Join Jeri Parker and Friends for
The Tricolors of the French Countryside

If ART that changed the world, LITERATURE that broke new ground in two countries, and CUISINE that dominated what happened in the best of kitchens for two centuries isn't enough–there's the fresh country air, the gracious living, the camaraderie of ideas, the wandering through farmer's markets and the Luberon. Mid-September turns full and ripe under an azure sky, the days at Le Lavandin spreading through golden fields. When the sun dips, the magenta of sky and sapphire of land sing you to bed. It's enough to break your heart. It will break your heart, and ours too, if you're not there.

We'll indulge ourselves in:

ART
How did Van Gogh create an art so private and so profound that it is still altering the perceptions of art? ( Book: Dear Theo*) Tour Saint-Remy-de-Provence where we'll visit sites Van Gogh painted and spend time with a few of his paintings. What led Cezanne to carry art beyond the edges of Impressionism already gone soft? And what was the personal vision that brought it to the door of modernism? (Handouts–reproductions of painttings and writings about Cezanne) Trip to Aix-en- Provence where we'll see paintings by Cezanne, stroll the Cours Mirabeau--often described as the most beautiful boulevard in France, and catch a glimpse of Mont-Saint-Victoire out the window on the drive home.

LITERATURE
The best of France: we'll have a thoughtful discussion of Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary*. Unsurpassed in America: more lively discussion based on your careful reading of Willa Cather's My Antonia,*comparing it with Madame Bovary. One of the considerations will be what is their common root? Another will be what are the components of dissolution and what of endurance as seen in the two books. And what are the cultural factors?

*Read books in advance–available at The King's English, Salt Lake City.

CUISINE
Highlights for gourmets will be two dinners at nearby restaurants distinguished for their local specialities and lunch in St. Remy and in Aix-en-Provence. Le Lavandin's Georgia Perrin will prepare her exquisite petits dejeuners. Provencal lunches and dinners will be served with participants having the opportunity to assist supervising chef Cill Sparks at dinner time.

SCHEDULE
(may be modified in response to weather and market days):
In each day there will be time for swimming, hiking, reading, dreaming, biking, painting, napping.........

Sunday: Check-in 4pm, Aperitifs and light buffet to welcome you
Monday: Morning discussion of Flaubert's Madame Bovary
Tuesday: Brief discussion of Cezanne followed by trip to
Aix-en-Provence, including a visit to the spectacular Farmer's Market and lunch.
Wednesday: Discussion of Van Gogh and Dear Theo.
Dinner in a nearby village
Thursday: Trip to St. Remy and lunch
Friday: Discussion of Cather's My Antonia.
Dinner in another nearby village
Saturday: Open time, check-out at noon

Jeri Parker, who will lead the discussions, holds graduate degrees from the University of Utah. She did post-undergraduate work at Cambridge, where she finally had time to goof off. She was Director of Women's Programs at Westminster College, Associate Professor of English and Director of Summer Writing Programs at the University of Utah. She has published Uneasy Survivors: Five Women Writers, short stories, poems, reviews in such journals as Folio, Cimarron Review, The Small Pond, Utah Holiday, Network, Catalyst, The Yellowstone Gateway Post. The Utah Arts Council awarded two of her manuscripts, a novel and a work of nonfiction, first place prizes. The novel is under consideration for publication. She has had art exhibitions at A Woman's Place, Salt Lake City; A Country Gallery, San Dimas, California; Wildflowers Bed and Breakfast in Salt Lake City. She has shown at the Utah Springville Museum of Art; Alvin Gittens Gallery, University of Utah; Eccles Community Art Center, Ogden (blue ribbon); Williams Fine Art, Salt Lake City. She was guest artist at the Sundance Institute. She is presently co-owner of Wildflowers Bed and Breakfast.

Cill Sparks holds the Petit Certificat from the Ecole Dijon School of French Cookery and the Piccolo Certificato for A Weekend in the Italian Countryside with Lynne Rossetto Kasper, whom she has assisted in culinary presentations. She has been presenting breakfasts to guests at Wildflowers Bed and Breakfast for twelve years.

© 2005 Le Lavandin