Day 521 – Paris to Normandy

December 14, 20154 Comments

Another map of the places we went on our voyage down, or is it UP the Seine River. I guess we went both ways. Lol.

Maps are a lot of fun and make a great memory for a travel journal. You should try one.

First make a list of what u want to include. Sites restaurants places u stayed. Then make a rough draft of the roads or river you traveled. Use your photos to jog your memory. They are a lot of fun and your friends will love them.

I used Carbon platinum ink on strathmore 50o mixed media paper. Love that ink and that paper. Inked with the carbon pen, a Kuretake brush pen for lettering and a Noodler Konrad. The river was inked with the Kuretake for emphasis.

I drew the river with a pencil first but the rest was drawn straight on the paper with the carbon pen.

Colors used cerulean cobalt Inathrodone blue burnt sienna burnt umber yellow ochre cad yellow cad red and alizarin. Oh and hookers green.

Now go make a map!

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 520 – A Map of the Marais

December 13, 2015December 13, 2015Leave a comment

I like to draw maps of my trips sometimes. This one is definitely over the top compared to most of the ones I do. I probably have twenty hours in it so far.

This is a WIP. I think it needs something more on the right bottom corner but not sure what. Sooner or later it will come.

This is the walking tour we did of the Marais – about 2.5 miles- when we first got to Paris. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to complete it.

The biggest problem I had doing it was figuring out where we went. I had to use google maps to find the street names that went with my photos of the sites. I knew we started at Place de la Bastille and ended at the Hôtel de Ville. That was about it. I didn’t know the names of the streets and couldn’t remember the names of some of the sites like the Biblioteque.

Bit by bit I found my way thru the Marais so I could draw the streets. The next step was to put the buildings in their proper places. I tried to be accurate with my street layout but sometimes to fit buildings in I had to move the streets a little like around my favorite Merveiulleux de Fred and the oldest buildings in Paris on Francois Miron. Oops.

I also turned quite a few buildings around to face the viewer like Carnavalet and the Jewish école (school) on Francois Miron.

I drew this first with a pencil and then inked it with my Carbon Pen for two reasons – the fine point and the ink. Carbon ink doesn’t smear a lot. All done, all erased successfully with no smears. I noticed something that I did not ink. Took off the lid. Started drawing.

Suddenly I had ink blobs by the river and on La Pause Baubourg. The top of the pen was full of ink. I had ink all over my hands. 😢 I was seriously annoyed. I guess it’s a challenge to fix it right?

Something else to think about.

Sooner or later I will probably paint this or maybe just paint some things like the river.

Bytw I found this very cool map of the Marais on BHV/Marais’ website http://www.bhv.fr/plan-marais/ when I was trying to see what the right side of the BHV looked like. I only had a photo of the domed entrance. Having been in the BHV by the other entrance I knew it was different. Such a plain entrance.

I also found this very cool photo of the BHV there. I had to share it. It’s all decorated for Christmas now with a British theme. Mine was taken during the daytime. How cool is this store. Too of my list for a revisit whe. I get back to Paris.

This is a fast sketch Christine our tour guide in the Marais and a bit of journaling about it.
Thanks for reading. Time to tackle drawing the Seine now.

Margaret xxx

Day 519 – In Search of Aux Merveilleux de Fred in the Marais

December 13, 2015Leave a comment

Aux Merveilleux – each a bit of meringue clothed with whip cream topped with anything from cherry to coconut or chocolate or coffee. Seven flavors! We had been told they were incrediblé! A true taste experience.

We only had time to press our noses against the glass and marvel at the Merveilleux marching in rows upon rows of many colors as we marched toward the Hôtel de Ville. ViTe ViTe!

Just time to snatch a quick photo of the name and address Aux Merveilleux de Fred Rue de Rivoli and Rue de Pont St Louis Phillippe. ViTe ViTe! Here’s the website! http://www.auxmerveilleux.com/home_en/ 

A moment more to longingly gaze into the interior of Aux Merveilleux de Fred. Quelle chandelier! Fantastique! ViTe ViTe! More to see! Time is running out on our tour!

We made it our mission to return and BUY some Merveilleux. Do you know how many Aux Marveilleux de Freds are in Paris alone? Which one had we drooled over? En le Marais! That narrowed it down.

What address? Thanks goodness for the photo with the street address.

TEN metro stops from our HÔtel?

Three blocks past the Hôtel de Ville into the Marais and turn right on what? Pont St Louis Phillipe! Toward the river?

There it was just where we had seen it! On a corner teeming with people.

Would there be any left for us? Did we have time to stand in that line? Mais oui, the line also moved ViTe ViTe!

Our clerk spoke English learned from Saturday morning tv! A miracle. We got a box of six assorted lovelies and off we went! To the Louvre to l’Orangerie, then to the Seine where we enjoyed our Merveilleux as we dreamed above the river.

So why post one more photo of Aux Merveilleux de Fred? The line.

All those people out front.

Never ever eat at a restaurant or, as in this case, a patisserie that does not have a line. The line tells you that what is inside is delicious, worth the wait, worth your money, worth the search for Aux Merveilleux de Fred.

Bytw there’s one in NYC now! Watch out Fred. We may be making a field trip! Christmas in NYC with Aux Merveilleux de Fred?!

One more reason short walk in the Marais tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!

Margaret xxx

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 503 – Grateful

November 25, 20152 Comments

To know Paris is as lovely as ever despite those who tried to blow it up.

A random street near the Champs Elusses
Les Invalides

The Eiffel Tower. I do t get tired of looking at it.

Chaps Elysses by rainy nite

In a mob or

Or early morning
Rue d’artois

Quai Greinelle Out our cabins window

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more French adventures

Margaret xxx ready to head back to Paris

Day 502 – playtime

November 24, 20151 Comment

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Really like this one of our chef Dimitris favorite Patisserie en Conflans. Evidently you have to have a lot of training to be able t use the name Patisserie and have a special pastry chef on staff.

Our first meal in France at L’ Artois on Rue de l’Artois around the corner from our hotel. The food was ok but the host and hostess were trés charmante as was the restaurant.

The Ranville church and cemetery. Love the colors of the flowers combined with the somber tombstones.

Cathedral en Vernon. Did I say I love all the gothic churches? Pregothic ones too.

One of my favorite was St Mclou in Rouen with Notre Dame that Monet painted 28 times in the background. St Mcclou was smaller and just lovely with all its encrustations.

The front of Saint Mcclou. The Rouen Notre Dame looked very similar to Paris Notre Dame.

Thanks for reading

Margaret xxx

Day 501 – Photoshop Express

November 23, 2015Leave a comment

Another free download is Photoshop Epxress. Great for doctoring those thousand photos you took on grey days in France. Easy enough that my three year old grandson had fun using it. He loved clicking on the different photo effects and changing the pictures.

Watermill at Bayeux France

Before photoshop express

APanorama shot of the same mill.

Before Photoshop express. Big difference.

Before Photoshop express- taken into the sun. Never a good idea but sometimes the only choice.

Ranville church panorama – dream in photoshop express

Before photoshop express. Late afternoon dark gloomy afternoon.
A lot of fun. Go download it and have fun exploring.

View from the Eiffel Tower on a grey rainy day.

Before pse

Can’t decide which I like better. I think the second one.
Thanks for reading!

Margaret xxx

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November 19, 2015November 20, 2015Leave a comment

Sketched during our dinner – Could be called “Waiting for the Bill!”

Jean Cocteau’s self portrait

We actually sat below some original Jean Cocteau sketches in a restaurant we ate at called Bouef Sur la Toit. I have been meaning to share his sketches with you but the wifi on the boat made it impossible. So today seems like a good day to do it.

Beef on the Roof which was a Paris jazz hot spot of the glitterati called Les Enfants Terribles back in the 20-40s. Coco Channel was a member of this circle as were Charlie Chaplin, Arturo Rubenstein, Josephine Baker, Maurice Ravel and Maurice Chevalier, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Albert Camus, Igor Stravinsky to name a few..Bouef launched the careers of singer Juliet Greco and singer/song writer Charles Trennet.