Provence Plein Aire - Roussillion

View of Roussillion, France and it's Ocher  pigment in the mountain.

Yesterday was our trip to the perched town of  Roussillion, where the ocher pigments

My beginning for the view of Roussillion.

were mined, in all shades.  Finding the town which is only about 15 min. from Bonnieux was a little tedious as 2 of the roads were washed by mud slides.  So the third option 25 minutes later panned out.  Climbing in switchbacks the whole way up "Bubba" our new vehicle made the trip up smoothly.  Such a change from the vehicle I started out with.  Thank you Hertz!  

Lavender fields in many areas were out (not as much as farther south) and proved good photo ops.  As the driver I had to stay in the vehicle so I'm waiting for the copies my car mates ran out to get while I hung on to the edge of the road.  Look for them in follow up posts when I get back.  Being the designated driver has it's downfalls as I can't shoot so many of the quick shots of this wonderful landscape while driving, like my car mates can.  

As you can see my start for the view of the town was slow to develop.  The Mistral winds were at first a thankful gift for this hot day but soon became.a force to be reckoned with.  As the ochre colored sand and dust blew across the parking lot where I sat in the shade, I soon had more grit in my eyes and teeth than I could stand.   Here I'm working on a 5 X 7 piece of green ampersand pastel-board. laid out initially with 10 % french grey.  The drawing needs corrected some but the various little buildings are at varied angles which I observed first hand while in town.   This is as far as I got in about an hour and 15-20 minutes.  It was difficult to not loose your place while doing the sketch, while holding on to your supplies n the wind.   I hope to add some more to it from my photos.  More to come.  

Have a colorful day! Au revoir,

Gloria