Returned to the Louvre to draw again while Marilyn and Rebecca went shopping (Marilyn bought Mona Lisa napkins, mugs, fridge magnets, etc. – helping this icon industry flower.)   I spent most of the afternoon drawing Michelangelo’s “Captive”, a large statue with a good seat in front of it.   It’s good to confront the difficulties of 3 dimensional space, light, line and shape.   Getting everything in proportion is always the challenge.  It’s good to go through this struggle to know what my students will experience.  Getting everything in proportion, and all the shapes correct is difficult work.  I don’t draw enough to do this easily, and can see that daily practice would help much.   The final result was ok, but it took a very long time.

There were a few others drawing and one oil painter, an older woman, who was copying a fairly simple painting of a church elder.  Looked to be about 16th century.  Not a subject I would pick, but it was less of a challenge than others possible.  Very flat, side view, almost like an Egyptian tomb painting. To paint formally in the Louvre, one must go through a rigourous application of many pages, restricted subjects, materials, time, etc., etc.  I picked up a form just to look at it.   Informal drawing less than 40 cm square requires no approval.  Ink is forbidden however, for obvious reasons.

 Had an Israeli dinner in the Marais (Marilyn treated us) and then walked at night down the Champs to catch the “city of light.”  A long day and not a great night’s sleep with the crying baby upstairs till 3 a.m.. Boooo.

Rebecca and Marilyn went to Versaille today (I’m not worrying about spelling here but typing fast) and I’m on my own, blogging, balancing my checking online and then off to draw again.   I would do this outdoors, but it is too cool for comfort, so I’ll probably go back to the Louvre, the D’Orsay or the Rodin museum. 

FINALLY… at the Musee Rodin, there were “artists” drawing from the sculpture, so I didn’t feel out of it. Still the little kids jamming their sweet faces over my sketch while I was working was a bit distracting. I tried to focus. At times it was hard. It is a wonderful museum, and I got to see all the famous sculpture, as well as 1000 pieces and studies and techniques (elaborated) that I didn’t know about. Also got to see his paintings. Many mirrors about, so one could see the front and back and side all at once. Also took my own pict, taking picts of the sculpture. Marilyn and Rebecca took a bus tour of the city, and met me at the Rodin for a quick musee visit. The gardens are lovely. I saw only about 50% of it as I wanted to draw. Rebecca and Marilyn said it snowed. I didn’t see it.

We are getting the hang of most of the good French stuff – one flush for little, two for big (saves water), lights that blink out after 30 seconds (saves electricity on stairwells and in bathrooms), tiny cars (saves gas) great double security system for the apt.. etc., etc…. but the answering machine of our phone, which bleeps, flashes and spouts French, the TV cable system which alters daily, the dryer, which takes up to damp and rocks rather than rolls, as well as the tiny fridge with its fall out drawers have all won the battle against us. Even Philippe is stymied by the phone, the dryer and the TV system. But the phone actually does work very well if we don’t have to retrieve messages and are here to answer it.

The apartment is great, and so is Philippe, so no real complaints. Off, I hope, to the Lourvre to investigate more today and maybe, maybe… draw more. Marilyn and Rebecca may take a bus tour and shop.

To John at the Terraces who is a daily reader: Thanks so much John for taking these to Mom and her magnifying machine. She enjoys your visits and does read a word or two when she can. Cheers to you.

Marilyn arrived today and we met her at the airport. We traveled via the metro and the RER train using our card d’orange. Cheap and efficient. We did a quick walking tour, and then dropped her off at her hotel to sleep. We then went to the Monoprix, our local supermarket, to shop. It’s always an interesting and humorous time. Half of the stuff we buy is often a surprise (bleach instead of soap, sour cream instead of yogurt, raw ham instead of cooked ham, etc.) but I hit the jackpot tonight. Got a frozen meal of St. Jacques (not a clue but the picture looked yummy) which turned out to be prawns in cream with onions in a shell of sorts. Tasted great, though a bit unhealthful. Also some brown spherical things that I thought were falafel, but clearly were some kind of breaded seafood. Anyway… all in all a tasty meal.

Made my first wrong turn in a metro tunnel and we went in the wrong direction to the Eiffel Tower. This was quite apparent the minute I looked at the metro line map inside the car. A quick reversal was in order and we got out and redid things. Watched an interesting feat. Two girls opening the train door AFTER the warning horn had sounded and the door had closed, in order to get in. And a couple of new connections we made were at VERY large metro stations where about 7 trains overlap. It was a maze of tunnels, escalators, stairs and moving sidewalks. Musicians play in the tunnels, which are plastered with very entertaining ads for everything from soap, to musicals, evening gowns and theater. Folks in the tunnels are of every sort, wearing turbans, yarmulkes, keffias (I know I mispelled that), suits, saris, jeans and 100 kinds of footwear. Vermont it is NOT!

I worry about spelling mistakes when I type this as I am only spending a few minutes a day on it and typing very fast. But I’m going to let it go and if you see mispelled words, know that I’m thinking about you reading them!

Today we visited the Jardin des Plantes, including the Musee de Comparative Biology and Paleontology. Skeletons of just about all the animals I’ve ever heard of, from whales and dinosaurs to humans and turtles – amazing. It included a section devoted to “Monsters”, meaning deformed creatures from A to Z, including humans, two headed this and three legged that. Some were preserved in chloroform. It was clearly a collection of antiques. All the writing was in very old script. I got some really astonishing photos. The French are certainly not squeamish. I saw one mother explaining the skeletons of fetuses to her young (maybe 6 year old) daughter. Not just one of these tiny skeletons, but a whole cabinet full. It was clear that the daughter was disturbed and confused. Her expression was a grimace. Connecting babies and death was clearly a hard one for her, or maybe really understanding the connection of these very tiny skeletons to babies. Maybe I’m over interpreting or judging incorrectly from watching all this, but I think not. It would have made a great photo, but without my right angle lens I cannot take candid shots.

We then went to get Opera tickets. For cheap seats for the two of us it would have been $450, so we passed this up and had a coffee. Saw great wall posters in the subway trying to get folks to stop eating horses. “The Cheval – your friend, or (a picture of a steak!) – choose the former!” Also another poster of a priest aiming a cross, like a gun, at the head of another fellow, with words to the effect that one shouldn’t force one’s own moral code on others. Also allusions to Americans in the rest of the poster. I think this may be directed towards right wing fundamentalists in the US, but I’m not sure. I’ll have to take another look to get the meaning. Many headlines about Mmme. H. Clinton and Monsieur Obama. The Texas and Ohio primaries are big news here!!

I’m getting a ton of spam in the comment boxes on this blog from spammers advertising Viagra, insurance, mortgages, etc., etc. Must go in each day to delete it. A pain.

The Gruppe gallery called (Emily Alexander) and asked whether I wanted to exhibit next February and March or next November and December 2009. Actually Emily, I’d much rather have the spring, summer or fall, but I can’t be choosey -I know, I know.

Well this great French washing machine made the sheets look tie-dyed. Eeeeep! And the dryer doesn’t work very well (it’s one of those washer/dryer combos that does everything, except it doesn’t.) My black socks turned out various shades of orange brown. We took Clare to the Mouffetard Market, took lotsa pics, had a coffee, and then returned to the Circus of the Louvre (giant shopping circle underground in the middle of the musee.) Cool and rainy. Went with Clare to the Gare de Nord and saw her off for London. She is now home already. Returned home to a GIANT demonstration of about 100 to 200 people just outside our apartment at the Place de Republique (Serbs unhappy about Kosovo independence.) A ton of police in buses came armed to the teeth. No violence thank goodness. Lot’s of shouting and marching and flag/arm waving. Am musee’d out at the moment. We got good use of our Cards d’Orange. Got to get another week’s worth tomorrow. Saw some quite unusual folks of the subway. Either on drugs or mentally ill. Couldn’t really tell which. A world away from Vermont. Whew!!

Yesterday we wandered all over again till tired and then had some soup, water and a diet coke in order to keep within our budget with the shrinking dollar. We asked for water and got it in bottles at $6 each, and the diet coke was $12. Add soup and a tip and it came to about $40. Gotta be more careful over here!

Went to the Jeu de Paume (Musee) near the Tuleries to see some contemporary art. Shouldn’t comment here as I can’t quite describe it. Needless to say some of it looked like a scratched DVD or a cleaning closet. Shame on me for making such harsh judgements! A few of the “installations” did grab our attention (a movie of a group trying to get a fishing boat into the ocean – they failed, another of a Swedish woman talking about her life and her dying pooch), but somehow I don’t think these things will be around in the Louvre in the year 2200. I’ll never know though.

Then went to Harry’s New York Bar in the eve, where Hemmingway drank till he dropped and Simone De DeBeauoir and Sartre discussed philosopy and books (according to our guide books.) We did see a guy writing in a journal, but it could have been a grocery list. So maybe it is understandable that the Perrier I had and the Scotch Rebecca had would keep us in groceries for a week in Vermont. Did have some humorous conversations with patrons, wanting to know about Obama. Mostly young folks there, but a few older people as well. Saw the Opera house and the lights of Paris at night. Very enjoyable evening. Very crowded on this Friday eve in February. Everyone still very friendly and making it seem an easy city to be in. The smoking gets to us now and then, but it is forbidden in bars and restaurants. Very nice.

Clare came this morning. I met her at the Gare du Nord (a VERY big station) and we took the Metro back to the apartment and hand lunch. Then we walked and took the Metro all over the city. We had ice cream on the Isle de St. Louis, visited Notre Dame again, and then went back to Trocadero and the Mall in front of the Eiffel tower. Clare is a good photographer and she took our pictures in front of the tower. We walked back along the lawn to the Ecole Militaire and took the Metro back home where we had tea and snacks. We are about to get ready to go back on the metro to our first real dinner out (for my 68th) near the Marais. Clare is here till tomorrow at about 2 (when she will take the Eurostar back to London), so we’ll soon plan for tomorrow A.M.. Weather today was GREAT, but it is going to get colder and a bit more drizzly. If you are reading this Marilyn, bring appropriate gear.