Postcard Travelogue

A habit of mine has been useful when we travel. During trips one of the things that is useful for me is to make small watercolors on postcards and mail them back to family and friends. The old tradition of travel postcards is long gone, but these are fun because the recipients get an original watercolor complete with stamps (sometimes foreign ones) and a little personal note. Reviewing some of those postcards recently was enjoyable because of the memories they conjure. Here are some from trips of the past.

This is a postcard of the Pont d'Avignon in France. Behind the famous bridge are buildings surviving from the times when the Catholic Popes lived there. This bridge no longer spans the Rhone and only the four arches shown have remained since the late 17th century. This is a view from our river boat which navigated the river from Avignon northward.

During the same trip, not far north of Avignon we visited Chateauneuf du Pape, the wine region named after the summer castle of one of the Avignon popes, who enjoyed the cooler high country in summer. Although the actual castle is in ruins, just below it is the village by the same name. Surrounding the village are extensive vineyards and wineries

that still use the label "Chateauneuf du Pape." This postcard shows a vineyard near the ruins and the Rhone far below in the distance.

On another trip some years ago we visited Almeria on the south coast of Spain. It's a less-visited coastal city that dates to at least the 10th century, perhaps even to Roman times. Almeria was a city of the Caliphate of Cordoba, named for a citadel (the Alcazaba) built above it in the 11th century. The moors left in the 15th century. Today the city is

one of the seats of agriculture in Spain--there are more than 100,000 acres of greenhouses near, despite the arid weather. Furthermore, the international film industry has filmed dozens of movies in the citadel and in purpose-built movie sets north of the city. We sailed into the harbor and had a great view of the harbor light that guards entrance. I painted this postcard of the the light and mailed it home.

During the same trip we spent a day in Tangier, much of it visiting the famous kasbah. The city was founded several thousand years ago by Phoenicians and has successively been ruled by Carthage, Rome, Vandals and Visigoths, the Umayyads and then successive European countries. Today it's a striking city on the Mediterranean that is one of the principal cities in the Kingdom of Morocco. We only had a few hours to visit, so a tour of the kasbah was our best bet. The kasbah and medina sections of the city are old and dense, with streets that are mere passageways between the buildings. For a time in the 20th century Tangier was home to

American and European expatriates, partly because the city was at the time administered by a group of European nations and was called an "international city." We made a walking tour of the old quarter, where much of the walls and many doors are painted blue. As you might expect, cats are prominent residents, no doubt because of their practical value. I saw this cat on a doorstep in the kasbah, calmly regarding the passing parade of tourists, and made a postcard to send home.

Not long ago we made a visit to southern France and stayed just next to Monaco, the tiny nation-city on the coast. Like other coastal settlements, Monaco was founded by Phoenicians thousands of years ago. In the 121th century the Grimaldi family became rulers and remain so today. It is also home to the famous casino named Monte Carlo, from which it derives substantial income. The Grimaldi palace is on the original high promontory called Le Rocher (the Rock) that juts into the Mediterranean. It's easy to see why someone would settle in such an easily defensible place. For centuries you had to

climb stairs to the top of Le Rocher, although modern elevators now exist as well. Besides the Grimaldi palace, the old town, Monaco-Ville, with its narrow streets and beautiful views remains a great place to visit, shop, and dine. We had lunch in a place called Fredy's and enjoyed a grand time wandering the streets. The National Oceanographic Museum with it's yellow submarine is another prime spot to visit on Le Rocher.

In retrospect I got more from these little watercolors than intended. My original thought was that doing them would keep me drawing and working at least in a water-based medium. Once I began doing them, though, they also became an end in themselves because they are so enjoyable to do. And now it turns out they're excellent as memory devices too. Too bad more painters don't do something similar.