Day 543 – Paris is

December 26, 20157 Comments

There any place more magical? Even the city hall – the Hôtel de Ville – looks like a castle! The Metro stops all have grand signage which fascinated me. My favorite was the Art Deco ones in Pigalle.

This was drawn quickly with a pentel brush pen. It overflowed onto my metro stop page. Painted w French ochre walls and Inathrodone on the black doors. The roof is a random gray that was on my palette. Aka leftovers.

As I was painting this it reminded me of Ludwig Bemelman’s Madeline stories a childhood favorite of mine. Those books were the first time I remember hearing of Paris and France as a small child of five. I used to sit on the floor of my bedroom and read them.

The drawing was actually from memory drawn the day we went there.

The Metro is a little intimidating the first time you ride. It all moves so fast. Zip zip the train stops and started. Fully automated with nobody to ask questions. What if you end up in the wrong place. Our guide Christina explained it’s mysteries to us and after that we had no problems hopping on the metro.

Oops except the one time we could not find the stop to get on it and ended up taking a pedicab backup to the boat. That was the day we walked nine miles so we were ready or at least I was!! We even asked a mounted police lady where it was and she told us two more miles! Bytw she was wrong! It was on the corner nearby. It just didn’t have the fancy signs we were used to looking for. Who knew they had plain signs too?

Thanks for reading.

Margaret who is babysitting tonite xxx

Day 541 – Merry Christmas

December 24, 2015Leave a comment

My youngest son and his two babies. Henry was totally absorbed in The Grinch. Livia was being cute saying cheese over and over while her dad laughed at her.

Merry Christmas!

Margaret who has to get back to Cooking dinner. No time for art on Christmas Eve!!

Day 539 – Great Van Gogh Documentary?!

December 22, 2015December 22, 2015Leave a comment

The graves of Vincent, 37 yr, and Theo Van Gogh, 33 yr, in the Auvers cemetery. Dead within six months of each other.

Stars Benedict Cumbebatch and Vincent and James Parker the new Harry Potter as his brother Theo. Highly recommend this BBC documentary on his life based on his detailed letters to his brother Theo.

Great free Van Gogh BBC documentary for download from his letters with his brother Theo starring Benedict Cumberbatch https://vimeo.com/groups/35mmandrisdamburs/videos/109538758

So what’s great about it besides Benedict and James? The insites from his letters into how and why he painted as he did. If it’s not in the letters to his brother Theo it’s not in the video. He talks about why he chose his colors, his style and his subject matter.

Watch it. It’s riveting if you love Van Gogh like I do! It was filmed on locations from his life. Interesting to me because I had been to some of them when we went to France like Montmartre in Paris and Auvers where he committed suicide and is buried with his younger brother Theo.

Margaret off to the Christmas Rush XXX

Day 537 – Finally

December 22, 2015December 22, 20152 Comments

Figured out the title page for my France travel journal. I filled up two Strathmore 500 mixed Media journals but still have a lot of pages to paint in what I call my coloring book.

The light was bad on the boat for painting so I mostly drew with my Noodler Konrads while I was on board.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret making headway in her journals finally. 😘

Day 537 – Another Van Gogh

December 21, 2015December 21, 2015Leave a comment

Auvers remains much as it was when Van Gogh painted it and died there in 1890. The on.y changes in the lane behind he Inn he lived in are tourists and cars. It is part of a preserved section of French countryside so it can’t be changed. If the trees were trimmed back you could see the house in the painting. We climbed the stairs which are quite step to the lane above.

Another view of the lane with the tourists everywhere.

What Van Gogh saw.

A lot more figures now than then. And I did not get a chance to draw here. I need to return. Je reviens.

Thanks for reading. Got busy watching Dowtin and almost forgot to post.

Margaret running out of days til Christmas and her commission decided to behave. Thank goodness. XXX

Day 535 – Auvers – Sur – Oise

December 19, 20152 Comments

The last sad home of Van Gogh the auberge or Ravaux Inn in Auvers. This is the back yard he painted some of his last 70 paintings in his last three months of life. The sad tiny garret he died in is at the head of the stairs under the roof peak. A room so small a bed and chair barely fit. It would have been unbearably hot in the summer.

The Hôtel de Ville aka Town Hall that he famously painted from the inn windows.

Van Goghs version is far more beautiful to me.
Thanks for reading. Friday nite time pour amusant.

Oh my! I discovered directions on how to make a post card accordion book. Guess who has a stack of French postcards?

PERFECT! On my post Christmas to do list. Too exciting. U can journal on the backs. Quel amusant!

Margaret whose excited. Wish I weren’t so busy with Christmas to do that I could make the book. Xxx😘

Day 522 – Last of the Marais

December 16, 20153 Comments

St Gervais a beautiful odd church near the Hôtel de Ville. The facade is neoclassic but the rest of it is gothic with flying buttresses like nearby Notre Dame.

Hôtel de Ville – the city hall. Where else but in Paris would you find an encrusted crenellated palace for a town hall?

Lights on the plaza.

From Rue Rivoli.

The riverside. It sits right by the Seine.

One of the three back doors. Probably 12 feet tall. Amazing huge things. Statues of famous Parisians march across the facade.

Riverside in the sun.
Riverside no sun.
The front from the river.

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 518 – The Jewish Quarter in the Marais

December 11, 2015December 13, 20153 Comments

We wandered down small narrow streets that was the Jewish section before WW2. Paris has begun posting memorials to the 70000 French Jewish victims of the Nazis who were sent to death camps.

This commemorates some of the small children the enfants who were sent to the death camps. Some mere months old without their parents.

A whole school was taken. The Nazis loved to go tot the schools and seize the students who were never to see their parents again.

Synagogues are interspersed with shops like Kosher delis. Bytw don’t go on Saturday. They will be closed. Remember most Parisians live over the shops.

You can also get your hair done next to a falafel shop! Handy!