Tuesday in the Marais

I can't believe it was four weeks ago that we were in Paris.  Where has the time gone??!!

We spent that Tuesday in the Marais district in the 4th arrondissement.  I stayed there in 2007 when I first spent a week in Paris and I fell in love with the area.  It is quite unique, as it combines a mix of many different cultures from its long history of being a popular place to live within the city.

There are lots of unusual and beautiful buildings, not the least of which is one of my personal favourites, the Hotel Sens:

We did a two hour Paris Walks through the neighbourhood in the morning.  Here's our tour guide, Oriel (she and her husband run the company) pointing out something above.

then sat on the sidewalk of the Victor Hugo cafe for lunch, a restaurant on the corner of the serene square that is the Place des Vosges.

Our cab driver Amadeus had recommended this restaurant on our ride in from the airport on our first day.  He did not steer us wrong, it was a delicious meal.

Lorraine and I reviewing le menu

Lisa's Croque Madame on top,
with my salad shown below.

Afterwards, we visited the Victor Hugo museum, located in a house in which he and his family used to live, on another corner of the same square.

the dining room

Victor's bedroom

As you may know, Mr. Hugo wrote both Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. There are many pieces of artwork within the museum having to do with both novels.

We then walked through the Marais to the Carnavalet Museum, described as "one of the most genuinely Parisienne museums".  It is both a museum dedicated to the history of the city of Paris and an art gallery, which makes for quite an interesting combination.  It is situated within two townhouses and is quite a pretty building all on its own, although the facade was covered in mesh when we visited as it is undergoing a restoration.

We discovered several artists at work within the museum itself.  I was impressed that they were allowed to sit and make sketches of the artwork on display, not all museums permit this.

After the museum, we started making our way back to our accommodations.  Along the way, we stopped in to sample some ice cream at a cute little bistro located near St. Paul's Church.

Lisa having ice cream

Refreshed from our ice cream and our admiration for the cute French waiter who served it, we continued walking back to our accommodations but first went looking for a store called "Au Petit Bonheur La Chance" Lorraine had read about here online which specializes in vintage French goodies.  It was quite a treat to see inside the store, as there was an impressive collection of anything and everything crammed into every square inch of the small space

but the prices were outrageously expensive, so our purchases were rather subdued.

Dinner that night was at a creperie down the street from where we were staying.

Another lovely day in Paris!

October Play Date

We had an artful play date at Bizzy B yesterday afternoon. 

Laura painted fabulous faces on canvas

Kelly made an awesome Hallowe'en journal page

Dianne cut things out with her Cuttlebug

Melanie decorated pumpkins for the store

Barb made art on canvases as well but won't thank me for posting the picture I took of her during her creative process, so you'll just have to take my word for it!

I worked on a top sekret project, stay tuned for the big reveal in a few days!

The Moon Tonight

Did you see the moon rising tonight? It was quite impressive. Unfortunately, my iPhone's camera was not up to the task of recording the full glory of the event but I do like this combo shot of the moon, the streetlight and the car's headlights, giving new meaning to the phrase " all aglow". 

Urban Sketching in Paris

On our Monday night in Paris, Lisa had arranged for us to meet up with the Paris chapter of the Urban Sketchers group.  If you didn't know, Lisa's amazing artwork was included in Danny Gregory's recently published book entitled An Illustrated Journey.  I believe one of the sketchers group members had read on Lisa's blog that she was coming to Paris and suggested a meetup.

We met at the St. Paul metro station, after the 3 of us had a quick peek into the beautiful church by the same name located just down the street, a favourite of mine from previous visits:

As soon as introductions were made, sketchbooks came out and we oohed and awed over the drawings in them.

Meeting up

Lisa taking a picture of Marie Christine and her journal,
at it is being admired by Javier

We then made our way to a courtyard a few blocks away and settled in in various locations around the square to sketch.

Lisa and June

It was immediately apparent that these people were all seriously talented. Lorraine and I felt a little out of our depth but gamely jumped in with pen and paper in hand. I focused on the ironwork of a window above the bench where I was sitting.

This young man from Korea wasn't part of the Paris group but when he saw what we were doing, asked if he could join us.

Soong and Lisa

As dusk arrived, we moved to one of the restaurants and sat down for a meal together.  More sketching ensued while we waited for our meals to be served.

Joy and Javier

Virgina

I had never been a model for an artist before.  First Joy drew me ("sit still!", she kept saying!)

then it was Marie Christine's turn.

Javier drew this one.

June's sketch included several of us, I love it!

The American and Canadian Girls in Paris!
(drawn by June)

I really enjoyed meeting these people and having a chance to spend some time with them, it was such a fun evening.  I hope our paths will cross again some day!

Lisa, Kim and I

(Just to prove that I'm not making this up, you can also read about our evening here on the official Paris Urban Sketchers website, as written by Marie Christine!)

Monday in Paris

On September 23rd, we started our day by walking from our accommodations at My Open Paris to Notre Dame, along the River Seine.  The Eiffel Tower was in sight but tantalizingly out of reach.

We spent the next 2 hours enjoying the "Ile de la Cite and Notre Dame" walk hosted by Paris Walks.   Whether or not you are religious, the story of how the cathedral was built is very interesting, never mind that it is a fascinating building to see.  From any and every angle.

The sculptures are mesmerizing.

The gargoyles amusing.

The windows, simply stunning.

As well as learning about the cathedral, we also walked around the island, exploring some of the old streets and hearing various tidbits about the local history. One of the things we noticed is this bridge, covered in padlocks.

I saw this last year in Florence on the Ponte Vecchio, except in that case, I noticed that the locks were there at the end of the day and gone by the next morning.  In Paris, the locks have been allowed to remain, which means they are now several layers thick, as new padlocks are attached to older ones. The tradition is known as a "love lock".  Typically, lovers inscribe their names on the padlock, attach it and throw the key into the river to symbolize their unbreakable bond.  Sure it's romantic but me, I worry about the structural integrity of the bridge with all that extra weight and the environmental impact on the river from the keys! ;)

Afterwards, we had lunch at a little cafe we'd seen on our walk.  The quiche was delicious!

Fed and refreshed, Lorraine went off to explore on her own and Lisa and I headed back to Notre Dame to take a closer look and do some sketching.  Lisa found a good spot and settled in.

I did a few quick sketches, talked to some fellow tourists and then wandered about the north end of the island taking photos of more bridges

and more padlocks,

more statues

and other fascinating buildings.

And of course, did a little people watching.

Eventually, I circled back to where Lisa was still drawing and we headed off to meet up with Lorraine. Tomorrow I'll tell you about the rest of our day, as there were more drawing adventures to come that evening!