Day 517 Walk walk WaLk!!

December 11, 2015December 11, 20152 Comments

Is what you do on a tour…I do wish we could have gone in all these fantastic places. It took us three days to figure out how to get back to the Marais. By then we were out of time to look.

Carnavalet Museum. Such beauty. A statue of Louis XiV the Sun King famous for his lavish lifestyle his mistresses and his palace Versailles. And I thought this was a woman!

Haussmann the designer of the wonderful Paris we all love today asked the city to dedicate Hôtel Carnavalet as home of the Paris city museum.

The Marais is becoming upscale with fancy boutiques and shops lining the quaint narrow streets but the integrity of the old facades must be maintained. An expensive clothing store in an old patisserie. Hmm I think I would rather have a tasty treat from a Patisserie than clothing.

Fantastic carvings over the Guerlain store. The wrought iron is not bad either. No time to sniff the famous perfume!

A random building on a random street corner in le Marais. So man beautiful building …so little time to do more than looks and run. Zip zip zip on we charge to Carnavalet. So much to see no time to linger.

Around the corner from Carnavalet this impressive building was built for the illegitimate daughter of the one of the French kings. I think it’s the museum of locks and keys but I am not sure. Zip zip off we go. Be careful not to trip over gate locks cobblestones slopping sidewalks.

Just in case she forgot a bar sis inter was added to her royal coat of arms…..the diagonal line between the fleur de lis.

Lucky Parisians can rent one of these electric cars for 150 euros a year. They can drove them 150 miles from Paris but no more. Hmm I could not drive to Atlanta in one but….there’s no gas. The solar panels charges them. You reserve one via the Internet were its flagged and held just for you. I think you can also just rent it for one trip. Incredible to think you have access to a car for a mere 150 a year.

We are rounding the corner to the old Jewish quarter. Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 516 Place des Vosges en le Marais

December 9, 2015December 11, 20157 Comments

The Hotel Sully is a royal gateway to Place des Vosges. There was an enormous palace Hotel de Tournelle at Place des Vosges back in the 1500s.
The shop arcade that runs around the park on every side.

It is the first planned park-then known as Park Royale and was built in Paris by Henry IV but the reason its inception was sad.

Henry II who built Tournelle palace died from his wounds in a jousting tournament there. His wife Catherine de Medicis had the palace razed after his death replacing it with this beloved Parisian park. Bytw Catherine knew how to hold a grudge waiting ten years to capture and kill the knight who mortally wounded her husband.

Four fountains splash in the summer while Parisians sunbathe often in their swimming suits. The buildings surrounding the park are different in that they all have the same facade. At their bases is an arcade with shops and apartments over the shops.

Sadly all the Paris fountains were turned off for the winter.

A statue of Louis 13th dominates the center of the park. A large carrousel once commermorated his marriage in the park.

A Parisian water fountain. Yes I drank from it.

Victor Hugo who saved Notre Dame with his Hunchback of Notre Dame lived here on Place des Vosges. You can still visit his abode which is now a museum.

I love the Parisian street lights. No mere pole will do for Paris!! The varieties are infinite.

Tomorrow off to the Jewish quarter of the Marais with more sightseeing on the way.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 415 – Marais

December 9, 2015December 9, 2015Leave a comment

Back to Paris to the Marais. A quick trip on the metro from FDR on the fabled Champs Elysees to Place de la Bastille.

Our tour started at Place de la Bastille where the first French Revolution started on July 14, 1789. There were two more revolutions. La Bastille was an infamous prison before then.

All that is left to mark where la Bastille stood are the red cobblestones.

Off down the Rue de Sainte Antoine. Did you know the street names are posted on the buildings at each corner. You know exactly where you are.

Our first French statue Pierre-Augustine Caron de Beaumarchais was a notable early revolutionary supporting both the American and French Revolution. We owe him for acquiring the rights to Voltaire and publishing it in Germany. Banned in France Voltaire would have been lost to history’s for not for Beaumarchais. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Beaumarchais

Originally a swamp or Marais this was the Jewish section until WW 2. You know how that ended.

It was also the home to many royals before 1600. After the revolution it became a working class neighborhood. The area still has more prevolutionary buildings than the rest of Paris.

Le Nôtre. We drooled over the Patisseries. Did you know you have to have a baker with an advanced degree to use the name?
A fabulous le église aka church in the Marais.

The entrance Hotel de Sully on Saint Antoine.

The courtyard of the Hotel de Sully built in 1634. A mansion for the Duc de Sully superintendent of finances to King Henry IV. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hôtel_de_SullyThe four seasons are carved into the facades on each side.

Enter the hallway to the gardens de Sully.

A panorama of the building. They lived on the second floor.

The formal garden with l’orangerie- similar to a conservatory. French gardens are as formal as they consider English gardens wild and carefree.

From here you have easy access to Place des Vosges, the home of the kings.

More Marais tomorrow. We saw a lot on that tour.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 514 – bored yet?

December 7, 20152 Comments

A bit more Rouen. How fancy is this for a postcard shop on the Rue de la Gros Horlage? Nothing like that here.

Am art nouveau shop front? No not here either. I wish.

A leaning 700 yr old house. We only had wigwams then. And yes the posts are that crooked leaning at 85 degrees? They straighten the insides and square the floors and Windows but keep the lean in the old houses! No idea how.

A door a couple of houses down from the leaning building. That lean must be so contagious.

Where else would you find this charming old French car parked in front of that awesome green door. Not in America who we need everything brand new.

Bytw we waited for Audrey Hepburn to show up but she never did. We thought it might be her car from Sabrina or Charade.

Turn another corner and you can buy fresh scallops for your dinner.

And some fabulous fresh flowers nearby for your table.

Wandering back to the boat the way I came I decided to change course. One left turn and there was the back of Notre Dame. Not a bad sight to find by accident.

You know they added that spire recently – in the last 100 years – to make it the tallest French cathedral? These things are important! Oui?!

The Normans still guard the bridge but the Quai out boat was moored at. Normandy was given to the fierce Norseman by the French kings back in the 900s to keep them from attacking the rest of France. 5% of the people that live in Normandy still speak Norman. Hmm who knew?
Guess that’s it for Rouen. I do hope to get back to try that sole meunière. What was I thinking not going there for lunch?

Thanks for reading

Margaret xxx

Day 513 A Little more Rouen

December 6, 2015December 7, 2015Leave a comment

Rouen brought us Julia Child. On the town square Sits the oldest auberge in France -La Couronnes founded 1345 – where she shook her first bite French cooking – Sole Meunière. The auberge sits on the old town square and still serves the sole for a mere 42 euros but maybe a taste of it could still change the world?

La Couronnes menu. Under La Mare on the right you will find the Sole Meunière an astronomical revelation that started Julia Child off on her quest at revolutionized American cooking and produced Mastering the Art of French Cooking as well made her the first tv chef superstar.

The lawyers practice in a Gothic spired cake called the Palais de Justice.

A panorama of the Palais De Justice. Fantastic glowing in the morning light.

Turn left and walk down Rue de Gros Horlage aka the big clock which runs from Notre Dame to the Market Square. The big clock complete with sheep dates from the 1600s when Rouen was a wool capital.

Accordion players on the street corners. They have to pay for a license. In Paris they even have auditions. Not everyone gets to be a street entertainer!

The town market square where you can buy candy or flowers or scallops, ride on a carousel, eat at a cafe or visit the site of Joan of Arcs funeral pyre.

More village square. For some reason they stuck a great modern church dedicated to Joan of Arc in the middle of it.

Magnificent old stained glass windows from a church destroyed in World War 2 were installed in Joan of Arcs new church on the market square.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret having ahard time being enthused about drawing her everyday life after France. Xxx

Day 512 – Rouen

December 5, 2015Leave a comment

The much smaller charming capital of Normandy – William the Conqueror and Rochard the Lionhearted’s French capital city. Smaller than Paris but filled with medieval charm…think of it as an arrondissement sized town.

There are 100s of half timber houses charmingly titling along the streets. Two fabulous gothic cathedrals minutes from each other. It also stretches along the Seine like my beloved Paris. Many live here instead because it’s affordable and there are no mobs of people.

All reasons that drew Monet there from Paris to paint the cathedral 28 times. Living was affordable. The townspeople living around the cathedral let him paint from their house’s windows. Handy in the changing French weather. Our guide said they have three seasons spring fall and a long wet grey season aka winter.

Saint Mc Clou. Maybe two blocks from Notre Dame.

The lacy intricate carvings on these two buildings are just incredible. There are layers of encrustations unique to these buildings. The spires soar to the heavens. Rouen’s Notre Dame spires make it the tallest church in France. During the reformation Protestants tried to destroy the images on the churches facade because they thought Catholics worshipped them as idols. Maybe they did but they are magnificent.

100s of gargoyles twist off the face of St McClou. Such fancy waterspouts. Some seem to climb down the building. Others turn toward heaven.

One of the spires of Notre Dame seen thru a wall of tracery.

Where else can you walk down a street lined with medival half time be houses and see a Gorgeous gothic church peeking at the end?

Tomorrow a little more Rouen.

Thanks for reading

Margaret xxx

Day 511 – Tomorrow

December 5, 20152 Comments

A bit of Rouen the second most charming city in France and the capital of Normandy.

Internal Travelogue: Working from Imagination

December 4, 2015Leave a comment

Think its time to try this….going stir crazy…BYTW I LOVE Marc’s sketching…and his classes at craftsy are great too!

Citizen Sketcher

As blog readers know, I love to sketch on location. But to be honest, you can’t be sketching from life all the time.

It’s demanding – constantly getting to new places. Deciding where to go, finding the time, schlepping your gear. All the little travel expenses.

But that’s my personal flaw (and my motivating passion) as an artist. I’m addicted to the new. Always wanting to find the next exciting place to discover through drawing. Or wanting to return to a well known place, and see it with a new technique.

But on the occasions where I’m trapped by circumstance, not able to go exploring – well, most of the time I’ll end up drawing people. People are an endless subject – we’re always doing something.

BUT – even then, there are only so many drawings of people playing on their phones or reading on the subway you can do in a week 🙂

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Day 510 – Hmm a change of plan

December 4, 2015December 4, 2015Leave a comment

Ready to be well but still coughing like crazy. One more old lost post.

I think I actually scrubbed this painting out. Erica loves to give me fits painting her. I just hope I feel well enough to go to life modeling this week.

seems as if the only thing I do consistently is post on my blog and make art.
I took another look at this mess.

While watching Bloodlines on netflixs I realized one of the OFF things about this painting besides the toooo Orange color was the head was too narrow around the eyes. As soon as I got up this morning I started adjusting her. I life red a half an inch near her right eye. And lifted a lot of the bright orange. It was just TOOO Orange.

Day 509 – A Test

December 3, 2015December 3, 2015Leave a comment

The cold rages on. So publishing something that was sitting in my drafts folder for a while. Funny the things you notice when you stop to sketch them. I have walked by this fountain hundreds of times over the last 7-8 years going to all the little shops in this shopping center on Davis Road. It holds my current hair stylist DJ & Co. , The Inner Bean – a delicious local cafe where I sketch alot and Consigned for Design a terrific homegoods consignment store.

I don’t think I truly looked at it or should I say slowed down enough to look at the fountain as I walked by to meet a friend for lunch or get my hair cut.

I did this time. I ended up drawing it twice because the fountain outgrew the page! When you are drawing you notice every little detail trying to capture whatever you are drawing. You aren’t thinking about a thing other than whatever you are drawing at the time. Really odd when you think about it- never to have noticed the details of this really quite lovely fountain sitting in the middle of a parking lot- an oddity to begin with right?
I drew it again and once again it almost didnt fit on the double page!! OOPS!! I really need to learn to use some dots first to figure out the layout…one day I hope!!

I also decided to paint the words section on the first fountain yellow to give it some contrast. Picking the complimentary color is usually a winner…guess I should have gone with orange! For some reason I went with yellow…Aureolin Yellow…too strong for the soft Cerulean blue background. I could have lifted it off but the ink would have run…not a good thing! Colors used to paint the fountain Daniel Smith Piemonite and cobalt or ultramarine blue. The background is cerulean.

In the second drawing I had alot of running of the ink because YET again I lettered it BEFORE I painted the background. Grey skies are a bit boring in January so I mixed some Winsor Permanent White Gouache with Cerulean and painted over the greyed out Cerulean.