The Road to la Rochepot

n his autobiography, "Related Twilights: Notes from an Artist’s Diary", Herman relates how he came upon la Rochepot by chance while travelling through Burgundy in east-central France: 'There were hills, all pink and red, tall with golden leaves in autumnal splendour ', he recalled. 'Along the road came a procession of ultramarine carts each pulled by a giant of a horse and followed by a peasant couple, the man dressed in faded blue – almost lilac – and the woman covered from head to foot in black. […] It was a fortnight of bright autumn days, and nights lit by a red moon. Just to walk in this magnificence was sheer enchantment, and afterwards to draw the things I saw was an added joy'.