Pottery weekend near Chapaise and Cormatin

Last weekend we returned to the beautiful area of Burgundy that is inland from Tournus.   My photos just don't do that area justice, and besides I was too busy sculpting and enjoying the scenery and food to take many photos.  Romanesque churches in every village, crumbling stone balconies overflowing with geraniums and begonias.

Hi Summer and the hay has been baled. 

My finished nuthatch bird bath before firing.  I will leave it there and return for it when we have the car in August.

Lys Romanesque Church

Rolling countryside, with cows and a good many horses - a few sheep.  Deep forests and plenty of shade to protect us from the blazing mid summer sun as we cycled here and there.  As least this is what Julian did, as well as reading and pottering about generally doing nothing in particular, which is what he can always do and I can't.

Here above is Auberge de Grison where we stayed.  What a welcoming place.  Friendly owners and good home cooked food.  Yes it had limitations.  No wifi! All sorts of odd bits of furniture including a sort of bookcase (empty) made of chipboard. A limited menu, but all made from scratch (even the veggie burgers)  So the limited menu was only limiting if you stayed there for a week.  We stayed for 4 nights and ate there every night despite much posher places in Chapaize, which is a little mecca for countryside poshness about 5 miles from the Auberge and near the Pottery of Monique Delaigare where I did the pottery course.

At the end we were so embarrassed by the most reasonable bill that Julian tipped a ridiculous amount in comparison to the actual bill.  The padrone was taken aback!  He scurried out and round into the cellar and came back with two pots of home made confiture! I had been complimenting on his jams at breakfast.

Pigeonairre or something like it in a field outside Lys

Typical old house with turret and balcony

Here are some photos taken during the course.  There were four students and Monique the teacher above in the foreground.  As is typical in France, the lunch break was two hours long, about 4 courses including wine.  A bit tedious as my French is not too good. A was dying to get back to the pottery studio and my bird bath.

Lady and her  cat sculpture

The man's hippo!

The two on the left were Monique and Philip.

Monique and Philip's house

Bits of my bird after I had scooped out the inside

Drying a bit to avoid collapse

My bird bath almost finished.

Chateau Ozenay, you can stay there

Old archway to courtyard in Prayes where we stayed

Head maquette I made but I decided to do the bord (bath)

Small Kestrels (Lesser Kestrel as opposed to the Common Kestrel)
We were lucky to find another colony of these beautiful birds just outside Chissey les Macon near, in fact the nearest village to Prayes where we were staying.

It was abeautiful evening and the sunset was orange and purple.  Our phone camera could not pick out the Kestrel's and the sunset was a different colour, but the following photos show something of the evening sunset and the knoll where the Kestrels were hunting and then roosting.