Bits of Paris, from me to you. (CAUTION: Busy-Sketch-Heavy!!)

A few DUers have been speaking French around here and really driving me out of my gourd. Kathy in Cambridge is going this fall, and I'm stuck here with nothing but my memories.

Well, it's inspiring; enough so that I'd like to share with all of you the sketches I've assembled from my diary. There are two pages of pictures, detailing the minutae. These came from my summer at the Sorbonne, and if you've been to Paris or just like people's sketchbooks, I hope you enjoy.

If you have travel drawings yourself, I'd LOVE to see them.

Those are thumbs of full-size pages I can get to somewhere?

Lovely drawings.

I'm going there for a week in the fall.

Thank you.

You know I'd do anything for you. And thank you for the compliment. I've re-sized it to make it more accessible. PM me if you'd like some drawings. Is this your first time in Paris????

:loveya:

but I think I'd like it fine. And I've studied a little French L&L in my days.

PM is on the way. I look forward to more of your sketches, and your wise counsel.

they'd have nothing of it. EITHER:

They wanted to practice their English, OR:

I'd mangled their language so badly they couldn't stand the sound.

I'm SO excited for you. The first trip is always the best. You are going to come out of the experience FUNDAMENTALLY changed.

:D Count on it.

I appreciate the perspective and the encouragement.

I look forward to Paris v. much. You have jazzed my enthusiasm with your drawings. Hope to bring back some of my own.

I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT!

:loveya:

:mad:

What's stoppin' ya?

I did post a couple of my old paintings in this thread tho.

(unfortunately, they're of nowhere you'd want to travel to.)

I'm sorry.

Have a great day.

Those sketches are really cool. I wish I could draw.

Sorry there wasn't a single Paris Hilton wish-you-were-here pic, darlin'! Maybe we'll find her in Paris.

:D

Now I want to return to Paris!

:smoke:

I'm telling you, Ed's, everything I wrote down in those sketches, is for the people who are new to Paris or have a deep-seated nostalgia, like myself. Things were a lot easier than I thought they's be.

We're all just people, and there's help everywhere! I hadn't realized it, because it was me first foray into the unknown.

:9

I gather you went to the Catacombes! :-)

Thank you. I went there and at the end, there were guards checking students' bags. One was stopped because he'd STOLEN A SKULL! Would you ever have the nerve? Honestly. You were what inspired this thread, anyway, and I really enjoy your posts.

What have you seen, and what are you going to do? I can't wait to go back; I go every 3 or so years. You seem to be properly equipped with a feel for Paris.

what was your favorite neighborhood? I like the Marais/Bastille area to stay in, but like the 18th and 20th for a feel of how the regular Parisians live. :-)

There's so much richness and history there. When I was a student at the Sorbonne, people in the Marais helped me more than anyone else. I got lost on the way DOWN Mount Martre, and they were the only people who would help me!

:loveya: BTW!

I'm always pleasantly surprised. The Marais is gorgeous.

They really think we're cool, sometimes I haven't a clue though why! I love anyone, with anything that smacks of enthusiasm.

to answer your first question... what was yours, m'love?

Since there is no way I can find my old sketch books and scan them in time tonight?

Here's a couple of my own works from middle of nowhere MA (nowhere that, no one who posts here would want to visit, believe me), that I've posted before.

This one was done under Route Two Massachusets...



Here's the old Union Square train station...



And the porch where I like to paint...

Are these works done in oil? How long have you been painting - and is this how you make your livelihood?
They are truly lovely. Thanks for sharing.

It's part of my life, and part of who I am. I've been hoping to do some more art soon, in fact I just bought a whole bunch of new paints today, and I even sold a painting to another DUer.

And in case you're wondering, that's a detail of one of my paintings in my Sig line...;-)

I wish you well in your endeavors. I shall certainly keep you in mind!! I'm truly envious of your talent.

:eyes:

Tho much more spirited.

Sorry, not the best photo...

I can only see the 1st and 3rd. But those flowers in the third are calling my name. LOVE 'EM. Thanks for the pics.

It's only the first painting I ever sold?

Let me try again...

all I'm seeing is the red X.

The painting in it's natural surrroundings...

More wonderful artwork from you! These are very nice, IMHO! I especially like the Union Square Train Station...but that one is sold? Alas...well, I'm sure that there will be others that will inspire me to buy them! You do great work, and I'm glad that you are beginning to paint once more...Even though that means you'll be here less...


:loveya:

N/T

How cool is that?

Would you like to come to Paris with me next year?

Advise.

Look no further. :7

I have never been to Europe and my passport doesn't expire until 2008. I've got a couple grand just laying around not doing anything.

When do we leave?

We have only one carry-on, and one larger suitcase a piece. You come here & sleep on the pull-out couch for 2 nights, and we take off the next day. We stay for 10 days. We have a blast.

I tried to PM you back, but something was amiss. I will try later!

I probably just fucked up my config.

Thanks for the notice.

and I thank you for refreshing my memories with your wonderful sketches! I don't have your talent, but I managed to take over 500 digital photos, and I took quite a few of shop windows, including the sumptuous food offerings, which impressed my friends because they loved "going shopping" via the photos.

I am already saving all of my sheckles for a return trip, hopefully next spring. I fell for Paris like a love sick schoolgirl. :)

of a Paris window I took. The Parisians are so careful with their displays, you can't help but fall in love with JUST THE WINDOWS.

Look, I'm going to keep trying for you, honey.

I'm so glad you love Paris, and you feel the same way about it that I do.

to London and Paris. The nine day trip included the flights, hotels, one meal per day, all the transfers, and the Eurostar Chunnel from England to France all for $1400. There were several people on the trip who were seasoned travels and told me that it was by far the most inexpensive way to go. I don't want to openly advertise it in the thread but if anyone is interested in the name of the group you can PM me. They really were fantastic. I will travel with them again, but next time it will be a Paris only trip. Thanks, Sugar, for looking!

because you'll get to really immerse yourself in the experience. Everyone I've ever spoken to about that particular place says they came away a slightly different person. That deal you spoke of sounds like a really good one.

:D

Your details of the Catacombs and the door at Versailles are really wonderful. I love the backgrounds in those pieces, so detailed!

You must have other wonderful drawings of your travels. C'mon show 'em!

You are so sweet, and so great! I saw the movie "Crumb", (did you?) and I was horrified by it. I love Crumb, though, and I have been inspired by his pointilism, and his absolute patience, on every issue.

Thank you. I can't sketch to save my soul but you've inspired me to perhaps carry a camera on a few occasions and aim it at the detail.

How do we miss the rest of the world- PLEASE take your camera on your next European Bender and show us what you've got! Now, I'm going to try to rehash some photos!

these are WONDERFUL sketches! What an incredible artist you are! I loved Paris...can't wait to go back...If you have more sketches, I'd love to see them.

:pals:

being Paris-Crazy, honey!

:loveya:

We may be able to form a fairly lively group.

:toast:

The one who actually knows something about art in the group?

:shrug:

We'll make a fine group, I'd say, but you aren't the only one who knows abot art. Just enjoy yourself!

And I'll be happy.

picked it up on the left bank years ago. *sigh* I used to go to Paris every year-but haven't been there since 2000.

Great sketchbook pages! I've seen a lot of them too (used to review sketchbooks and portfolios for Disney Feature Animation, and I've taught a college drawing course).Gotta bring an unruled sketchbook next time, though, lol!( preferably with archival paper).

Thank you so much. The diary sort of took over and I felt like sketching things was the very best way to archive the experience. And then, halfway thru, I was like, WTF is it with these lines? Damn. Hehe.

I have Tournee du Chat Noir in an 8x11 print in my room. That's my favorite of Toulouse Lautrec. Something about that cat charms me.

I love to try and remember the little localities of the Left Bank. It makes me feel like it's a second home.

:toast:

Hey, gal! Thank you!
:hi:

Have you ever been to Paris? I've got Paris on the brain recently, and it's making me so nostalgiac. Thank you for the compliment!

:)

my first time to Europe as well. I love your sketches.

I ended up falling in luvst with my friend from the internet who was hosting me. She told me as a teenager she and friends would sneak into parts of the catacombs at night for kicks.

I'll share my snapshots from the trip with you.

http://nomenclature3.tripod.com/Paris/index.htm

and

http://nomenclature3.tripod.com/Paris/Paris_jpeg_website/index.htm

ps.. feast your artiste orbs on the little slightly buck toothed French girl somewhere around the middle of second web page. She has such an amazingly beautiful face. She's my ex's niece. I think Gap Kids would probably pay to fly her and her mom here for photo shoots, lol.

Those pictures are beautiful. I'm speechless!! And you seem to have gone to the VEY SAME places I did. OK, I saw my favorite street in two of your photos, and that stone house-What was the name of that place? I was there, and that's where the wine cellar pic comes from.

You have brought back some great memories for me, Achtung- I want to say a really big Thank You.

Ok, now I'm going back to look at your pictures again. And that girl in the first page is really beautiful.

Is that what I'm seeing in those photos? Did you now that Louis XIV had the man who built the house, Fouquet, ARRESTED for having such a fine house? Fouquet was thrown in prison and died there, after 20 years, around 1660.

There were some great surprises in that house; the wine cellar, the inspired lighting. Even the cafeteria next door was cute. To me, that was an even better experience than seeing Versailles. I loved Cluny, too. The lower-key, sturdy designs are so romantic.

Did you see the Parisian junk food and the bad parking job?

:toast:

wanna go :cry: but I don't speak French

People have been really helpful there, in my experience. I haven't been to Germany, and I REALLY want to visit & tour Germany. Everyone who's been there says that Germans want to practice their English, so it doesn't really give them a chance to speak German.

Well, in Paris, every time I spoke up with what I thought was a REALLY GOOD (heh, heh) accent, someone inevitably said,"Oh, you're American". And continued to speak English.

Don't ever try to buy a pair of shoes, there, though. That experience left me a bit mangled.

I would feel *mangled* just by going through the airport to get there.

I flew quite a bit before the early 90's, when planes kept falling off the far end of the runway:scared:

geeez ~ I took my first plane trip alone when I was only 7 almost 50 years ago {omg ~ 1st time I've said 50 years ago:cry:}

I've been drawing as long as I can remember. My father was always a HUGE inspiration for me. He draws too, and he really encouraged me my whole life to keep it up.

:thumbsup:

I try to get exposure in a thread by saying the most obvious, "Paris", and it turns out to be about a God-forsaken city!!!

I'm sorry, jswordy.

:grouphug:

I should have taken a different approach.

Please accept my apologies, and here's some St. Emilion to tide you over!

love-SS

I majored in art, and am very creative. Have always enjoyed drawing and such, but I never mastered cartooning figures like yours. Always wished I could have!

I really enjoyed my time there when I was 16, and I loved speaking French to the locals. My French teacher was a lovely lady who had gotten her doctorate from the Sorbonne, and I worshipped her.

She told me she thought I had "the ear." One day while we were out sightseeing, we stopped at a cafe across the street from the Dome des Invalides, and she ran into some of her old compadres from her school days.

She deserted us and stood outside talking to them for what seemed like forever! Meanwhile, we were getting pretty hungry. So I rolled up my sleeves, got everybody to tell me what they wanted, and proceeded to order lunch for the whole table or 10-15 people.

I was so proud of myself! she came back in apologizing, and ready to order lunch to find us all eating. :9

Cheers!
FSC

You have "the ear"? My God, woman. I thought I did, but it doesn't count until another French person tells you you have it. I thought it was enough that I pronounced "Oui" in the Parisian dialect with a faint, back-of-the-mouth hiss. Not, "Weee", but "wheesch".

I am so happy for you that you had that experience, FSC. I have to PM you soon, because you just seem like so much fun. :loveya: to bits and pieces,

SS

She is actually American, but lived, ate, breathed, slept French!

That was my first foreign language to learn, and first trip to Europe, so it meant a lot.

I took 2 years of German in college, but still remember my French better, even though I learned it 20 something years ago. Not sure why.

From one artist to another...where's that PM? We overly sugary treats need to stick together. :-)
FSC

But first, a confession- the best description I've ever read of Paris in fact or fiction came from none other than Judith Krantz. It was in her book, "Scruples". It's where I first learned about "the ear".

Her character, Billy Winthrop, comes from Boston to stay with her poorer extended family in Paris. She's shy, unkempt, studious, and awkward (and RICH as a ton of butter, BTW). Anyhoo- the descriptions of Paris were on-target: the ethos, the smells, the hunger, and the passion all culminate into turning Billy into a remarkable young lady.

Another confession: I was so proud of our Billy I just wept.

Me TOO!

Trashy book, but it first introduced me to the whole Parisian chic thing-- the market shopping, healthy French eating ("Why were the portions so incredibly small, for God's sake?"), Hermes scarf, etc.

Kindred spirits, chica.
FSC

so very glad you came in to post your sketches = good stuff :thumbsup: everyone keeps telling me that as a theater lighting tech that i am an artist but i'm no artist...hubby is an artist by definition; artists are artists, you are an artist please know that i love you for that as well so for you this fine afternoon:

http://www.lileks.com/institute

And I REALLY like your husband's work. Thank you so much. See, also you send me back to Paris every time, whether it's that photo of you looking amused in your avatar, or whether it's this:

:rofl:

and all the warm associations therein!

and the BOOM BOOM of fireworks and excitement.

and your on-target POV.

Hey, lookie-there! I'm almost at a thousand posts, and I didn't even notice. :loveya:

:thumbsup:

Oh! Sky...

for being a straight-on gal, for being playful, fun and serious, and for being the standuppest and strongest gal I've met in a donkey's age.

Here's to you, bridge-


:yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

:hippie: :party: :toast: :spank: O8) :beer: :hug: :headbang: :yourock: :kick: :woohoo: :rofl: :patriot:

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

:)

Especially the Chat Noir poster.

Thank you for the compliment. I think the Chat Noir poster was Toulouse Lautrec's most famous. Have you seen the original Moulin Rouge? I haven't seen the new one, but I saw the version starring Zha Zha Gabor (Szha Szha? How do you spell Gza Gza anyway?).
That was a weird and sad story. I remember one line from the movie:

"Some men join the French foreign Legion. Some men swing from the flying trapeeze. I drink cognac."

bocci ball is Italian.