Picture perfect Deia

Would-be Picassos find artistic inspiration at La Residencia

There was a sickening splosh as my 動きやすい dropped into the bucket of water. It turned raw sienna in 前線 of my 注目する，もくろむs.

The 'no 動きやすい' 政策 is one of the 遺産／遺物s of Richard Branson's 統治する at La Residencia Hotel in Deia. It has the 影響 of making guests behave like naughty schoolchildren, taking calls behind palm trees and, in my 事例／患者, keeping their phone hidden in a 捕らえる、獲得する of paints, with the result that it became 井戸／弁護士席 and truly splattered.

I 設立する the 絵 very 吸収するing and that 軟化するd the blow of losing all my friends. Deia is an artist's dream. It lies on the north-west coast of Majorca, about half an hour from Palma.

My taxi 一連の会議、交渉／完成するd the headland at Sa Pedrissa to be 迎える／歓迎するd by a staggering 背景 of the Serra de Tramuntana mountains with ochre-coloured houses 流出／こぼすing 負かす／撃墜する into the valley.

I wasn't going to have to stroll far to find みごたえのある 見解（をとる）s. Two minutes later, on arriving at La Residencia, I realised I wouldn't even have to leave the grounds, so 素晴らしい is the setting.

Ten minutes later I was wondering whether I would, in fact, ever leave my room as I looked out over the terraces of olive trees 色合いd silver and green and the waxy yellow of lemons. What is it about le mons growing on trees that is so sexy?

La Residencia is one of those hotels that people speak of affectionately, with guests returning year after year. I can see why. 初めは two 古代の fincas, or manor houses, they were 変えるd into a hotel in 1984. Richard Branson bought the hotel in 1987 and sold it on in 2002. It is elegant and understated.

Deia itself took its 現在の 形態／調整 during the Moorish 時代, between the tenth and 13th Centuries, when the inhabitants began to build the terraces and irrigation systems that give the area its 農業の richness. There are still strong traces in the language and most place 指名するs are Arabic. The 指名する Deia comes from the Arabic for 'small town'.

It could have stayed a hidden Majorcan village had Robert 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs not decided to make it his home. The English poet and 小説家 first moved here in 1932 with his mistress, Laura Riding.

Gertrude Stein said to him: 'Go to Deia. It's 楽園 if you can take it.' Muses followed, friends （機の）カム to stay and it soon 設立するd a 評判 as a foreign artists' 植民地 and a cradle for literature and art. 権利 now, it was June and more than 30 degrees. Definitely not the ideal time of year to paint outside, although I was giving it a go.

However, come April, La Residencia 申し込む／申し出s a 一連の course-based holidays, and 絵 is one of them. The five-night Art Break is run by 地元の artist David Templeton and we met in the hotel 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業.

We sat surrounded by some of La Residencia's art collection. The 残り／休憩（する） of the 450 or so 絵s are 陳列する，発揮するd all over the hotel - in bedrooms, along 回廊（地帯）s, in the restaurants, in the spa.

There are 作品 by more than 85 artists, all of whom have lived in Deia. The 同時代の 絵s sit 井戸／弁護士席 in the classic 17th Century finca.

La Residencia 行為／法令／行動するs as a modern-day patron of the arts, sponsoring 展示s and 事実上の／代理 as the base for a 栄えるing artistic community. Once a year artists are 招待するd to 明らかにする／漏らす their personal impression of 作品 by artists such as Velasquez, Caravaggio, Delacroix and Titian. Artists also 持つ／拘留する 展示s in the hotel gallery.

With a guest 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） that 含むs every actor, sportsman and foreign king and queen you can think of, the artists are on to a good thing. People on holiday like to shop and when you've got a few million tucked away, the 半端物 絵 or two is as good a memento as a straw donkey.

David, for example, had sold 作品 to Bono, Spike Milligan and The Corrs. In such a heady atmosphere I felt that the two days I was going to spend with him were going to be 奮起させるing - if a trifle hot.

The に引き続いて day, breakfast by the pool after a glorious 早期に-morning swim was …を伴ってd by the daily 公式発表 telling guests of 地元の activities and events.

My heart sank as I read that I could go for a guided walk along the coast from Puerto Soller to Muleta, descend to Bens D'Avall, continue to Lluc Alcari, Cala Deia and 支援する to the hotel. This is meant to be the most beautiful walk in Europe.

Alternatively, I could take a boat excursion along the Costa Nord, with breathtaking 見解（をとる）s of the cliffs, or visit the market of the day at Alcudia.

非，不，無 of this was for me, unfortunately, as my 長，率いる was going to be buried in a paint マリファナ. David and I 始める，決める up our easels, the morning sun hitting the yellow ochres of the houses opposite. After an hour we were melting and 始める，決める off 負かす／撃墜する a 跡をつける through the village and olive groves to the beach.

地元の artists still 持続する the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs tradition of naked swimming and long 週末 parties but I settled for a glass of ワイン. I'd only just met David. We decided to 始める，決める off to Soller in the afternoon to see the retrospective of Deia's most famous artist, George Sheridan. George was born in Boston and after serving in Korea was encouraged to 減少（する） off in Deia on his way home.

Like many after him he never left. He is now 81 - and looks about 65.

The 展示 showed 50 years of his work, starting with figurative 絵s and tracing his 開発 to semiabstraction. It was fascinating to see the 影響（力）s of his 同時代のs - Matisse and Willem de Kooning.

After the 展示, we wandered 負かす／撃墜する the Carrer de sa Lluna (Moon Road) where I bought olive oil in the Finca Gourmet. The tram 動揺させるd through the square disgorging bikini-覆う？ girls from nearby Puerto Soller. They were 輸入するd second-手渡す from San Francisco - the trolleys not the girls.

Puerto Soller developed in the Twenties and Thirties with money from the 輸出（する） of olive oil, lemons and oranges. Majorcans went to the South of フラン to peddle their wares and the French 影響（力） shows in the little squares and plazas. There are several exceptional restaurants in Deia.

It was fun to have a drink at Las Palmeros at la hora de violeta (dusk) and eat plates of calamares reblenos sepia en salsa, watching the world go by.

Although there are 明白に tourists in Deia, the village has remained 不変の. The 地元のs still 持続する their customs and celebrate the 地元の fiestas, as I was to find out that night. I went for a stroll and 設立する what seemed like the entire village gathered together.

Children 列d up to 成し遂げる enthusiastic karate moves on a make-転換 行う／開催する／段階 in the square and grown-ups sang やめる 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の renditions of All My Loving. And 存在 Spain, the 花火s didn't start until 1am.

You can't visit Deia without becoming obsessed by Robert 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs, so 深遠な has been his 影響（力） on the village. I joined フランs 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs, his daughter-in-法律, for a walk through the village. Robert believed that the Teix mountain 範囲 that runs 一連の会議、交渉／完成する Deia has 磁石の 所有物／資産／財産s that 影響（力） those who live here.

Perhaps I could have become a muse had I not had a 計画（する） to catch. Just before I 長，率いるd off, I visited Robert 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs' 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な. The headstone reads 簡単に 'Poeta'. フランs said that woul d have been enough, to be considered a poet. I 設立する this strangely moving.

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