I have, pretty much, caught up on all the video footage and this will be next to my last post on the Trip to Paris and Trip to Aix-en-Provence.

I took this series of clips on June 4th and June 5th, 2007.

Also note the pictures I painted in the Place Verdome which I wrote about earlier.

I forgot to post this study I did last week while still in Aix-en-Provence.

I sat in a cafe on one of the main streets in Aix-en-Provence and had dinner, magically, almost, as I was creating this oil pastel study.  The light was changing slowly and I started late, but managed to finish just before all light was gone.

BTW, there’s a link on Webmetricsguru.com where I put all the movies for the Paris Trip up as part of one post..and that post currently ranks as #5 out of 42 million for the keyword “Paris Trip”.   Paris Trip - Day 1 and the rest of the trip plus Aix-en-Provence

 Enjoy.

Here’s the last of the three videos I made which comprise most of the footage from that day - I’ve provided the first two video URLs as well. Enjoy

Video Part 3 (the longest segment) - also note the Tree Breast at 1 minute into this clip - it’s special and way off the path (you have to climb down to it and it’s not seen from the road). Also, there’s some footage of the best and most expensive restaurant in Aix-en-Provence, Le Clos De La Violette, at the end of the file (but the URL link does not seem to work).

part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZleHXMqK-8

part 2 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXuBVOaqayE

part 3 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=j3LJW43WEGk

My guide, Christine Boulet (who lives in Aix-en-Provence and who I met the day before)  on this 4 or 5 hour walk to my favorite Painter, Paul Cezanne, happened on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 and took most of the afternoon and early evening.  At the end of the long, long walk/hike, it rained. 

Note: The quality of the video that gets uploaded and shown on YouTube is considerably less than the original files - I noticed that, no matter what I do, preparing and uploading online video footage for streaming video makes the videos loose a lot of the details.

Also, my recollection of the color of the sky - it was much bluer than richer than what is coming over from the videos.  My take on that - whenever we translate an experience from one form to another (IE: a part of my life is transformed into a video) something is lost (in this case, a lot is lost).

On the other hand, what is gained is the memory I have as I look at these videos that warms my heart and brings back the fresh air, whooshing sounds, thundering and pungent smell of the the moist earth - the rich warm reddish browns of the earth and the brilliant blue of the sky.   A gray-lavender band of wood, part of the foliage / trees is pushed more towards lavender by the rich greens of the tree leaves and grass on the grounds. 

After the first hour, or so, of our walk, we had the sandwiches and Pepsi Light (we brought no water - or sunglasses) - the heat got to be almost unbearable and when we reached a midway point there was a water fountain - near a dam - and I got my shirt all wet, just to deal with the the intense heat/sun.   But then, as the afternoon progressed, it cooled down and rained and that was magical.

My guide, Christine Boulet, was wonderful company - but little of that is really translated in this movie and yet, I hope all of that comes though, past the limitations of the medium of Online Streaming Video - via YouTube.

Again, Enjoy and for any of my readers on ArtNewYorkCity.com  - I’d love to hear your feedback.  Bear in mind, I’m not the best photographer - fortunately, Christine Boulet took over for much of the footage, she has a much steadier hand than I - but I’m learning.