Texturey Bits For Inspiration

We snapped a HEAP of photos for future inspiration and I wanted to post them here so I would have a record to pull from later on. Hope you find these inspiring too!

Warning: Photo Heavy!

Growing in the castle garden wall.

Rooftop in Roquefort.

Stone wall and rose bud at the Templar walled village.

Freshly baked bread at the Millau market.

Moss growing on the pool wall.

More pool wall moss and likens.

This looked like a juniper, however the "berries" were almost an inch and a half across. They were growing on a tree in the castle garden. Anyone know what this is?

Cool little wildflower/weed. Looks like it has sleeping fae cuddled up on each petal.

Walls in the Roquefort cheese caves.

Hens and Chickens growing on the garden wall.

Castle courtyard stone walls.

More moss growing out on a field edge near Millau.

Two thousand year old beads in the museum in Millau.

More wall succulents.

A calcified neanderthal skull in the museum in Millau.

Because there are only 57 more days until HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

French Wildflowers

I really did take hundreds of photos of  flowers and textures in France.... It's going to take some sorting out, but I'm feeling super inspired to get creating because of all of them.

I've been putting together some idea boards or themed collages to keep track of all the ideas. Thought you might find them a bit inspiring also...

So here is some of the wildflowers we encountered. 

I'm thinking flattish textured Fimo brooches and pendants....

We'll see.

Samian Ware Pottery

La Graufesenque Site Archeologique Millau  was a dream come true. We knew there were Samian ware archaeological sites near La Cadenede in Millau where we were staying. We also knew that the odds of actually slipping away to explore one of these sights with just a week in the area, were slim. We not only got to the museum in Millau village center, but we also got an amazing tour of the actual dig site!

I'm still overwhelmed with glee!

There are a TON of pictures so brace yourself.

Here's a gorgeous piece of Samian ware from 100 - 200 AD. Not a reproduction! An actual intact piece from that time. Second to third century AD!!!! It's mind boggling! Our Canadian history is so very short in comparison. 

The wonderful Lady who worked at the site tossed this in our hands and said, "Ce n'est pas un cadeau." Or, This is not a gift. I think she knew I was just on the verge of happy tears the whole visit. I still can't believe she let us hold this beautifully restored piece of history. 

James and I are very big fans of Sir Tony Robinson's 

Time Team on BBC channel 4. 

We've been dreaming about seeing an actual dig for years.

This is the dig site. It was excavated in the 1970's and has been maintained as a teaching site.

This is what we saw as we came out of the back of the old monastery where the site is located.

This section was an alter.

This long narrow channel brought water to the potters.

This was the kiln.

Here is a reproduction (with actual Samian ware) kiln. It was in the Museum at village center Millau.

This is why I LOVE Samian ware soooo much! These are stamps that were used to create consistent designs in the molds (next picture) they made to create the pots.

This is the inside of one of the molds made using stamps like the ones pictured above. I am seriously going to try to reproduce this technique in the very near future. 

How COOL is THIS?

This method of stamping and mold making, made it possible for them to reproduce unthinkable amounts of pots all with exquisite detail! These things can be found all over Europe.

Here is a batch they found in a midden or refuse ditch. They fused together in the kiln. It gives you an idea of just how many pots they were producing. 

This is a shot of the refuse pile. Billions of shards.

Even walking the paths entering the site had shards of pot mixed into the gravel. 

So much to take in!

This little guy helped explain things, along with Leslie and Patrick who we will be forever grateful to for taking us and translating for us. This was a bucket list event. I will never forget it.

Thanks for letting me share it with you.

Adieu!

Roquefort Cheese Caves Tour

I loved our visit to the Roquefort Cheese Cellars. I have to admit they had me at the opening diorama. I've always been a sucker for a good diorama. 

This is it! It started out with almost level ground. Some foothills and a few dips and bumps, but otherwise flatish landscape. Then the lights flickered and quivered.... There was thunder and grinding noise... and BAM! The ground shifted and revealed the collapsed range of caves. 

The legend says that there was a young worker eating his supper of bread and goats cheese in the caves. He fell asleep and when he awoke he saw a beautiful maiden. He fell in love with her and followed her out of the caves. When he returned after many days, he discovered his meal had changed colour. Having nothing else and being an adventurous youth, he decided to eat it anyway. After one taste he knew he had discovered a miracle. Legend states that he and his lovely maiden made many a Roquefort cheese and lived happily ever after.

Then we started down hallways and stairways leading down into the very ancient caves and caverns. It was pretty exciting! I expected the smell to be overwhelmingly..... um..... cheesy? But because we toured in August when there was no milk production from the sheep, the Society had set out very realistic, pretend wheels of cheese so we could get a feel for just how vast the caves are. But there was absolutely no cheesy or milky smell at all. There was a slight musty scent but that was very pleasant.

Some flora on the walls of the cave. So thick and lush. Funny seeing it grow so far  underground.

This is the Penicillium Roqueforti. It's the mold grown in charred bread that seeds the goats milk cheese. I thought it was pretty cool. After the cheese is made into wheels and is still fresh, they pop holes into it and set the cheese wheels on their sides on salted tables in the caves. Then they let loose the Penicillium Roqueforti spores and let them have their way with the cheese for a number of days. When the cheese has been well seeded, they move the wheels to another room or cavern to finish the maturing process. Each step of the process is done in a different cave with different temperatures and moisture levels. 

This is the room or cave where the first seeding process takes place. It was vast! We couldn't see to the other side.

This is one of the hallways in the caves. It shows the dampness. I was very surprised that the caves smelled so fresh. They have a natural air circulating system. 

I fell inlove with the textures and colours on the walls. I could have taken hundreds of photos just of the cave walls. I think this will change my polymer clay work in the future.

We finally emerged into a beautiful shop. And just in time! We were Famished! There were three kinds of Roquefort to taste. A regular, a smooth and a strong. We loved all three so much that we brought them home with us!

Here we are just coming out of the shop into the streets of Roquefort to have a wee but of lunch.

More on that in a few days. I think I'll have to do a post just on the French food we enjoyed.

Hope you get the chance to try some Roquefort Cheese too.

It's available all over the world.

I had some in my scrambled eggs today.

La Cadenede, We Miss You Sooooo Much!

We've been away to Europe. Spent an unbelievable week at the castle La Cadenede.

It's really a fortified farmhouse, but believe me the word castle fits. 

Here's the name plate on the front gate.

This is the first view you get from the front gate driving up to the place.

Looking center/left into the valley from the pool.

The village of Millau. There will be some more pics later of the village and some other wonderful sites near La Cadenede.

This is a shot from the far left poolside.

The Millau Viaduct. Simply breathtaking! 

Here's the gorgeous pool!

Garden roses.

We had almost every kind of weather the week we were there, even a booming thunderstorm!

We had two spectacular double rainbows!

More of the Viaduct.

The back of the place was fantastic also. So many trails and walks to explore!

This was the common room and it wasn't what I would call common at all. We played many games here together and I loved every second of it!

The pool was very hard to get out of. With Castle, Viaduct and Village to see while floating it was an incredible experience!

The bathing suit I made for the trip held up nicely by the way!

This is our last sunset. I felt like I was in that scene from Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy when the folks are rebuilding the world just for Arthur. I kept imagining that there were work crews just out of sight working away to make us the perfect views every day! 

I'll be writing more about the village of Millau, The Roquefort Cheese Caves, Toulouse and Samian ware Roman pottery from the first century AD. Just need to get rid of a bit of jet lag first!