We were lucky enough to be staying in one of the handful of hotels right inside the old walls, which meant a short stroll through one of the old stone gates, along the most atmospheric cobbled streets and right into the heart of the old town. We were spending the week in picturesque Carcassonne, a very ancient medieval walled citadel high up on a hill. It was also a real joy for me because out of the twelve guests, 7 of them had been with me in France in 2019, so I guess my teaching must be OK if they were game enough to come back for more?! Some of them were new to these kinds of retreats, and some had already been on other crafting holidays over the years. Most of the ladies are from the UK, with the exception of one lady all the way from Sydney in Australia and another from the US. In the back row on the far right is Allison who is the Tour Manager, and she's been with me on all three of my retreats. In the middle of the front row you can see me looking all smiley and blooming ridiculously happy to be feeling waaaaaarm and sunshiney and south-of-Francey. We had just arrived in France after a yawningly early start (Heathrow airport at 4.30am? Yes, it was that kind of early). The above photo is us - the Stitchtopia Attic24 crochet retreat of 2022. Hurrah for life finally getting wings again! So I still haven't managed to visit Madeira, but in amongst all the chaos of postponed and cancelled holidays, another French retreat was planned for me, which is the one I finally got to take up earlier this month. The trips were postponed to the following year.but sadly with the world still in disarray, they too were cancelled. The following year, I was due to go and tutor two different groups in Madeira but we all know what happened to travel plans in 2020. So in the Spring of 2019, I went twice to France and did indeed get to stay in a chateau and taste wine and view scenic views and teach crochet - and it was absolutely WOnDErFUL. Spend a week in a French Chateau and teach colour and crochet to a group of lovely ladies? Join them on scenic excursions and partake in wine tasting and the such like? Sit and crochet in the sunny garden of a chateau in the French Alpes surrounded by beautiful mountain views? Yes, yes and YES please.Īs it happens, when my first retreat launched in the summer of 2018 it sold out within the first 24 hours, and with a growing waiting list I was asked if I would consider doing a second week. As the name suggests, the holidays and retreats are all about textiles, and honestly, the more I learned about the quality of the trips and how well they're organised, the more I knew that I would say YES to pretty much anything. So would you like to know how I came to be standing and gazing at the above view? Well five years ago, I was asked by a travel company if I would like to be one of the "craft experts" on their popular Stitchtopia craft holidays. Spending a week in the south of France in early October sounds pretty dreamy, don't you think? The sunny warmth, the amazing views and the relaxed atmosphere, it was everything I'd dreamed of and so much more besides.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |