I painted in the Tuileries in the afternoon. I've been thinking a lot about park spaces since we in Memphis are currently fighting our own city government to protect my beloved Overton Park. It's both good and bittersweet to see how fierce the French are about protecting their public spaces.

After painting I went back to the Musee d'Orsay for the evening hours. I was blown away by the five versions of Rouen cathedral in a row. Monet rented a shop window and painted I don't know how many versions at all times and weathers. I had just seen two in the Boston museum and loved them.

I had a Monet evening, also doing a sketch of his large, spectacular painting of turkeys. Something about the light and color and scale always makes me think of Sargent's Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, which is amusing with the different subject matter. It's one of my favorite Monets, and I decided I was due to spend a little time looking at it closely, which for me usually equates to sketching it.

I had hoped to see the full moon rise over the Louvre afterwards, but there was a solid low bank of clouds, and the evening was fine, so I ended up just walking beautifully home through the warm streets. It was a delightful day

I am finding myself fascinated by the trees this trip. No one who follows my art will be surprised about that. There aren't that many trees in Paris, comparatively, but there are some lovely ones. I was on my way to paint St. Chapelle this morning but got lured off my path by this view instead. And then I treated myself to an afternoon at the Musee d'Orsay instead of doing more finished watercolors. I'll put those sketches up in another post.

A very kind woman took photos of me as I was sketching and then took the trouble to send them to me. Here's what a traveling artist looks like for much of almost any trip....

In addition to the watercolors at Luxembourg gardens, I did three journal sketches on Monday as well. It felt great to have good weather and be on a roll. I started the day saying hello to the lions at St. Sulpice. I seem to sketch them every time I come to Paris.

Then I did a couple of serious watercolors, and after I had lunch with St. Genevieve, my favorite of the statues of queens up on the terrace overlooking the gardens. I love the line of women statues there, and she is particularly beguiling. I did a quick sketch of her after lunch before going back to do another more finished watercolor.

Finally I headed towards home. I sat in the sunshine on a bridge over the Seine for a bit, just drinking in Paris. And then I sat in the Tuileries and sketched the Louvre. It was my favorite building to paint my first year here. I haven't sketched it as much lately, but today I was drawn to the fountain and the trees framing it.

Had a long, lovely walk back to the north of the city after mostly sitting all day. I enjoy the rhythm of walking and sketching and walking again, always seeing new things I'd like to paint.

This morning I walked out early to get downtown for the morning light. I'd had to abort the painting above when the sunlight vanished a few days ago, and I wanted to get it done today since I still had sun. This view is right on the edge of the Tuileries, conveniently the gate closest to Angelina's, which makes the best hot chocolate in the world. Which is why I was there to spot it in the first place. Paris is such a different landscape with it's tall buildings and delayed sunlight getting down to the ground. It's one reason the parks are so important here. They're open enough to catch the sunlight all day.

Afterwards I went on in the park proper, a bit unsure of what to paint next, but the red umbrellas caught my eye.

I feel like I am doing a complicated dance with the weather patterns trying to paint this trip. I've had to stop two different paintings partway finished due to weather in only three days. The good news was that I got sunshine long enough this morning to finish the one above of Notre Dame. I was so happy to see the cherry trees blooming when I got here, just like my first trip to Paris three years ago.

Then I laid off working while it rained again and sat in a cafe with my friend Rene having a lovely catch up of the year's news since we'd seen each other.

It was colder than I had expected today, and I got pretty chilled, so I headed home for tea and a late lunch. I had an argument with myself about going back out to work, since I'm in Paris and should take advantage of that. But cold feet won out. My compromise was doing a sketch of the rooftop view from underneath the duvet. I love this view and feel so lucky to get to revisit this place. I'm grateful to the friends who trust me with their cat and their home while they travel.

As I finished the first window sketch, the moon rose beautifully above the rooftops, and I couldn't resist a second. As with the Grand Palais, once you've drawn something once, you've learned it to a great extent (although there is always more to see), so a second sketch at the end goes much more quickly. Also I just did a half one, to get the moon.

It was sunny today! I could not have been more delighted. I spent almost the whole day in Luxembourg Gardens making the most of it. I did three finished watercolors there (this blog post) plus three journal sketches that I'll post later.

One watercolor was of a spectacular tree that I have unaccountably walked past without pasting proper attention in years past. I enjoyed spending time with it today. And also with a kind gentleman who saw me painting it and also does watercolors. I told him about Urban Sketchers and also spread the gospel of my water brush, which is such a quick and easy sketching tool to have. He shared his strawberries with me, and I enjoyed a little friendly conversation since I'm traveling solo.

I had a gorgeous walk home in the sunshine. It's funny how ridiculously happy I feel just for being able to paint all day. I've been looking forward to this so much. I hope the weather holds for a bit.

This is my first finished watercolor from the trip. I sat out on a bridge across the Seine and painted in the sunshine. Since it was my first full day, and a lovely moment to boot, I also wanted to remember it in my journal. I did a very quick sketch with a light blue ballpoint, since I now knew the scene pretty well from doing the watercolor. Then I slapped a bit of paint on top. Not full shadows and depth, but enough to give the impression.