Come fly with me

So, some people may have guessed where we were going today. We have been several times over the years, but usually on our way south to Provence. This year we wanted to spend a few days in Alsace, an area of France we like a lot, and this was one of our destinations: Patchwork & Art Textiles Meeting, Val D’Argent.

Lots of carefully curated textile exhibitions held mainly in the town of Sainte-Marie-Aux-Mines but also in a few lovely villages close by - in churches, village halls etc. It’s a matter of buying a wrist band and then wandering from one venue to another and catching a free bus between sites. It’s a real joy for me, but Gordon also likes it as it is all so different. He was a little disappointed that they were not making the Tarte Flambé as has happened in the past, but excellent Quiche Lorraine and salad went down well.

A gorgeous day of sunshine. We obviously did not get round all of the exhibitions, but saw a huge range of wonderful work. I had all sorts of photos ready to blip, but in the end there really was no choice - this was part of a remarkable exhibition by an artist, Hilde Hoogwaerts, using African fabrics (I recognised a few). I usually steer away from masses of colour, I am not that keen on precise patchwork ( because I’m not very good at it), I like subtly and calm . . . but this . . .

. . . everyone who entered the church building saw it and gasped - sat down ( there were chairs) and stared at it and wondered - how did she do that? It glowed, it sparkled, it was just astonishing. (Gordon was going to buy it - fortunately it wasn’t for sale!)


And on our return we managed to find a Cave we had found once before, where we tasted and bought several cases of Alsace wines.

A splendid day!