I got totally, crazy behind here. I went straight from jet lag to another intensive week of work (even more intense than usual) at Cape May. So please forgive the dead air

I want to just post my last few sketches from France. I spent one day up on the hill of Montmartre. My hosts' home is just past Montmartre from the center of town, a very regular Parisian neighborhood, so it's always a mental shock to climb the hill that is so close and wade suddenly and unexpectedly into a throng of tourists.

But it's a cool neighborhood with a different look than most of Paris, and I had fun staying closer to home and painting what it had to offer.

I spent my very last day downtown. First I settled in with a cup if tea at the Place St. Michel and painted a cafe across the way.

Then I went to find Rene, who had told me he would be playing music on the bridge between Notre Dame and Hotel de Ville. I settled on a bench and painted the available scenery while listening to him play.

Fittingly, my last sketch of the trip was of Rene. It was a nice bookmark, because the first one of the trip was also of him. Also fitting because he and Stephen between them made me very welcome and were excellent company for me during my solo stay. Thanks to them both for the welcome.

Just for fun, here was the first sketch of the trip.

My next posts will be back stateside....

I'm waking up in Chicago after getting stranded in my way home last night. Hopefully my suitcase will be waiting for me in Memphis. Now is a good moment to suggest that fellow artists who travel always carry their art home in a carry on. I may add an extra pair of underwear after this, though I'm feeling quite lucky to have all my sketches, my toothbrush, contact stuff, and tea bags with me. And a hotel room provided by the airline.

I had a whirlwind last few days in Paris, so I'll post the last few paintings now that I'm stateside.

The second week in Paris saw me swapping my sunglasses for my umbrella and back again every half hour or so. The iffy weather made for some fabulous skies, but I lost count of the number of times I was interrupted in the middle of a watercolor or sketch by rain. That was the case for two out of three of this particular afternoon's sketches.

In fact, you can see authentic Parisian raindrops in the sky of this last one. It started raining quite hard, and I didn't get to work as long on this one as I would have liked, but mostly I managed to do the work I wanted to in between showers.

I spent one afternoon painting down by Notre Dame. It had been my favorite subject last year, but I hadn't painted it this year at all. I wanted to see how it would look with my thicker, more layered approach to watercolors that really took hold during my England trip earlier this summer.

I wasn't able to paint much in the mornings that last week. Mornings seemed to be socked in, but the sun would break through (still with rainy periods) in the afternoon. So I'd linger with my tea, book, and banjo in the mornings and paint in the afternoons.

The second watercolor is the bridge from Ile St. Louis (just behind Notre Dame) looking back to the Right Bank.

It was latish, and I was going to head home after two, but I walked past Notre Dame again and couldn't resist the blue skies. Nice to be able to linger and paint at will. That's the fun of traveling by myself. (There are other lovely compensations for having company.)

I'm hitting my stride on watercolors. I had several requests last year for paintings of the Eiffel Tower. It's off a bit by itself and isn't anywhere I get to often, but a sunny day made me think I should revisit it.

I got out of the metro and first saw Les Invalides with its wonderful conical topiary and the morning light playing across the facade, so I painted it first, since the light effect would be fleeting.

I painted the Eiffel Tower from the same spot. I really like the topiary, and also I was settled comfortably on a wall with my paints already out.

I once disappointed someone with a romantic notion of painting who asked how I choose my painting spots. My answer that first I check the shady and/or comfortable spots and branch out from those only if necessary for the view I need was clearly not what the questioner had in mind for the artistic process. I've definitely done my time hunkered on rocks, in direct sunlight, even (for one marvelous scene in Greece) right next to the public toilet with all the smells that go with such a location, but comfort and convenience are a good place to start.

I passed a bakery as I walked around to the park that houses the Eiffel Tower. Many of them here have small quiches and tarts that they will heat up for you to carry into the nearest park. I love that. So I treated myself to a salmon and spinach quiche to go with my apple and had a very Parisian looking picnic before painting again.

I finished the last piece as rain started to come down. I've lost track now of how many sketches have been interrupted by rain, but I may well be into double digits for the trip by now. I did the last bIt under my umbrella and packed up huddled underneath a sycamore.

Then, of course, I needed sunglasses for my walk home. Every half hour I seem to switch between my umbrella and my sunglasses. It makes for occasionally challenging painting conditions but really marvelous skies.