Morning in Giverny.

I liked the water lilies. Really, someone should paint these. 

I liked the forest of bamboo. His pride and joy.

 

I  liked the flowers of every kind, every color, every size. Flowers so unusual they felt imaginary.

                      

Most of all, I liked standing in the studio that Monet built and painted in. A man who lived a full and long life, engaged in life to the end, a sense of design, pattern, and purpose. 

Day 2...

Whirlwind comes to mind. Our morning included a gourmet tour of markets, award-winning patisseries and fromagers (where we sampled the goods), a walk through the 5th arrondissement, entry into a secret passage in the middle of the city that our guide was privy to, and a cheese, wine, and grape stop before we embarked to the d'Orsay lunch and museum. More on that later. Our days are full. And though I have been here often, I found much that was new and all that was fun.

I sat where Owen Wilson sat before the black cab picked him up (Midnight in Paris)

There's a whole quiet community of lovely places to live behind these doors.

                     

A jar of Parisian specialties

Art surrounds us.

Writing my memoir where Ernest wrote his.

               

Leaving the rain behind?

forecast for Seattle: rain, possibly record-making winds ahead. A good time to fly over the ocean,  don't you think?

To the city of ornate geometry.

And rain. 

Such as what provides the  mosaic-y photo of the Eiffel Tower in a  Seattle-like heavy drizzle on this first day of my trip to Paris and Provence with a small group of fellow travelers, followed by a week alone in the City of Light. 

              

First the reunion with Jeannie. Then up to our room. We leaned out the window of our hotel to spot Tour Eiffel apparently within our reach! 

We ate a great meal atop the Tower served by a witty Turk.

Every day, every one of us experiences the result of the turmoil our world is in these days.

We finished the day off with the view from the iconic and beautifully geometric still-takes-my-breath-away Eiffel Tower.

And having been awake for 30 some hours in the time zone game of eastward travel, we took one last look from our hotel room and slept like babes.

Getting ready....

In a couple of days I will be off to Paris and Provence. The timing isn't great; we are still putting things away and organizing the house from our move a little over a month ago. But I am leaving behind my husband, the kitties, and lots of piles of things get to find a place. And it will be good to get away. After a tour with a small group of women to Paris and Provence, I will spend a week solo in Paris. I'll not be sightseeing, but intend to hit obscure places and neighborhoods to sketch, something I rarely do when traveling with others. This is how I prepare for this kind of trip: get out the magazines, books, articles and find some interesting places I might not otherwise find. Whenever I travel alone, in the U.S. up to now, I do my homework and make my own travel guide. It's not in ink and I am always up to surprises and unplanned discoveries, but it's fun for me to have a little scavenger hunt for myself.

I hope to blog each day, especially during my solo week. I hope you will join me!

By the way, that's the Cubs game on the TV. We're losing. Hope that changes. Go Cubs.