Crazy Bicyclist, Break Dancing and Eiffel Tower

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Trudy

On the street outside my window is what I have come to think of as the drinking bench. Everyday there is a group of men who sit and visit and drink wine. Although drinking on the street and in parks is not allowed everyone seems to do it. Yesterday in front of Sacre Coeur there were even people selling bottles of beer to the tourists!

I went to a life drawing session at an artist’s atelier near the Eiffel Tower todayAnd the male model was excellent. He held some very difficult poses. I have been playing with watercolour gestures, not always successfully, but I think it has promise so I will persevere. It is always difficult to try new things, it feels awkward and clumsy at first. Even if it isn’t something I decide to continue doing, it still adds to my knowledge and understanding. It is very easy to keep doing what I know works, instead of stepping into new territory, but I know I need to push myself in order to keep learning and improving.

These are five minute poses, not many models would even attempt the one above.

Here is a photo of the studio. Nothing too fancy, but Claire provided tea which was much appreciated. She was instructing a class, and I was allowed to come and do my own thing. The students were quite interested in what I was doing and gave me some nice compliments.I decided to walk over to the Eiffel Tower, about a six block walk, and soon I could see it towering above the near by buildings.

It is difficult to comprehend just how big this structure is. Soon I am right underneath, looking up.

It is a special weekend, les Journées du Patrimoine, with lots of buildings open to the public and events taking place all over the city. It is very busy here today, the line ups for the elevators stretch right across the plaza beneath the Eiffel Tower. There is an electronic sign flashing that says that the platforms are at maximum capacity and there is up to a 45 minute wait, and that is after waiting in that big line to get tickets! Good thing I had no intention of going up today.

When we were here several years ago we were surprised to see military guards, somehow not so surprising today. I have actually seen armed guards in several places, including the Gare de l’Est.

Interestingly, neither the police nor the military seem to do much to deter street vendors, who can be quite insistent, I discovered that a quick shake of the head and not making eye contact seems to do the trick. This bunch is waiting for the elevator to come down from the Eiffel Tower, they then follow the people who get off, trying to convince them to buy an Eiffel tower of their very own.

I watched this guy operate for a few minutes, and saw a man lose a hundred Euro bill! He was so sure he knew where the little ball was, and was quite shocked that he didn’t double his money, like the woman before him, who managed to pick the right cup several times. I am pretty sure she was working with the fellow manning the cups. I am surprised that people still fall for this.

I head across the river towards the Metro, and stop to watch some pretty amazing break dancers.

One of them invites a pretty young girl up on to the stage and is quite surprised when she pretty much matches him move for move! Turns out she is with the Astana Ballet, which is a ballet company from Kasakhstan. What a treat that was. I ended up sitting there for more than an hour, it was all so entertaining. One of the break dancers spoke to the audience in at least a dozen languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, German, Russian and more that I can’t remember. He seemed to know at least several sentences in each language and even answered in the different languages when the audience members responded!

I also saw the craziest bicyclist ever. He came flying, down a pedestrian street standing up on his bike, which was scary enough, but he then continued onto the main road which was part of an intersection of six roads !

And he did this repeatedly! I stood in utter amazement and watched him perform this insane stunt at least a half dozen times. No idea what he is thinking. I am thinking he is lucky to still be alive!

Time to get home. One last look back at the Eiffel tower in the setting sun and I head off to the Trocadéro Metro stop .

The metro trains were very busy tonight, but a young lady and later a man get up to give me their seat. I guess having grey hair has some perks! It was almost 9:00 by the time I got home, the latest yet. I am getting braver.

Drawing Meet Up and Sacŕe Coeur

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Trudy

Another full day. I went to a drawing meet up in Montmartre, in the smallest theater I have ever seen. It has seats for nine audience members and the tiniest stage.

Here is a view of the inside and some of the people who attended, the model is sitting on the stage.

It was at the top of a big flight of stairs. Montmartre has stairs everwhere, as it is built on a hill overlooking Paris. I certainly got lots of exercise today.

We had a nice model, who is an actor an a dancer.

I decided to play with some different media, this is pastel pencil. The light wasn’t very good for photgrphs by the time I got home, but I decided to do the best I could so that I could post pictures tonight.

After our drawing session we all went to a local cafe for refreshments, a visit and a chance to look at each other’s sketchbooks. One of the ladies told me that she came for a visit for a month, five years ago, and she is still here! Hmmmm….

As I was only a couple of blocks from Sacre Coeur, I wandered over for a brief visit. It is certainly a busy place!

I decided to go home, get something to eat and then come back for the six o’clock Vespers, which are sung by the nuns. Bob and I did this the last time we were in Paris and we really enjoyed the experience then and it was just as wonderful today. There was a service right after Vespers so I was there for about two hours, sitting drawing the cathedral and the nuns while I listened to their beautiful voices. It was a wonderful experience.

The notes at the bottom of the page are from the hour or so I sat before the service started. A guy was talking, non stop, to a girl that I don’t think that had known for very long. He expounded at great length on his philosophy of life and religion, and pretty much everything else, including how his birth caused him breathing difficulties his whole life and what he is doing to try to resolve that. Then he said, ” This is the first time in my life that I have ever been 100% honest with anyone”. It seemed that the lady was falling for all of it, but I thought that she should run as fast as she could! He sounded like trouble to me, and he was very full of himself, but it was rather entertaining to listen to it all.

When I left the Cathedral it was raining, and I walked home with my pretty blue umbrella, smiling and thinking “I love Paris in the sunshine, I love Paris in the rain”

Here are a few drawings from the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere yesterday. I decided to try something new, and used a big brush and a watercolour wash with a quick pencil drawing over top while it was still wet. These are five minute drawings, a bit of a challenge, but fun. It certainly made me loosen up a bit.

The male model was a very interesting older man with a great big moustache and a bit of a big belly too! I think he must have been quite a strong muscular man when he was younger.

I am going to an artist’s studio near where I bought my sim card in the 15 arrondissement tomorrow, for another life drawing session. It is quite close to the Eiffel Tower so I may stop there for a visit, we will see how the day goes.

Six Hours of Drawing!

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Trudy

Stools and more stools, all heights from about 15″ to 48″.

I was able to stay for the 3:00 drawing session as well as the 12:00 one today. Six hours of drawing and it went by so quickly. Not noticing the passage of time is a good indicator that a person is in a creative zone or space. That was certainly the case today, it did not feel like I was drawing for six hours, the time flew by and before I knew it we were on the last pose. I didn’t even notice how sore my bottom was until I put down my pencil and brushes! I will post some drawings tomorrow, it was dark by the time I got home and I need daylight to take pictures of drawings.

This interesting cage is in the corner of the little courtyard just outside the studio. No occupants today.

I went to see the Osteopath again today, and I took these two pictures on the Metro going there at 6:30 pm, looking in both directions, before it got so packed that I couldn’t even get my arms up in the air to take another picture. Yes, even more people piled into the train at the next station!

It was almost 9:00 by the time got home so a long day but a very satisfying one.

A Peek Through the Big Blue Doors

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Trudy

Another great model today. I still haven’t spoken to very many people during these life drawing sessions, but I am on a nodding and ‘bonjouring’ level with several of the regulars. There aren’t many English speaking people here, or maybe they are like me, just not saying much. I did have a little conversation with a woman the other day. It was her first time here, and between my French and her English we managed just fine.

Actually, other than the normal social niceties, the pardons, and merci’s, there hasn’t been a lot of conversation happening. Everyone is pretty focused on their drawing, and most people tuck their finished drawings away at break time, so there is not really an opportunity to make a comment on their work and strike up a conversation that way.

Life drawing is really almost a form of meditation, there are no thoughts about anything other than being in the moment, seeing and reacting to what you see. In a way it is important to stop thinking about what you are doing and just let your eye be connected to your hand. The brain can get in the way, telling us what we think we know rather than letting us see what is actually before us.

This is one of the biggest problems people have when they begin to draw. They will draw what they think something looks like rather than really looking and seeing what they are looking at. Once a person really learns to see and draw what they see, they will begin to improve their drawing skills quite rapidly.

The drawing sessions have a schedule for poses; the noon class has 3 x 5 minute poses, + 2 x 15 minute poses, repos ( rest) for 15 minutes, 2 x 20 min, repos 15 min, 2 x10 min + 5 x 5 min. I do kind of miss the fast 2 minute warm us we usually start with back home, but getting used to this routine.

As I was getting ready to leave, the model for the next session arrived and I was so tempted to stay for another three hours. I decided to head for home, as I plan on doing both sessions tomorrow. There is a male model the second session and there aren’t many male models. Only four for the whole month; I missed the first two and there are only two more sessions with a male model, and one is tomorrow. I’m curious if this is because most people want to draw females, or if there is just a shortage of men who want to model?

This is my favourite Metro line, the M4. It takes me to my drawing class in about a half hour. The only reason there is no one waiting is because the train just pulled away. Notice on the board, that another one is due to arrive in just one minute! I am still amazed at the efficiency of the Paris Metro. This morning the train was absolutely jam packed for the first five stops, standing room only, and squishy standing room at that! Some people needed to step off the train so that the doors could close; it was quite the experience. We are so used to a bubble of personal space around us, and that is certainly not the case on these packed trains. My face was inches away from several people and somehow it was OK, everyone is very polite and of, course, everyone is in the same situation.

Taken through the window on the M2. All the stations have brightly coloured chairs. Usually there is a big advertising poster on the wall, but this station had graffiti, which, by the way, is absolutely everywhere. Most of it is just vandalism, but I have seen some rather interesting graffiti that would be classed as street art. I’ll post some of that another time.

And, this is where I do my blogging. I do have a table and chairs but the bed is very comfortable, I can see out the windows, and rest a bit at the same time. I am also have on my ‘wash and wear’ top. I only brought one short sleeved top, thinking it was fall and that I am usually too cold rather than too warm. Well, today it was 28, like 33 with the humidex! It has been way too warm to wear long sleeved tops, so this one gets rinsed out every night.

Buses and The Champs -Élysées

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Trudy

I decided to try taking the bus today instead of the metro so I could see more of the streets of Paris. The bus map is a little intimidating, and rather confusing, but I am starting to figure it out. Wednesday’s life drawing class is in the evening, and although I am feeling quite comfortable walking about by myself in the daytime I don’t really want to be out at night, so no drawing class today.

I took the bus from my place to the Pont Neuf right beside the Louvre, popped inside for a quick visit to la toilette, (more on toilettes later…) and then walked towards the Tuileries.

Looking towards one wing of the Louvre.

These are the beautiful gardens just west of the Louvre. They even have an off leash area for dogs at the end closest to the Louvre. I can’t believe how many dogs, and all the big dogs that people have in this city.

I stopped for lunch at a cafe in the park, and then continued on to the far end of the Tuileries which is Place Concord. This is a huge square with an Egyptian obelisk in the centre, flanked by two identical ornate fountains.

There is so much to see here that it is hard to know where to look. Sometimes I just stand in one spot and slowly rotate, every direction I look brings some new amazing sight into view.

The end of the Tuileries and the entrance to Place Concorde, with the Eiffel Tower thrown in, as though there isn’t enough to look at here.

Soon I am walking along the Champs-Élysées and realize that Autumn is almost here, the leaves are beginning to change colour. It has been sunny and warm every day since I arrived, temperatures have been between 21 and 25 every day, so it feels very much like summer. I couldn’t ask for better weather.

The parks here are so very well maintained, and the flowers everywhere are magnificent.

There is an art exhibit along the street.

Many of the photos moved me to tears. War seems so very senseless.

This is the Grand Palais National Gallery, I check it out but it is a 30€ entrance fee! I don’t know what the exhibits are, I’ll have to see if it sounds worth such an expensive entrance fee.

One of the things I love about Paris are the incredible details, if one remembers to look. It is so easy to be overwhelmed by the grandeur of all these buildings, but when one looks closer there is almost always more to see..

And then even more to see. I think this beautiful mosaic frieze is probably not even noticed by many tourists.

Across the street is the Petit Palais, and it is free! It is a beautiful building full of beautiful art.

Checking out at a Rembrandt painting,

Taking a photo of the floor in the Petit Palais, it is all beautiful mosaics.

I decide I will come back here another day but want to continue my walk. I do stop for a much needed pot of tea in the museum cafe. It is a bargain at only 3€ and they are happy to supply more hot water to refill my pot. I do a few quick sketches of people while sitting in the cafe, and then head back out towards the Arc de Triomphe, along the very busy Champs-Elysées.

Yes, I was standing in the middle of the street to take this picture….but on a cross walk. The tree lined paths soon give way to very expensive shops. I walk into one of the shopping Galleries to have a look around.

Again, remembering to look for details..

And then there are the shop windows…

Notice the price for the tin of macaroons, 52€! I think there were 25 little macaroons in the tin.

There is a McDonalds on this very fancy street of shops! Bob and I stopped there for tea when we were in Paris several years ago, so I decided to stop and go sit upstairs overlooking the street just as we did before.

I finally make it to the Arc de Trimphe. It is in the middle of a very busy traffic circle so there is an underground tunnel to get to it. I was going to go to the top for a fee of 9.50€, but it was getting late and a bit hazy so I decide to save doing this for another time.

There was a remembrance ceremony happening so I stayed to watch for a while. It seemed as though family members were placing flowers in remembrance, not sure though. There were a lot of dignitaries and important looking people there too. This picture gives a good idea just how big this monument is.

Something must have been going on nearby because there were lots of sirens and seven or eight big Gendarmes paddy wagons type of vehicles came flying by, all in a row, along with several other police vehicles. I wonder what it was all about?

I find my way to the street with my bus stop and take a bus back to the Gare de L’Est, and then walk home. I am pretty tired, but had an interesting day.

I took so many more pictures, but I have to stop somewhere…..

An Interesting Model

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Trudy

I attended another life drawing session at noon today. Quite a different model from the one we had yesterday. Not exactly sure how to describe her, perhaps ‘earthy’? She made me think of some of the descriptions of models from the Impressionist’s time, many of them were dance hall women, or women of the street. She had that bit of crudeness to her, an awkwardness almost, and she scratched and shifted her body about in a way that most models do not. Even her wrap was rather tatty and not all that clean, and she wore big black boots with her flimsy sarong wrap during the breaks, quite the combination. Interestingly, she also seemed to be carrying on some sort of quiet conversation with herself, and would make rather strange facial expressions, as though in response to someone or something. She was certainly interesting to draw though. The first drawing is a 20 minute pose, the other three poses were 5 minutes each.

These stone steps at the Académie have seen countless footsteps over the years, wearing the stone away. I love this evidence of the past and all the artists who have been here before me.

I didn”t have the best drawing session today though, my body has been giving me a bit of grief and it was being particularly bad today. This morning I found an osteopath who speaks English, with the help of the internet. I used my new phone (for the first time) and made an appointment with her for later today. She was very nice, and has her Canadian citizenship, as she lived in Canada for ten years before deciding that she missed Paris and her friends and family. She worked on me for about an hour, so I am hoping to feel better soon. I will likely go back towards the end of the week for another treatment. I would love to be able to do two drawing sessions back to back, but have not felt up to doing so yet.

Coming home on the train from Giverny the other day, I actually got up the courage to draw one of my fellow travellers. The guy sitting beside me kind of watched what I was doing, and gave me a little smile when I finished.

The train ride was very smooth and quiet, a nice way to travel. While waiting on the train platform in Giverny, one of the high speed trains came flying by, and I do mean flying! It made me and several other people jump. I didn’t even hear it approaching it was moving so fast and by the time I figured out what it was, it was out of sight! Wow! I can’t even imagine travelling that fast. It was mind boggling, and there certainly was no chance to get out my camera for a picture!

I want to draw on the Metro too, but it is bumpy, and very busy, so I haven’t been brave enough to try. It is amazing how many people ride the Metro and how often the trains run. The most I have had to wait was three minutes, when I had just missed the previous train. Imagine, a train runs every two or three minutes on every Metro line in the city, and they are all full of people!

Back to the Académie

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Trudy

We had a fantastic model today! What a difference a model can make to the feel of a class. This lovely lady had such positive energy and beautiful poses. It was easy to see that she took this job seriously and that she enjoys modelling. I hope she sets the standard for Parisian models.

Waiting for class to start.

Easels and stools, supposedly the originals, the pot belly stove is for sure. I think the studio must get quite cool in the winter, the back wall Is very cold already. I was leaning up against it the first time I went and had to move; it was way too cold.

I desperately wanted to stay for the second session from 3:15 until 6:00, but I was just too tired. It can be a tad frustrating having a body that needs more rest than I think it should. I did buy ‘une carnet de douze séances’ today, this is a pack of tickets for twelve sessions. It is certainly much more expensive to draw in Paris than at home. At Harcourt House I buy a yearly membership for $25 and then a three hour drawing session costs $8.00! I alway thought that was a great price but I truly did not appreciate just how wonderful it really is. A package of twelve sessions here is 170€, which works out to $20.50 Canadian per session and a regular drop in session without a ticket is 18€, or $25.75 Canadian.

Here are a couple of sketches from today. The first is a five minute pose, the second a twenty minute one.

I stopped in to an art store across the street from the Academié, but just had a quick look around and decided I had better head for home. They had a good deal on some Canson papers in case I decide to work larger.

There were also some very nice Japanese watercolours in the window, but they were very expensive. The set with the twelve large pans is 282€!

It was so nice to come home to soup in the fridge and cooked apples for dessert. I definitely pays to do a bit of prep work every few days.

Monet’s Giverny

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Trudy

Today was a long but very enjoyable. My alarm was set for 7:00 and I was out of the apartment by 7:30, having organized everything last night. It is two metro rides to the St. Lazare station, which looks much as it did in when Monet painted it in 1877. It is the second busiest railway statin in Europe, after the Gare du Nord, and I found my way!

I just made it onto the train in time. Turns out my watch was more than ten minutes slow! Soon I was in Vernon, found the bus to Giverny and a short ride later, arrived at Givernry.

It is a magical place, with a profusion of flowers, all shapes, colours and textures. Monet didn’t like an organized or constrained garden. He planted according to their colours, and let them grow as they wished. As it is late in the season everything is mature and many of the plants towered several feet over my head! It is quite the sight. The paths have all but disappeared, even the big wide path under the arched rose arbours is almost completely covered in Nasturtiums. The dahlias are numerous and exquisite, so many different colours and shapes of petals.

I’m afraid my pictures don’t do it justice. I am having computer problems tonight, very slow connection and then a couple times things just disappeared, rather frustrating.

The garden is very different in each of the seasons so it would be lovely to see it in the Spring… If you go to Giverny.org there is lots of information about the garden and the types of flowers shrubs and trees planted there.

The water lilies were in bloom and they slowly opened as the sun climbed higher in the sky.

Here is the view from the famous Japanese Bridge we see in so many of Monet’s paintings.

The house is so much bigger than I expected, it is 40 meters long but only 5 meters wide! There was no access to his two large studios on the property. Too bad, and I just realized when I was looking at the site that I mentioned that I somehow missed seeing the studio that was in the house! I can’t believe I did that! There was so much to look at. Oh well, I guess I will have to go back one day so I can check it out. Although there were line ups most of the day, I managed to visit the house at a time I could just walk right in.

I tried a little watercolour sketch, but it wasn’t the most successful. I usually work in pastels when using colour so this was a bit of a challenge.

Made it home but witnessed a lot of yelling by a young woman on the escalator at the St. Lazare station. There were a lot of people around and she seemed to be arguing with at least one man. I was going down as she was going up, but people looked upset, not sure what it was about. In any case, I was glad to get home and into my apartment with no problems.

I just got an email that someone didn’t get the last two days posts. No idea if this just happened to her or to anyone else? You can check at trudymason.com. I have been posting every day and hope to continue to do so.

Quiet Saturday

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Trudy

I had planned on going back to the Académie again this afternoon, but ended up sleeping in and it would have been much too rushed. Between missing one night’s sleep while travelling and getting to sleep so late all this week I was overtired. I decided to stay put today and get organized for the coming week.

So I now have a big pot of vegetable chicken soup, a bowl of yummy quinoa, avocado, and veggie salad and another of cooked apples and raisins. I have been eating only anti-inflammatory foods for the last 20 months and it has made quite an improvement in my health. It does present a few challenges while travelling as I am not able to eat gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, corn or peanuts. Sigh, no croissants or pastries for me, but I can enjoy a piece of dark chocolate, so that is my treat.

I had a relaxing day, chatted with my daughter and husband, and figured out the logistics for taking the train to Giverny tomorrow . Giverny is the home of Monet’s studio and gardens, the ones that inspired his famous water lily series of paintings. I thought I better go there while the weather is so nice, so that is where I will be tomorrow.

Here are a couple pictures of some of the sketches I did yesterday. Sure wish I had a scanner…. but these will have to do.

I drew on seven pages in one of my new sketchbooks and hope to have it full by the time I return home.

Académie de la Grande Chaumière

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Trudy

I went to my first drop in life drawing session today at the Academié de la Grande Chaumière. The Academié was founded in 1902, and nothing much has changed in the studios since then, the original easels, stools and pot belly stove for warmth are still there. No cameras allowed in Life drawing studios but I snapped this quickly before the class started. I’ll take more the next time I am there.

It was quite amazing to be drawing in this historical studio. Modigliani, one of my favourite artists drew here often, who knows, maybe sitting on the same bench as I was. The benches and stools are terribly hard on the bottom, perhaps I need a little pillow! Unfortunately the model was quite uninspiring. She was nice enough but had no energy and quite boring poses. Quite a few people left halfway through so I am hoping this is unusual; but you know it didn’t really matter, it was still a great afternoon. I’ll post pictures tomorrow as I need daylight to take the best photos of drawings. They are a bit hard to photograph, scanning works much better, but alas, no scanner.

Thanks to my dear friend Christine, I now know how to access the French key board and add accents. I didn’t know that they do not use the same letter arrangement on their keyboard as we do. Good thing I don’t have to use a French computer, way too many typos would be happening.

I love people watching here, and wish I had a camera built into my glasses so that I could snap pictures of the interesting people I see! I took this one of a lady dressed all in red through the Metro train window after I got off, and she looked up just after I snapped the photo; our eyes met and she smiled.

This fellow was practicing his skills beside my neighbourhood skate park. I stop there every night on the way home to watch for a while. I love the way the older boarders encourage the little ones, and some of them are very little, maybe five or six years old. There is also a protocol for whose turn it is next and there is a lot of encouragement and congratulations given when someone pulls off a good trick, even for the little ones. I am starting to recognize the regulars and I hope they are getting used to me watching as I would like to sit and draw them one day.

Skateboarding is very popular here, and it is quite common to see a boarder or two, or three, flying down a hill in the middle of the road with all the cars! All ages too, even some grey haired oldies.

I went to the Louvre for a couple of hours before I went to life drawing, but only did one very mediocre drawing of a sculpture. I think it will take a couple of times to feel comfortable drawing here, and to figure out the best places to sit. There aren’t too many benches or chairs placed in good positions for viewing pieces for drawing, and the marble floors are very hard. Hmmmm, maybe I really do need a little pillow?

I saw this window display yesterday. anyone want to buy a machine gun, or maybe a hand grenade? Certainly not something I would ever see back home!

The sun was shining on my apartment building when I came home. I am on the fourth floor, (called the 3rd here). It is the apartment with two flower boxes on the windows, two stories above the top of the truck. Take note of the graffiti on the delivery truck, a very common sight.

I was really tired coming home tonight. I do love the Metro, most of the trains arrive every three or four minutes and quickly whisk you away to your destination, such an easy way to get around a city. Sometimes entertainment is even provided, as with this ‘oom pa pa’ group.

I made a yummy supper wrote my blog post and I am off to bed.

trudymason.com

Travel, Art, Drawing, PaperArts

Monthly Archives: September 2014

Crazy Bicyclist, Break Dancing and Eiffel Tower

Drawing Meet Up and Sacŕe Coeur

Six Hours of Drawing!

A Peek Through the Big Blue Doors

Buses and The Champs -Élysées

An Interesting Model

Back to the Académie

Monet’s Giverny

Quiet Saturday

Académie de la Grande Chaumière

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