Annie's home is known as "Le Presbytère" (the former village rectory). It sits in La Romieu, a small village that is included in the prestigious list of "the Most Beautiful Villages in France" as well as being a UNESCO World Heritage site. The village dates back to the 11th century and is famous for its magnificent church, "La Collégiale",  and its majestic cloister. 

Participants will enjoy: Visits to farmer's markets, wine tastings, visits to local food artisans, and cooking classes,

in addition to meals at the best local restaurants as well as home-cooked dishes made by Annie herself.

​

As an accomplished cook and instructor, Annie works with all cooking levels and will ensure you go home with easy recipes to recreate at home.

Gascony is a region off the beaten path where the French country heritage and traditions have been beautifully preserved. It is located in the southwest of France, not far from Spain. "The Land of a 1,000 Castles" is not only a haven of culture, but also a bastion of French "art de vivre" that is thriving. It is known for its organic produce, vineyards, authentic food and its unique gastronomy.

Enjoy the leisure of taking your artistry on-the-go with your large-scale sketchbook and materials, allowing for inspiration

to strike at any point of your trip. Develop your nomadic studio practices and soak up all the energy that each landscape has to offer.

​

Explore mixed media approaches, embrace in observational studies and repeated practices, all while you expand your artistry to elevated heights with this unique workshop experience.

Heighten your mark-making skills while using one vessel to chronicle your journey. Sketchbooks allow each artist to focus on more of the creative process that the final result, developing your intuitive practices as well as your studio ones.

​

Imagine sitting at a picturesque cafe basking in the sunlight. You sip your espresso, sketch the cup and saucer in front of you and write your ephemeral thoughts and feelings about the tastes and experience. Maybe you even feel inspired to spill some liquid onto your page to create a stain to sketch with... the sky is the limit with this workshop.

​

Unlike Carmelo's other workshops that are labor intensive, take time to experience, observe, and record, by slowing the entire process down.

The people of Gascony are genuine, generous, and fun-loving. They epitomize the expression "Eat, Drink and Be Merry." They passionately defend their rural environment and its natural bounty. Their philosophy of life, as demonstrated by d'Artagnan, dashing Musketeer and the most famous Gascon of all times, is based on freedom, independence and an appetite for the good life.