Category Archives: Drawing People

Bruges, Belgium

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Day 21     Saturday, September 20, 2025

We drive an hour and a half to visit Bruges.  First stop is the market which was supposed to be open for another hour but most vendors are packing up because of the cold and rain.

We see this huge contraption which I am sure is a spider, but it is not moving. I just looked up Bruges Giant spider and found this little video on Instagram…I was right, it is a spider! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO3Y573jK1r/ 

It is miserable out, lots of umbrellas, lots of rain and it is cold.

We take refuge in this cathedral along with a lot of other people.  It isn’t very warm but it is at least dry. I sit and write in my journal and Bob checks out the cathedral.  I am content to just sit and rest for a bit.

There are large beautiful tapestries on both sides of the altar.

There is an announcement in several languages that the church is closing and will reopen in a couple hours after lunch.  So we walk to the huge central square, lined with beautiful old buildings.  It had stopped raining. The entire old city of Bruges is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The city was not damaged in either of the two World Wars so much of its Medieval heritage remained intact.

The streets are packed with tourists and it starts to rain again so we find a MacDonalds and hide out there for an hour and have our lunch.  It is dry and warm and no one cares how long we sit here.

The rain stops and we decide to get tickets for a canal boat ride.  There is a line but it moves fairly quickly and we watch the boats coming and going while we wait in line.

While we are waiting  I notice that there is a tight rope walker high in the sky!  If you look carefully at the previous photo you can see her in the top right corner just above the rooftops.  Yes, it is a woman, when she hangs upside down we see a ponytail. A rope almost 400m long was stretched at a height of 70m between the Belfry and the Church of Our Lady.

Soon we are travelling on the canals which give us a great view of many of the buildings in Bruges.

You can see the high wire attached to the cathedral tower.

We pass under many bridges, some of them so low we need to duck our heads.

The geese on the canals are owned by the city of Bruges and the penalty for killing one is five years in jail!

The city of Bruges is famous for its well-preserved medieval architecture, including many buildings featuring stepped gables.  Houses with lots of steps on the gables showed that the owner was rich.         
I wonder if the houses on the canal are damp, with the water lapping at their foundations.

This is the oldest bridge in Bruges and our driver/guide tells us that if you kiss under this bridge you will have everlasting love.  We kiss.

There are a variety of interesting buildings along the canals…

..and some great views.

There are also signs that Autumn is here.

This medieval building was built using wood, which was a fire hazard.  Most buildings in Bruges were built in a style known as Brick Gothic. 

After our boat ride we wander the streets and see this.  Lots of people are entering the building so Bob says we should follow them.  

It is an open house for the  new Brusk Art Gallery which will open in 2026.  We enter a room with shipping plastic wrap.  We aren’t sure what it is supposed to be…

…until we enter the next room and there is a  large tape art installation in the form of a web structure, and there are people climbing inside of them!  All of a sudden the giant spider we saw earlier makes sense.

I want to climb inside…my turn next!

It was interesting trying to walk around, but not really all that difficult.

This was so much fun!  Here I am inside this giant web-like structure.

There is the hole I climbed through to get inside.All too soon it is time to climb down. This was such fun.

There were several of these ‘webs’ in this huge room. What a clever idea.

Belgium is famous for its chocolate, which comes in all shapes and sizes!

There is a Carillon performance at 4:00.  We find a spot to sit just as it starts and listen to a variety of music for the next hour. The carillon is a piano like instrument that plays 47 bells.

One of the musicians was very young.

I do a bit of pen sketching while I listened to the music.  The last song played was Beethoven’s Ode To Joy and most of the audience stood up. The lady beside me told me that it is the anthem for the European Union, which has its headquarters in Brussels.  

This is an interesting building, skinny at the front and then widening out as along the streets on either side. 

We wanted to visit the Church of Our Lady which houses The Madonna and Child by Michelangelo. This world-famous white marble statue is the only work by Michelangelo that left Italy during his lifetime. But the church closed at 5:00 so we are out of luck.

We have to settle for viewing this poster.

We order a waffle with dark chocolate to share before the long drive back to our bnb. It  had a bit too much chocolate for us, but was still delicious.

Metier Museum, Picasso Museum, and Life Drawing

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Day 8.    Sunday, September 7, 2025

We picked up our car this morning, a Ford Hybrid with a nice big trunk.  Driving back from Gare de Lyon to our bnb went well, and our host let us park in his yard for the night which we really appreciated.  There are next to no parking spots on the streets in this neighbourhood.

I left for drawing in Montmartre, which was an hour away.  I arrived just in time for the session, and the organizer, Deni, remembered me from the last time I was here, two years ago!

Aurora, five 2 minute poses, 1 5min pose

Two 5 minute poses, three 10 minute poses

One very challenging foreshortened 25 minute pose.

Before catching the metro home I stop to watch four very muscular handsome young men performing for donations, while I eat a yummy crepe sucré avec banane for my dinner.

There were a lot of steps on this metro trip so I decided to count them on the way home. Including these 104 spiral steps I went up and down 456 steps!!  So, going and coming from drawing I climbed up and down a total of 912 steps. No wonder French people are so healthy!  I was rather proud of myself climbing these spiral steps and passing a group of people much younger than I am huffing and puffing as they rested on one of the landings! 

Short skirts are in fashion…very very short skirts!

While I was at drawing Bob visited two museums.  The Musée des Arts et Métiers is a museum of technological innovation that exhibits over 2,400 inventions.  This is the first battery that was invented in 1799 by Volta.

This first sewing machine was invented in 1830. Dozens of these machines were destroyed by 200 tailors in 1831 who feared for their jobs.

The first steam driven vehicle was invented in 1770.

Leon Gaumont’s Sonophone combines image and sound for the first time in the history of cinema in 1900.

Bob spent a lot of time at the Picasso Museum…he texted me that he wasn’t sure what the exit door looks like!  The very large L’Aubade (1942) painting of two figures symbolized the violence of the war years.  Baiser, or the Kiss was painted in 1969. There was an interesting wall of portraits and a room with many of his sculptures. These are only a few of the 5,000 pieces of art at this museum.

This early Picasso portrait of Gustave Coquot is from 1901.  Picasso’s started painting when he was eight years old and didn’t start cubism until his thirties.

Bob took a photo of this Modigliani just for me, because he knows that I love Modigliani’s paintings. It was in the Picasso museum because both artists were influenced by African art and Picasso admired Modigliani’s work. We drive to Arras tomorrow so tonight we pack and tidy up.  It was great being able to attend three life drawing sessions in three days but it was a bit tiring too.  I don’t think I will find many more life drawing groups for a while.

Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Jardin de Luxembourg and Jardin des Plantes.

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Day 7 Saturday, September 6, 2025

Today I catch the metro about 12:30 to go drawing at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and Bob stays home a bit longer before going exploring on his own. He caught the metro to the Gare du Nord and then walked all the way south to the Jardin de Luxembourg to sit and read for a bit.

Sadly the studios of the Académie are no longer in the same historic building. These three photos are from previous trips and visits to draw in the 121 year old studios where so many artists have been before me.

On the way to the new location which is only a couple of blocks from the old studios I see these flowers that had been placed on a window ledge….I wonder what iis the story behind these roses?

Here is the new studio.  It seems rather sterile and bare, but at least the life drawing sessions are still in operation.  I believe that they are trying to find a better studio but the lady who talked about all this spoke very quickly and I only caught part of what she was saying.  My French has improved, but not enough to understand the whole conversation. You can see my spot in the foreground of the photo, with my sketchbook on the stool and my red bag on the floor.

The model was tall and my drawings weren’t great today, but it is all a learning experience. Four 5 minute poses.

a 10 and a 15 minute pose

A 30n and a 35 minute pose.

After drawing I walked to the Jardin de Luxembourg to meet Bob. Thank heavens for cell phones and texting or I would never have found him.  The gardens were very busy today.The Medici Fountain is a monumental fountain in the Jardin de Luxembourg that was built in 1630.  I really like this fountain.

 In 2006 we saw a giant nose floating in the water as part of an art installation.

We walk toward the Jardin de Plantes, a botanical garden about 45 minutes away. We pass the Pantheon, which is a mausoleum containing the graves of many famous people including Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Voltaire, Louis Braille, and Alexandre Dumas.  It is closed and I don’t think we will have time to visit this trip…guess we need to return to Paris at least one more time! I do not miss eating out in Paris.  Sitting check by jowl beside smokers is not my idea of fun.  I much prefer the meals we prepare at home in our bnb’s.

As we enter the Jardin des Plantes we see this huge Plantane tree which was planted in 1785 and is now classified as an ‘Arbre Historique et Remarquables’.  It amazes me that someone knows exactly when this tree was planted… 240 years ago!

These little orchids are growing at the base of the tree.  We have the same ones growing back home in Alberta. Sue loved this interesting flower and wanted a closer look.

Another huge old tree.  Can you tell I love trees.

We couldn’t find Sue but then Bob spotted her checking out this rather strange creature.

The Botanical garden was a bit of a disappointment, we had just started to explore some of the more interesting areas when we were told to leave as the park was closing, a half hour before it actually closed.

Everyday on our walk to the metro near our bnb we pass these beautiful Passion flowers.

 We got home about 8:30, another full day.

Eiffel Tower, Bourdelle Museum and Drink and Draw

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Day 6,      Friday, September 5, 2025

 It always takes me awhile to feel comfortable drawing when we are on holidays, and as I hadn’t done any drawing for almost a month before we left, I really had a hard time getting started.  While we were sitting in Notre Dame during Vespers yesterday I finally took the plunge.  

Then riding home the metro I did these quick sketches.Friday we managed to start our day at noon. Soon we were at the Eiffel Tower.  Somehow it doesn’t seem right to be in Paris and not visit this iconic landmark, even though we have visited it several times already including climbing to the second level. We will try and book a visit on our return to Paris at the end of our trip to go all the way to the very top level!  These tickets book up weeks ahead.Two years ago we picnicked on the grass near here, but there were not nearly as many people as there are today.

We found a bench in the shade away from the crowds to eat our lunch and watched as seven military personnel complete with machine guns approach on the path in front of us.  I held up my phone to take photo and the leader signalled towards me with his finger…then one of the men following him came over to tell us that we were not allowed to take photos.  I wonder if they do not want photos of their faces published anywhere…so after they passed and we were walking behind them I snapped this one.  France is on high alert right now, but these are the first fully armed military we have seen this trip.

One more view of the Eiffel Tower, looking towards the bridge across Seine behind it. There are people everywhere, enjoying the sunshine.  The first time we visited we could walk right under the four massive legs but now this area is all closed off behind glass panels and everyone who wants to get close has to go through a security checkpoint which includes bag checks and full body scan, just like at the airports.

It is a 45 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Bourdelle Museum.  On the way we pass the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. You can still see the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

Just a bit further we pass this hotel that has trees and shrubs growing all over it.  I wonder what happens when they outgrow their planters?

There are all sorts of interesting building in Paris.  As we near the museum we pass this car park, completely panelled in brilliant colours.

The museum dedicated to Antoine Bourdelle is free. We first find the cafe and have some tea and cookies.  It felt good to just sit and relax for a while.  Bourdelle was a student of Rodin and after Rodin’s death Bourdelle dominated the field of monumental sculpture.  We see many examples of these monumental sculptures.  The museum is at the site of Bourdelles original  studio. As he became successful he added more rooms and gardens until it appeared much as it does today.  

One of the studios has this huge study for a hand.

Bourdelle was 50 years old when he finally became successful thanks to his Hercules the Archer statue. It represents the Greek hero wielding his bow to shoot down the Stymphalian birds. Copies of this sculpture were created in three versions and are in numerous museums in France and abroad.

There is a room full of magnificent sculptures…

and there are more sculptures in the gardens and courtyards.  Can you see Sue? (short for souris which means mouse in French). Since this little green mouse stowed away in our luggage she insists on coming along with us on our travels.

Sue is very curious and likes to check thing out for herself.

There are two of these huge horse sculptures at the museum.  

Bob sits in one of the gardens to read for a bit and I sketch one of the sculptures close by named Penelope, a larger than life size bronze of one of the wives of Odysseus, who waited faithfully for her husband to return. Bourdelle used the features of two women who loved him, he generous curves of his first wife, Stéphanie Van Parys, and the posture of his student, Cléopâtre Sevastos, the muse who would become his second wife.

After our visit to the museum. I went to a Drink and Draw session nearby and Bob headed for home.  Here are the drawings from my first life drawing session this trip.

2 minute poses and one 5 minute pose…

two more 5 minute poses…

two 5 minute and one 10 minute pose…and a 15, a 10 and a 25 minute pose.  

Ada is our model tonight, and I am sure that I recognize her from a previous life drawing session in Paris. She thinks that she recognizes me too! but we are unable to figure out where I might have drawn her before. I will have to check my other holiday sketchbooks when I get home. I take the metro and get home at 10:00. Bob meets me at our metro stop and carries my art stuff home for me…I am pooped…it was a ten hour 15,000 steps day!

Académie de la Grande Chaumière

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Day 88,  Friday, November 24, 2023.

Rodin’s statue of Balzac is just a couple of blocks from the Académie de la Chaumiere. I wanted to take a photo of this famous statue but I kept forgetting, so I planned on doing it today. Wouldn’t you know it…there are workmen putting scaffolding up and most of the statue is hidden! Guess I’ll have to return one day to take this photo!  I stopped at an art store nearby to get some conté crayons for a friend but they had almost none left!  Darn, there was a good supply when I checked in September.  I guess I should have bought them then.
My favourite spot for drawing, when I get here early enough to claim it, is in the second row on the left side of the room.  You can see the stool I use for a little side table with my blue cup and some of my drawing pencils beside my chair. I also come early so that I can snag one of the two available chairs… they are so much more comfortable than the stools.  Kamelia, the young woman with the long red hair is our lovely model today.These stairs have been worn by countless footsteps, by countless artists over the years since the Académie opened in 1904.  I hope they never renovate and repair these step… I love seeing traces of those who have come before.The bulletin board by the front door lists all the life drawing drop in sessions.  When I was here in 2014 there were more sessions offered, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays there were two sessions back to back…one at noon and one at three o’clock.  I liked attending those days and really enjoyed spending most of the day drawing.  The sessions were also longer, 2 3/4 hours compared to  2 1/2 hours.  The sessions I attend back home are 3 hours long with one 15 minute break…2 1/2 hours flies by very quickly, especially with two 15 minute breaks for the model.  I was told that the hours changed after Covid which is too bad, but hey, I am still drawing in Paris!

Two 10 minute and a 20 minute pose

Three 5 minute poses

A 30 minute pose

And my favourite drawing of the day, the final 30 minute pose.Bob did a bit of exploring today but it was a cool day and he didn’t take very many photos. The Pont Alexandre III is considered the most beautiful bridge in Paris. The glass domed building is the Grand Palais. It was built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition and houses many of Paris’s large scale exhibitions and events.  I haven’t been inside yet, and I don’t suppose we will have time this trip…another trip to Paris is definitely in order!

This sculptural sign is counting down the days until the Paris Olympics…Only 278 more days to go.

We both arrive home about the same time, make dinner and have a quiet evening.  Our trip is coming to its end, we leave for home in just three days!

Académie De La Grande Chaumière and Les Invalides

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Day 86,  Wednesday, November 22, 2023

I have a life drawing session at L’Académie de la Grande Chaumiere and Bob sets off to explore a bit more of Paris.

Today he visits Les Invalides, which was built in 1670 by Louis XIV in order to provide housing and hospital care for wounded soldiers. Today it is a museum, a monument, a mausoleum that contains the tomb of Napoleon and a hospital for war veterans.

This was the tallest building in Paris before the Eiffel Tower was built.  Napoleon’s tomb is located below this golden dome.

Les Invalides is enormous, and was once a city that housed over 4,00 inhabitants.  This arial view gives an idea of its size.

The huge central courtyard, which can be seen in the above photo houses a collection of cannons.This is one of the building entrances that face the central courtyard.  Les Invalides houses huge military museums with thousands of artifacts in its collection.  We visited inside on a previous trip.  It took a whole day to visit the numerous museums dedicated to all things military from ancient to modern times. Today Bob wanders outside, in the gardens and the courtyards.

I spent the afternoon at my beloved Académie de la Chaumiere drawing a lovely model named Inez.  These are five 3 minute poses and one 15 minute.

Three 5 minutes, the portrait was a bit longer but I forgot to mark the time.

Two 20 minute poses

And a 25 minute pose.

I had arranged to meet a friend that I met years ago during my month in Paris.  Ivy met me at the Académie, we drew together and then went for tea at a nearby café. The same café that I visited in 2014!  We had a lovely visit, catching up on the last nine years!
image Finally I headed home where Bob had supper waiting.  Quite a lovely day.

Life Drawing and Bob’s Paris

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Day 84,   Monday November 20, 2023

I want to attend as many life drawing sessions as I can these last few days in Paris.  I am still feeling quite tired after getting Covid the beginning of the month, so most days I am going to life drawing and then coming straight home.  I don’t have the energy for much else.

I am back at the Grande Chaumière again this afternoon.  Bob and I took the same metro.  I got off at the Vavin stop to go drawing and he continued towards the Place de la Concorde on the north side of the Seine River to do some more exploring.

The session is from 2:30 to 5:00 …only 2 1/2 hours, not the 3 hour sessions I am used to at home.  The time goes by much too quickly.  Today we have a wonderful model named Fanny.

Three 3 minute poses

I tried my Derwent Drawing sanguine pencil, but I didn’t like how it felt on the paper in this sketchbook.  Three 5 minute poses.

Fanny’s poses were naturally graceful.  Two 15 minute poses…

a  20 minute pose…

a 15 minute pose……and a final 30 minute pose.  Fanny was such a great model.  It was a good day!

While I was drawing, Bob explored the north shore near the Champs Élysées.  This photo shows the hoarding which looks like a giant trunk during renovation work on a Louis Vuitton building. How clever!  He saw a lot of the highlights in this area of Paris.

Bob checked out the Christmas tree in a Galeries Lafayette store.  I’m not sure I will have time to go see it for myself, so this photo might just have to do.

The 72′ tall golden tipped Luxor Obelisk on the Place de la Concorde was erected in 1829, on the very spot where Louis XVI was beheaded!  It has now become a symbol of peace and harmony.

The Fountain of Rivers is ornately decorated with mermaids and mermen.  

Jean Dubuffet’s Le Bel Costumé caught Bob’s eye in the Jardin des Tuileries.

This is a long street of shops near the Place Vendome…

with very expensive merchandise!

The original Vendôme Column at the centre of the square was erected by Napoleon I.  It was torn down on 16 May 1871, but it was subsequently re-erected and remains a prominent feature on the square today.

Too bad all these people who are lining up to get into the Louvre don’t know about the side door, where there is usually no line up at all!

The Roue de Paris is a 60-metre tall transportable Ferris wheel, originally installed on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, for the 2000 millennium celebrations. Too bad we didn’t have time to ride on it this trip, although it does look a bit scary.

The Pont Alexandre III is a bridge that spans the Seine in Paris.  The bridge is widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in the city.  It has been classified as a French historic monument since 1975.

We both arrive home in time to make dinner and relax.  Our days in Paris are fast drawing to a close.

Life drawing and Exploring Paris

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Day 83,   Sunday November 19, 2023

I have two life drawing sessions planned for today.  One at the Montmartre Life Drawing Studio in the afternoon and another at an artist’s studio from 5 to 7 pm this evening. Bob goes out exploring while I am drawing.  Today there is some sunshine, and no rain!

The Eiffel Tower is visible on the skyline.

This interesting exterior belongs to Stade Jean-Bouin. The 19,904 capacity stadium is used mostly for rugby, but is also used for American football and association football matches.

Pont Mirabeau was built at the very end of the 19th century and  is adorned with four bronze sculptures representing the City of Paris, Commerce, Navigation, and Abundance.

A clever shot through the tree branches.

Can you take too many photos of this iconic structure?  I don’t think so.I attended sessions with the Montmartre Life Drawing group in September so no problem finding their location even though I was coming from a different starting point.  The first thing I see when I leave the metro is this impressive statue in the centre of a traffic circle.

There is a flea market on the median.

There are lots of interesting items but I don’t have time for more than a quick look.

Next I cross a bridge that goes over the top of the Montmartre cemetery rather than cutting it in half… again no time to go exploring.  Life drawing awaits!  I later read that Nijinsky, Degas & Zola lie in this tree-lined burial ground that opened in 1825.

We have a male model for the afternoon, Guiseppé.  We start with five two minute poses

followed by three five minute and a 10 minute poseA 25 minute pose…

and a 15 minute one,

then we end the session with a couple 10 minute poses.  Guiseppé was an excellent model, and fun to draw.

During the break I was checking out Google maps to make sure I could find the second session and I discovered that I had no internet!  Panic!!  A very kind young lady lent me her phone so I could write down some instructions, but I was worried about being able to find the next life drawing location.  Luckily when I was ready to go to the evening session the internet was back!  I was very relieved that I didn’t have to rely on my hastily drawn map.

Life Drawing Montmartre posts on their Instagram page…Here I am!

Screenshot

The second session was at the photographer J R Franco’s studio/apartment.  These two photos are from his instagram site.  You can just barely see part of my knee and sketchbook in the bottom right corner of this one…

and the top of my grey head I this one.  

We started with two 5 and one 10 minute pose of our lovely female model…seems I forgot to note her name.  I like having that information in my sketchbook.

I loved this 13 minute pose, draped over a couch and chair with her torso hanging in the space between them

It was going to be a session with two models but the male model had to cancel at the last minute, so Jean Robert modelled for us. We started with two 5 minute poses. I concentrated on his face…he had an interesting face.

two 3 minute and one 5 minute pose.  Then we drew both models together in a 10 minute pose,

then one more 10 minute pose.

During the break we had goodies upstairs in a loft area and a tour of Franco’s studio which was also his apartment.

It was a wonderful, full day, and I head home in the dark, but the metro is close by and when I get home Bob has supper waiting!

Monte Carlo, France

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Day 57, Tuesday, October 24, 2023

The train ride to Monte Carlo is a relaxing 70 minutes. I like trains and would be happy to do more travel by train.  I do a bit of sketching, some are more successful than others, and even more people watching.  I sketch in ballpoint pen so  it is difficult to correct errors.  A tall, slim young woman dressed in black with very long black hair sits near us and a couple stops later another young woman who could be her twin gets on the train, also all dressed in black…and they sit together.  We can’t decide if they are related or friends.

The area near the train station isn’t very fancy but look at the size of the trees growing on these balconies!

We are soon in an area wth shops. This bridal shop had a sign in the window about a royal wedding but it wasn’t clear if they made the royal wedding dress.

We head up this very long set of very wide steps to get to the Palais Princier where the ruling Grimaldi’s still live.

There are some good views of buildings on the nearby hills.  The buildings are very close to one another, there is not much open space at all.

We missed the changing of the guards at noon, even though we thought we had planned to get there early.  Only our bus was late, and then our train was late….even best laid plans go astray.  But this guard walked right towards us and then kindly stopped so I could take his picture…or so it seemed.  Turns out it was where he always stopped to turn and go back the other way!

It starts to rain so we duck into the shops nearby.  I think this fridge magnet is the closest we will get to actually holding a 500€ casino chip!

And this is the closest Bob will get to being captain of a boat!

The old town streets next to the palace are narrow and packed with shops and restaurants and offers us a bit of shelter from the rain.

We hide out in this church for a while too.  it was nice to sit for a bit out of the rain, before we make our way towards the harbour.

There is a good view of the harbour from up here.

There is a lovely garden along the sea on our way down to the harbour.  I loved this sculpture called Invitation by K. Verkade.  One of the side benefits of writing this blog is that I take the time to do a bit of research on some of the things we have seen, and I end up discovering interesting new things…like this sculptor and his work.

Bob finds us a bench that is dry under several big coniferous trees that offer shelter from the rain, so we sit for a bit and have tea and cookies and take a selfie.

This is the view from our sheltered bench… but this sculpture nearby gives a more accurate portrayal of the weather! We saw this statue “The Cloak of Conscience” elsewhere on one of our trips, but I don’t remember where.  The artist, Anna Chromy studied at the Academy de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, my favourite life drawing studio!   She is another interesting artist I read about today.   I did not know that this sculpture was also carved in marble and stands over 15 feet tall!  This website has some amazing photos of its creation.. https://annachromy.com/cloak-of-conscience/from-escavation-to-completion/

A big frame overlooking Monaco offers the opportunity for a rather wet portrait.

But then the sun came out!

And we walk down a very long ramp to the harbour area…

where we walk along some of the roads used for the Monaco Grand Prix.  Bob poses with this statue of the winner of the1955 Grand Prix, Juan Fangio.  The F1 cars have changed a bit since then!

We visit the Prince of Monaco’s Car Collection.

This new 3,500 m2 building holds  around 70 vehicles including racing cars that have competed in the Monte-Carlo Rally and the Monaco F1 Grand Prix.

Here are a few of Bob’s favourites.  

And of course there is a red convertible!

We stroll along the harbour where the rich and famous dock their yachts.  I think this is one of the biggest ones we have seen… even bigger than the one in Antibes near the sculpture made up of letters.  It has two curved staircases!

The people standing on the dock give an idea of the size of this thing.

The boats parked alongside it look very small in comparison.

Next stop is the Monte Carlo Casino.  I wish we could have taken photos inside.  It is over the top ornate, and yes, we walked through the gaming rooms where some of the James Bond movies were filmed.  Pictures are allowed in the lobby. so we prop our phone for a selfie.

We need to show our passports and pay 18€ each just to get into the gaming rooms…but we do each get a 10€ voucher to spend.  Interestingly, it is against the law for citizens of Monaco to work or gamble in the casino!

There weren’t many people gambling…I think it was a bit too early in the day.  We spend an hour or so trying our luck on the slot machines.  We spend our two 10€ vouchers and after putting another 50€  into the machines we aren’t doing all that well…

until we go back to the first machine we played and we start to win.  In the end our time in the casino only cost us 26€ and we had a lot of fun.  The casino is starting to get busier just as we are leaving.  It would have been interesting to be there later in the evening but we need to get home.

If you would like to see photos of the inside of the gaming rooms check this link. https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/search/monte-carlo-casino-interior

It is already getting dark when we leave the casino.  

We take selfies in the reflection of this giant metallic ball, with the casino in the background.

As we head back towards the train station we walk through a garden area with great views of the casino and the very expensive hotels nearby.

The casino is very pretty all lit up at night.

We pass a tree with these beautiful huge flowers that are at least as big as my outstretched hand…. and another big flowering Brugmansia.

Getting back to our train was really difficult.  There is construction and we can not find our way into the train station!  We walk around and around and although the sign says that we are at the train station there is no way we can find to get inside.  Finally we see a young lady who seems to know where to go, so we follow her through a door that says no public entrance, walk through part of a parkade and we finally find an elevator that takes us up to the train station.  We buy our tickets and then have to run like crazy to catch the train so we don’t have to wait for an hour for the next one….and it is packed, no seats, standing room only!  Luckily after about a half an hour most people get off at Nice and we finally get to sit down.  Guess who is sitting opposite us…those two long haired young women who rode the train with us this morning.  They were carrying shopping bags from Nice.  I was so thankful to have a seat but too tired to even try to draw.  it was a really full day.

 

 

 

 

Antibes, France

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Day 55, Sunday, October 22, 2023

Antibes and the Picasso Museum is our destination today.  We take the bus instead of the train but it is quite a bumpy ride that makes drawing a bit tricky.  I think I prefer the train.  Good thing it is only a half hour ride.

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As we walk towards old town Antibes we pass aa area that has enormous hanging planters and flowerpots.  They are really spectacular.

We head for the harbour to check out the ancient ramparts and an interesting sculpture.  There are some really enormous boats in the distance as well.

These boats are docked in an exclusive area, no walking past them… so  I take a photo from the ramparts.  Take note of the white van parked by the second boat to help give a sense of scale.  

Bob had read about this sculpture by Jaume Plensa called Nomade.  It is an eight meter high figurative sculpture which is located on the top terrace of the Bastion Sainte Jaune.  It is invites interaction by its viewers, including me.

“On the terrace, facing the sea at the corner of the ring wall, was a monumental sculpture eight metres high of a squatting figure, Nomade. All these pieces used the formal vocabulary developed by the artist over the last few years, based on letters. With this vocabulary, Plensa is suggesting that, beyond its simple mission of communicating a meaning, spoken or written language can also be seen as a kind of envelope covering the matter and energy that constitute us. “Like bricks,” he says, “letters have a potential for construction. They enable us to construct thought.” ~ Jaume Plensa

Walking along the ramparts we see more boats.  This one from Bali has its surfboards mounted on the back.  I think that most surfers do not own yachts.

There are signs with information about boats for rent, little boats…

and little bit bigger boats…makes me wonder how much it costs to operate the enormous yachts we saw earlier?  and no, I have absolutely no interest at all in renting or buying a boat…just not something I would enjoy, even if had that much money..

There is a little sand beach on the outside of the ramparts, and in the background is the huge yacht and the sculpture Nomade.

Next stop is the Picasso Museum.  Nice that photos are allowed.

I am not a huge Picasso fan but this museum has lots of information explaining Picasso’s  paintings and methods which help me appreciate his work. This huge painting was painted on three cement panels that are usually used as a building material.

There is a big display of his glazed platters which are interesting.

More people take photos of these copies of Michelangelo’s sculptures than of the Picasso paintings.I spend a bit of time drawing a couple of Picasso’s altered vase forms.

Here are couple more large paintings.  I forgot to take photos of the titles…

There is another exhibit on the main floor of the museum.  Paintings by Yves Zurstrassen, but it doesn’t interest either of us so we just do a quick walk through. Outside on the patio there are several sculptures by Germaine Richler which I quite like, and two young ladies drawing in their sketchbooks.  I love seeing other people drawing.  They were deep in conversation so I didn’t interrupt them.

Walking back to the bus station we pass these porcelain cups in a shop window.  Made me smile.

The streets are narrow and we have no idea what might be hiding behind those closed shutters.

While waiting for the bus we chat with two twelve year old boys who are absolutely bursting what energy.  One of them asks me to draw him.  It isn’t a very good drawing but he is happy with it. He has a lot of hair!

As the bus is pulling away I tap on the window and his friend looks up so that I can snap a photo.  Too bad I missed getting a photo of Emin.The bus ride home was even rougher than the one coming.  We are travelling on different streets because of all the one way streets in Cannes.  I definitely prefer train travel