I took it easier in Paris this year. I didn't try to bring home 50 watercolors to mount a show. I hung out with friends, listened to music, did a little shopping, and sat in cafes. I did fast sketches this year -- wanting to have a journal of special times but not spend my whole trip with my nose buried in my sketching supplies. So here is a series of cafe drawings I did across several different neighborhoods. The first is Hotel du Nord, along the canal. A real old-time cafe my hosts took me to my first year here.

Next is a sketch from the cafe right at Marche d'Aligre where my friend Rene Miller often plays on a Saturday morning when the market and brocante are in full swing.

Next is a cafe right next to the Montmartre cemetery. Stopped in there on a cold drizzly day for a hot tea after exploring a bit of the cemetery. It was charming, with lovely woodwork and a tiny spiral staircase up to the W.C. I pass it regularly on my walk home but had never stopped before.

The last is Le Nazir in Abbesses, one of my favorite neighborhoods. Again, Graham and Anais had taken me here for my very first meal in Paris a couple of years ago, and I was happy to revisit it.