France Travel Journal, Part 3

Posted on | July 21, 2008 | 2 Comments

Here is the third installment of the Paris part of our trip to France. Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and settle in, since it’s a marathon! But there are actual drawings this time, so art abounds! And we’re off…

So, after we got rained on – again – and headed to our hotel, we were very tired and I was starting to feel weary. Neither of us really wanted to do much of anything at that point, so we ended up ordering room service. For me, that meant a green salad. For Dave, it meant a salmon and pasta with the obligatory basket of bread. We watched a movie on our portable iLuv player, since there was no English-language tv or newspapers available. It was a fairly early night, but after a lot of walking, it was fine. Dave had his conference the next day and we didn’t want him to be too tired for that!

Drawing of Paris Lamp post on Champs Elysses

On Friday morning, Dave and I had some time together before his conference. We decided to walk down the Champs-Elysees, where all the designer shops, fancy cafes and five-star restaurants are. We aren’t really into the designer fashion scene, but it was a pretty street to walk down. And, unlike much of the rest of Paris, it had a wide sidewalk that made it easier for us to walk together. It was quite hot and humid that day, but we found a newsstand that had an English version of a world newspaper and Dave purchased it immediately. I was still fairly tired from the day before, so we found a cafe and sat down. I pulled out my sketchbook and drew. Now, this is what I expected to see in Paris!

Drawing of store window in Paris, France

Of course, I was not prepared for the crazy chain-smoking Parisians. OMG! The chain smoking along with the espresso… No wonder they are all so thin – nicotine and caffeine! And they sit for hours, alternating between smoking, ordering an “encore” (another) of cafe, and talking on their phones. In that way, they’re much like New Yorkers… obsessed with multitasking! I guess, really, that was me, when I was playing executive – minus the smoking, the multitasking, the coffee… all me!

Drawing of a cafe scene in Paris, France

And so, after a coffee and a Metro ride home, we grabbed some lunch at a cafe near the metro. Dave had to change into his suit for his meeting and headed to the other side of Paris.

As for me, I was going to rest for the afternoon – nap, draw, watch some French TV for the heck of it and then I was meeting Dave for dinner at the Senat building, where the conference was having a traditional French dinner. So, I napped, added some color to the sketches above, and watched some movie on TV in French. Yes, I watched a movie in French! I got the plot, for the most part. It was about a woman who discovers she has breast cancer, but is having trouble with her photographer husband and doesn’t tell him. Of course, it turns out fine, because the tumor is removed and she doesn’t seem to need chemo or radiation, and their marriage is healed by her disease… Yes, I got all this by watching and getting the gist of what they were saying in French. It was an entertaining hour and a half – mostly because I could figure it out and because it was so much like a US film wold be on Lifetime!

Drawing of Senat Building in Paris, France

Later that afternoon, I dressed for the dinner. I was all dressed up in my little black dress and shawl, and I brought my jacket with me, because it had cooled off. I was to take a taxi to the Luxembourg Palace, where we were to have dinner. It appeared to me that this was not really a palace, and I hoped that it was prettier from the other side! As it turns out, the building of the address was actually the Senat building (yes, Senate without the “e”), and it was not at all palatial! However, I got there, and I was 45 minutes early. This, of course, put the people in the reception area in a tizzy. I was far too early, and they were not prepared for anyone yet. I said I’d come back and went to try to find a cafe. No luck, as it was already dinner time and the cafes were now set for dinner. So, I plopped myself across from the Senat building entrance, waiting for Dave’s bus to arrive. I pulled out my journal and I drew! It was fun to watch people walk by me and look at my drawing, looking across the street to see what I could possibly be drawing! I guess I looked pretty comfortable there, since a few people asked me for directions.

Drawing of iron work at Senat building, Paris, France

Dinner was lovely. Dave went to the head waiter before service started and reminded him of my allergies. He handed him one of my allergy cards and he said it wasn’t going to be a problem. And, truly, it was not. We sat with the US contingency (very few of us flew in from the States) and I got to meet the delightful wives of some of Dave’s colleagues. I’ve known the colleagues for a while, since I tend to go to meetings with him. No, I don’t mind when he talks shop. All my years in health care administration helps me to keep up with the conversations. They served a lovely six-course dinner, all courses were adapted for my allergies, and the evening was a delight.

Dinner ended after 10:30 and we were on the other side of Paris from where our hotel was. So, we went in search of a taxi. Taxis in Paris are highly unionized. You can get a taxi only at taxi stands or through your hotel. It took a 20 minute walk and about 20 minutes more for the first taxi to decide to work. They were lined up chatting rather than driving… Anyhow, we got back to the hotel and went straight to sleep. The next morning, we went down to breakfast (aside here, I need to tell you about the breakfast room, but I’ll do that later in this post) and quickly ate. From there, Dave left for his meeting, where he was going to present his paper. I had plans to go to the Musee d’Orsay for the day. And, honestly, it was the best day I had there.

Musee d'Orsay clock, Paris, France

I rested a bit in the morning, making sure I had all the energy I could for the day at the museum. I walked to the Metro and then through the Tuileries in the drizzle and got to the Orsay. There was a huge line. And I took a look around and I saw a man selling his paintings along the Seine across the street from the museum (right). breath and decided I’d just bare it and get ready to stand for an hour before going in. No, I did not need to do that. My quad cane to the rescue again. I had the lovely advantage of a gentleman taking me to the front of the line and letting me in immediately. You know, I don’t get this kind of treatment when I’m here in the US!

Man selling his artwork along the Seinne across from the Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France

I took my time walking through the sculptures on the entry floor. So lovely and it was so amazing to be right there, next to these amazing sculptures. I took lots of photos. I was overwhelmed with the inspiration, so I was not ready to draw. I figured the photos would serve as memories and I could draw at a later time. I decided to go up to the top floor and work my way down. I saw every piece of art in that museum. I stopped at every picture, looked closely at the brush strokes of the Masters, and I studied them. I took photos of some of the parts of the paintings I wanted to remember – how they used shading on a certain face; how they used something I use in my work and I could find another place for it. I took photos of an amazing mixed-media sculpture made in bronze and fabric. The horse and man are in bronze, but then it appears to be a thin canvas painted in black (gesso?) that serves as his cloak. I was constantly surprised at how much of what we do now as artists has, in some ways, been done for centuries!

Mixed-media sculpture - clay, bronze and fabric

I took a break in the middle of the day for lunch at the museum’s restaurant. I thought it would be a good rest for me and they were, happily, undaunted by my allergies. So, I sat and ate and, as it turned out, at the table next to me, an artist sat down. Sheila Giles-Oddy sat and chatted with me. She is a pen and ink and watercolor artist. She’s from Toronto, Canada, and we had a lovely chat. She and her husband had been to the Orsay five times and they never tired of it. She and I exchanged cards and she invited me to call next time I am in Toronto. And I shall! Sheila, if you’re reading this, it was so lovely to meet you! I will definitely let you know when my husband and I come to Toronto.

Dave’s talk was received well, and at the end of his day he was exhausted. I was, too. I mean, I had been on my feet for 8 hours. So, we ordered room service again and decided to stay in and watch a movie on our iLuv. We watched Across the Universe. Or, rather, I watched, Dave slept. It was quite a cute movie. What a great way to use Beatles tunes!

The next day, we had breakfast (petit dejuner) in the hotel. Now, this little breakfast room was a source of entertainment each morning we were in Paris. Petit dejuner was included in our hotel rate, so we could get started each morning. To get there, we had to either take five flights of stairs down, or take the elevator to the basement. The room was filled with tiny chairs and breakfast tables that were pre-set with coffee cups, saucers, a napkin, and a small plate.  Everything else, except the coffee, was set up on an a table that was about 2 meters long (see, I got into the Metric System while there!). There was coffee American-style, brewed and available for us to just keep refilling our cup as much as we wanted. The room was stuffy, small, and hot; there was no air circulating in that room. They had a small fan running, but unless you were blessed to sit at the table right next to it, you didn’t feel it. And there were bad croissants and odd yogurts (granny smith apple yogurt?) and corn flakes available. They did have hard boiled eggs, which I was able to peel and make into an egg-white breakfast, so all was not lost!

The characters at the breakfast changed each morning. The first morning, we sat next to a couple that was from Australia. Like us, they were visiting Europe for the first time. She had a milk allergy and Celiac Disease and could not eat anything that was there. We chatted and told her we’d found the supermarket and where she could find soy milk. It was nice to speak English before the coffee kicked in! LOL Another day, it was all business people, rushing to get their food and coffee down and to head to a meeting. (It was amazing to me that with all those carbs Parisians and the French in general, appeared to be quite thin.) Another day, two German women sat near us, and were clearly as much in a fog as we were. Perhaps that’s why one of the last days there, we noticed the rather large man and his son. The . The language they spoke was either Italian or Spanish. Dave thought Spanish, I was convinced it was Italian. The man reminded me of Marlon Brando from The Godfather. He even had the scratchy authoritative voice! His wife put together a plate that was overflowing with lots of croissants and muffins. His son was sent to do the same soon after that. Both were gone almost immediately. We didn’t even see them eat them, just knew there was activity going on by the amount of food that seemed to disappear in moments.

Later that morning, we stopped at le marche (the market) and picked up some fruit. Then we sat at a Cafe for lunch. We were tired and looking forward to leaving Paris. We packed our clothes and prepared for a quiet afternoon. We went out to dinner and to sleep early. We were ready to leave Paris, really. We needed the quiet of the country, and the next day, that was to happen.

More tomorrow!

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