Oh, these're just my usual subjects: wild boar, elephants and giraffes, giant chandeliers, assorted two-legged creatures...some tamer than others. I would have drawn fountains, but my favorite ones in Paris were all dry, so most of the fun there was missing. (Wish the blog could show the elephant drawing truer to size, but, alas, non. Click on image to get to Flickr and larger sizes!)
Elephant, giraffe, rhino et al in the parade of animals, La Grande Galerie de L'Evolution, Museum Nationale de l'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. 
Lots of you are familiar with Rick Tulka. My husband and I met him in Paris a couple of years ago and we had a fun lunch with him this time! Here and in the drawing of my daughter below, I used a big fat laundry pencil I bought in Lisbon. It gives a nice, robust line and you can't be finicky with it, which is good.
My daughter, right side of spread:
My daughter, left side of spread:
View across the Lot River, Cahors:
Couldn't resist this *ahem* reconstituted sanglier and friends in a vitrine at les jardins Marqueyssac:
I was wowed by this chandelier at Le Bourbon in Paris: 
And not least, but last, our friend Drake, whose deadpan face is a perfect foil for his Rabelaisian sense of humor:
Hope you've enjoyed the sketches!
Next stop: Copenhagen in midNovember, a 20th wedding anniversary celebration. And then put-staying for a very long time.
I love Paris in the springtime. I love Paris (almost) every moment. I've had three scant days here and have packed in so much. The first evening I had dinner with dear friend Tara of Paris Parfait and her precious daughter Jordana. I was jetlagged but managed to keep going, with the help of their scintillating company and a couple of coupes de champagne.
Yesterday, I walked through seven arrondissements, made some sketches and happened upon one of those fabulous events you do when you're in Paris. There was a huge ceremony at Luxembourg gardens, honoring and giving medals to several army officers for valiant service. There was a miltary band that numbered in the hundreds, there were several hundred soldiers in dress summer uniform, there were all sorts of governmental officials bestowing medals and two-cheek kisses, there were the families and friends of the honored soldiers, and there were many, many raggle-taggle onlookers (like me), who just happened to be there when the stately, martial music and procession began. It was thrilling to witness. I made a quick sketch of some of the band members and it is below, with the rest of the day's sketches.
Vive la République!
Another gorgeous spectacle were the flower beds at Luxembourg gardens, all scarlet, violet, bright yellow, orange, so many greens, planted in castor bean, verbena, swiss chard, zinnias and more. Amazing aesthetic those French have!
I'd spent all of October last year in Paris and it was interesting to see how different the light and colors of September are. Comparing this year's Luxembourg garden fountain with last year's will give you an idea of what I'm talking about.
Here are the trip's first sketches in order of appearance.
Today was a marvelous day! I met Casey of rue Manuel bis, who lives in Amboise and whose energetic and robust drawings and paintings I'd long admired. She took a three hour train to meet me in Paris and we spent SIX hours together, sketching, art supply shopping, checking out the street where we both to want to live in Paris (rue Vavin), having lunch at la Coupole, sketching more, having poems read to us by a pétanque player, and getting on so famously, I miss her already! I made a quick drawing of her, which I gave her and she's going to post, along with the incredible sketches she herself made today. Be sure and check her out if you're not already familiar with her work.
I will post mine, too, as soon as I can.
I have lots more to say about Casey and about today, too, but these words will wait.
I leave tomorrow for a week watercolor workshop in les Bassacs, in Provence.
See you there!
I leave tomorrow morning early. I'm feeling quite emotional and that's caught me by surprise. I'm very grateful to my family, who've sacrificed a lot for me to be here. It's been the gift of a lifetime.
I end as I began, when I first dreamed of this trip a year ago----with sketches of a Paris fountain, perhaps the mother of all Paris fountains, the twin fountains at the Place de la Concorde, the navel of Paris, the scene of the beheading of Louis XVI, but ever after a place of peace, harmony, beauty.
This was made the day before yesterday, very early in the morning, right before a soaking rain.
The second sketch was made yesterday afternoon from the nonworking fountain, as the sun broke through the clouds, with a world of cars and people everywhere around me.
Now, I'm going to finish packing and stroll through this last, glorious, sunny day with my husband. I'll be thinking of the dear new friends I've met this month, Florizelle, Linda Matthieu, Tara Bradford and her husband David Holmes, and my old friends A, F, E, P and M, who were here with me, at one point or another, this October in Paris.
Thank you for your company throughout the month. Haven't we had a grand time?
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