Okay, it took all day, but with the new Flickr Uploader for the Mac Desktop… all the photos that I took whilst staying in Paris are now up on the Flickr! Yup… all of them! Yee ha! or Tres Bon! Sigh, I miss Paris.
Category Archives: tripping into Europe
…pictures, thoughts & musings about my Euro adventuring.
Parisian signs
Street Markets are the best!
Okay… the French have it all over us with groceries! Sure, they have the local Monoprix (has groceries and everything else)… but street markets are the total best! We try with our local farmers’ markets… but the food here is simply amazing! It is so much fun gathering fresh fruits, nuts, veggies, olives, chevre (goat cheese) and even wine at the street markets. The markets are daily and they rotate from Place to Place. This one is in the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) area.
So with euros in hand, Judy and I picked up a melange of ridiculously good olives, walnut sausage (yes, they make the sausage with the walnuts right in there!… sooo tastey!)… and a loaf of artisan olive bread (with the olives right in there! so tastey!), WAY fresh garlic (that keeps the mosquitos away), a 5 euro bottle of local wine… Chateau de Vaucouleurs (which was rather good), and Oh… I’ll just show you a few pictures of some of the meals that we’ve conjured up (yes, I take pictures of our food…. for art purposes and proper photo-documentation)…
As You Like It…
We just returned from seeing a play at The Old Vic Theatre… It was my first time seeing As You Like It by Willie Shakespeare… and, although it was quite long, I liked it.
I do funny things when I am at the THEE-AH-TER… I sketch, write and draw. I took only my sketchbook and a writing implement (Harold stayed at the flat for this one… I think he was still a bit tired from the late night previous) and I didn’t stop my scribbling activities from the play’s start to its finish. I filled up 3 or 4 pages in my Robert Bateman sketchbook. I filled those pages with quotes and a few quick character sketches and faces of theatre patrons.
And there is something intriguing about set design and art direction and costume work. The creative use of lights, sound and suggestion. A shadow can be a major tool… the suggestion of a forest by the use of ten wooden (tree) trunks and a shadowyness of leaves is rather genius. And changing the scene entirely with the addition of a hanging lamp and a few light pieces of furniture. I love the setting of this play with its mix of up-to-date suits (for dirty henchmen) and the 30’s inspired hobo look for the bannished Duke and his men. The Dylan-like wander/traveler Jacques. Nicely done, indeed.
The Theatre itself was a 20 minute walk from the apartment and a pleasant stroll by cafes and busking musician-types on the Waterloo Bridge. A clarinetist, a string band on a break and a latin/brazillian? band with a lively beat rounded out the lot. The play started at 7:30 and ended 3 hours later. And since we came thru a few “dodgey” South Bank areas on the way over, on sound judgement, we chose a London cab for the trip home. The London Eye, whose bright blue lights sparkled on the Thames, contrasted the orangey-yellow of Big Ben and Parliament. Sigh… I love London.
I’ll load up more pics on Flickr tomorrow of the Cartoon Museum (OH yeah! that’s another blog entry) and the Queen’s Embankment Park (whose musical selection today was a Jazz Band from “home”)…
The toons are done and sent off to the FTP sites… and I am finally breathing normally! Quel Relief! …or something like that. (I should’ve studied my French a little harder).
So the bags are packed, the camera is charged and most of my affairs are in order. Here’s the plan…
I just upgraded my personal Flickr account so that unlimited photos can be uploaded… etc, etc… so along with this blog (right here where you are), I will be uploading photos from this trip here: Brigtoon’s flickr …. it is also a tab on the right.
Harold is thrilled. He fits in my “Euro bag” quite nicely. Euro bag was bought specifically for my last trip to Europe two years ago. It is a PacSafe product with heavy duty zippers that clasp and slash-proof straps (to guard against those wily gypsies I was warned against. It is the most comfortable backpack I have ever had… and I happily recommend their products. And Harold seems comfortable enough IN it.
So Happy Fourth to all… et Salut mon amis!
See us off this First Friday… July 2nd
This coming Monday my people and I are leaving for a three week trek in London, Paris & Provence.
So for this First Friday, July 2nd, the Cartoonery will be sporting a little Euro flavor. That’s right… We’ll have some tastey European inspired treats for happy munching. Judy will be offering Absinthe Cake in honour of our tour de France … and shortbread for our London travels. So come see me and Harold off … (this is his first European adventure and keep track of his sight-seeing online here!)
The Cartoonery, 5 East Gabilan St., Suite 205, Oldtown Salinas, CA… 5pm – 8pm.
Travel Buddy
Meet Harold… he’s my travel buddy. And he’s gonna be seeing Paris, London and Aix with me. He doesn’t take up much space, and doesn’t weigh much. He’s very excited about the trip, never having been abroad. I’ve shown him the travel photos from the last trip and he’s bursting at the seams to begin our journey, which starts on July 5th from San Francisco International.
Be sure to return here soon to see pictures of Harold and I traveling around Europe. (He’s a handsome devil, ain’t he? … very photogenic!)
daydreaming of Paris…
My thoughts turn to Paris. It’s not hard to float into a daydream about traveling to “the city of light.” In fact, I’m thinking about it more and more as my trip to Europe is just under a month away!
I want to daydream about sipping a coffee in a little cafe in the Latin Quarter… or walking in a French garden… or contemplating an Impressionist painting in the D’Orsay. Instead, tugging at me are such tidbits as “what shoes will you bring? Your hip Converse tennies or your more comfortable ‘walkers’?”? Both I say. “Should I pack the watercolors with me on the plane or in the luggage? How many pairs of socks should I bring?”