The Bay of Cannes , a quick sketch 27 by 25 cms

There is no doubt that we love The Côte d’Azur.

The warmth, the scenery, the great wines and food and the people make this one of the finest parts of France to visit at any time in the year but in the summer it is glorious, if a bit busy!

We spent some time in a lovely house at Les Adrets d’Esterel with a magniificent view o the Bay of Cannes  to admire both by day and night as the lights of Cannes shimmer.

And time to paint some new watercolours of the region and a couple during journey  there.

I hope you will enjoy seeing them and if you know the area, recognise the views,  or if you haven’t visited the Côte d’Azur then do put it on your bucket list!

First the view of the Bay of Cannes on a hot summers day. The Iles de Lerin are visible just off the coast.

The Bay of Cannes from Les Adrets. Watercolour 46 by 15 cms

This formal painting painted “en plain air” followed on from a sketch shown at the head of this post.

During July and August Cannes holds an International Fireworks competition and so I have attempted a watercolour of the fireworks finale to just try to capture the moment.

On our journey we passed some intesting parts of Provence and so here are few sketches captured first as a photo of those scenes, but with a lot of artistic licence as to the time of year!

A village with lavender in Provence.

A bridge near Castellane in Provence

Chapelle Philomena de Montague near Gap in Provence

Around the Côte d’Azur there are many great places to visit

In particular we love Antibes and also Vence.

Vence is very close to St Paul de Vence which has become very touristy alas, but Vence is a delightful old town, now being much restored and it has many quaint streets and  restaurants in the old town.

The old town of Vence

Antibes

Cap d’Antibes

Further inland is the fine village of Cotinac, famous for it’s markets.

Near to Cannes and  are the villages of Fayence, Sellians and Callian , all very well with visiting and nearby is Lac de Saint Cassein with it’s great water sporting facilities.

Here also   is  a  new  sketch  of  Tourrettes sur Loup,an amazing place to wander around. Just one of the many perched Villages of the area.

Tourrettes Sur Loup

To see more of my watercolours of Provence and the Côte d’Azur download my guide book which can be found on the Header page of this blog.

And please do visit http://www.artfinder.com/brianswatercolours where a number of my Provence paintings can be purchased.

Happy travelling

Brian