again next Friday
for the continuation.
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