Up in the Mountains

                                        

The cabin

Loving the water

We are 2 very luck people.  Bruce’s parents own a house in Mammoth Lakes California, up in the Sierras, 5.5 hours north of Los Angeles.  We haven’t visited in 5 years, mostly because we were busy in the summer with our camps and the cabin is only open July – September.  We used to take our vacation in the spring.  But because we have the month of August off, we decided to come back up to visit.  Bruce’s parents are going to be selling the cabin and with us moving back to France this is probably the last time we’ll be here.

Bruce has been coming up to Mammoth every summer since he was a baby.  He feels so free here.  When he was a kid he could play in the forest, climb on the rocks and just be a kid.  The place is located above the town of Mammoth, actually on the backside of the mountain.  It’s covered in snow most of the year, so you can only visit in the summer.  But it’s the most amazing place.  A 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom cabin in the wood.  It’s on a ‘tract’ of 7 other cabins, on BLM land (bureau of Land Management).  Bruce’s parents own the cabin, but not the land.  They have had this cabin for over 20 years.  This used to be Bruce’s favorite place until he visited France, now it’s his second favorite.

Horseshoe Lake

We have been up here since last Saturday (11 days). It’s magical up here.  The air is clean, the skies are blue, it’s not super hot and pretty chilly in the evening.  But you can see so many stars and it’s so quiet.  We arrived, unpacked and had a glass of wine and some cheese & crackers.   Then we took the dogs for a long hike through the woods and around Horseshoe Lake.  Dashell jumped in the water the first chance he got.  The last time he was up here he was 10 months old.  We actually took him on a 5 day backpacking trip from Yosemite back to Mammoth.  This time, he’ll just hang out at the cabin, swim in the lake and hike in the woods.  Every morning we hike around the lake and the dogs swim.

We went bouldering  (the first time in years) and had a great time.  We took the dogs with us and by the end they were beat!  We’ll be heading down to Bishop to boulder later today too.  We met climbing and then took a break for a while, but I think we might be hooked again!  We have also hiked some amazing trails and the views are stunning.  Mostly we take the goldens, because little Stella can't hike a long time.  She's happy hanging around the cabin.

Tired Stella

 Tired Nellie

Tired Dashell

We have had amazing dinners up here in the cabin and some really good sine.  There is no telephone, no television, just peace and quiet.  We are staying until the end of the week and then will head back to Los Angeles for a week and then come back up around the 24^th thru the 29^th.  Our best friends E&K will come up and stay with us for 4-5 nights, which will be so much fun.

If you are from around Southern California and have a chance to visit Mammoth Lakes in the summer I highly recommend it.  Even if your not from around here, come and visit.  It’s mostly a winter destination since the skiing is amazing, but since I’m not a winter girl the summer is perfect for me!

Change is good!

Mr. Owl at Le Sivadal

Our amazing view from the terrace

       

The "gang" in Penne

When we came home from our year sabbatical in October 09 we knew we needed to get back to France as soon as possible.   We've outgrown Los Angeles, it's too busy and too big, just not our style anymore. We want countryside, hardly any street lights, beautiful architecture...basically France.  10 years ago we said to each other "in ten years we'll move to France".  I always keep goals - 6 months, 1 year, 3 year, 5 years.  And each year I'd write down "we'll move to France".  It was hard getting back to the studio and back to business.  We love the kids but doing the same thing for 10 years was getting old.  We wanted to take what we know and move it outside of the classroom/studio.  Sometimes it's someone else looking in who opens your eyes and Kim did that for us.  Raison d'Art was born last summer and when we came back to Los Angeles we started to market our "summer camp" for teens. 

Last Monday we arrived home from our first trip to France with 9 teens.  18 days in the Tarn, 16 at the most amazing house in the country and 2 nights in Toulouse.  It was wonderful and exceeded our expectations!  We hope we changed some lives and/or opened some eyes.  If you're interested in reading about the trip and learning about our new business check it out here.

After being home for a month or so one of our clients asked us if we were interested in selling the studio.  Yes, we said.  Yes, yes, yes!  This client has sent her daughter to us for 4 years and believes in what we do and wants to expand on it.  Something we never wanted to do.  She's a very smart business woman and a good friend.  It was a perfect match.  We closed the deal in May and we are now Independent Contractors for her.  Still doing some camps and helping her as much as we can with training new teachers, understanding the daily office duties, etc...  We will work until the end of this week, take the month of August off (and spend it in Mammoth), come back in September and work through mid-October, but then after that we are moving back to France.  Yes, you read that right, we are moving back.  How long...hopefully for good.

We found an amazing house to rent in our favorite village St. Antonin Noble Val.  During the year we were there (as most of you know) we lived in Les Costes, a 200 year old stone farmhouse in the middle of the countryside.  Very little heat, very isolated, but amazing.  This time we want to rent in a village for a bit.  We think it will make the winters a bit easier, being around other people.  We'll rent for a year and in the meantime look for an place to buy.

Next year we'll be offering (2) women's retreats in May, with yoga, cooking classes, wine tasting, visits to museums, villages, etc... and then (4) summer camps for kids (1) for kids 11/12 and the other (3) for kids 13-17.  We'll rent the same house we rented this summer as it was so perfect for what we are doing.  It's call Le Sivadal and it's just outside of Cordes.

This business idea has become a reality and we can't wait to get over to France to start working on it.  We'll register as a french business so we can pay into the french system.  We want to be legit.  We are also thinking of offering some art classes for local kids on Wednesday and Saturday during the school year. 

Bruce is all set to paint, paint and paint.  I hope to get settled and get a wheel and a kiln and start throwing pottery again, as it's been almost 2 years since I've thrown.  The dogs are super excited too.  They had an amazing time during the year they lived there.  Nellie has never been but she'll love it too.

So loads of amazing things are happening to us.  We are excited, thrilled, a bit scared (because what if it doesn't work), but then so what, we'll figure something else out.  Sure we could stay here and try to open another studio in another area, but we don't want to do that and it's so expensive here.  What we pay 1 month in Los Angeles will cover us for 4-5  months in France.  Isnt' that crazy?  So, why not try and make this work.  Life's too short.

I will be updating this blog, as I've had many requests to keep my personal blog going.  As long as you are not bored with my everyday life, I'm happy to continue reporting, but keep checking our Raison d'Art blog (which also gives information about our programs) and pass it on to anyone you might think would be interested.  We are almost done with our website and I'll post that when it's ready.

It's good to be back.  I have missed my blogging, but I wasn't ready to announce the sale of the business until now and really didn't have much to talk about.  But new exciting stuff is on the horizon, so stay tuned.

Happy couple in Toulouse

NEW BLOG and BUSINESS

So...got a new blog and some exciting news. That's all I'm going to say. You will have to check out the new blog to get all the details. I won't be posting here anymore, so make sure you add the new blog to your favorites. I will say one thing...IT'S AMAZING AND EXCITING.

Raison d'Art