Paris Revisited - Making Plans

Here's another Paris In July post. You can find more bloggers posting on Paris at Thyme for Tea and Bookbath in their right hand sidebars.

(If you haven't been a longtime visitor, you can also find lots of my earlier Paris posts in the labels column on my right sidebar, too!)

I'm planning another trip to Paris next year. We're not sure when but my friend will leave his apartment in July 2012, so it will be sometime in the spring.

What a fine time to visit! When I was there in 2009, it was June and simply lovely.

Well, Rick has never been and he's going if I have to drag him there! (He really does want to come, but it's not exactly the best time in the world for an independent businessman!) I know he'll have some things in mind to see and experience, but there are a few things I hope he'll take in and I wanted to share those with you, too!

Sainte Chapelle. What a joy! My favorite of the churches on Ile de la Cite.

The stained glass is magnificent, but if you really want an experience, catch a concert here. We saw a Vivaldi concert and it was simply unforgettable.

The Musee du Moyen Age (Middle Ages), aka Cluny. Coming to this amazing museum with its pre-Renaissance art was as much a spiritual experience as some of the churches I visited.

It includes the Lady with the Unicorn tapestries, beautiful glass and ruins.

We might stop for a break in Place des Voges. This beautiful square is surrounded by 18th century homes, one of which is Victor Hugo's. I didn't see that when I was there -- Rick might enjoy the Hugo Museum, after reading "Les Miserables" (unabridged, thank you very much) this spring.

Of course we'll stop at a boulangerie for lots of bread and a patisserie for treats!

Without a doubt he will want to go to the sheet music district -- I envision him playing guitars in one of the luthier shops -- and buying lots of music!

I think we should feed the birds at Notre Dame.

And, while we're so close, shop at my favorite department store, BHV. If we're lucky, we'll catch the soldes (sales), but that would need to be in June.

Ina Garten and Julia Child were fond of Cafe de Flore -- Yes, it's grotesquely overpriced, but I think we should at least have tea or a glass of vin rouge in their honor, don't you think?

We'll definitely walk along the River Seine.

While the bouquinistes stalls alongside the river aren't the best buy, they are most certainly fun to look at.

I'll try to get him to one of the marches aux puces (flea markets). The things you see in Europe differ greatly from American items.

And while I think we both may want to go to the Louvre (I missed that), I'll also recommend the smaller, Impressionist-filled Musee d'Orsay.

He'll definitely want to ride the Parisian Velibes, which are bikes you rent out in one location and return in another (I'll give that a pass.)

And I'll want us to take a romantic evening ride down the Seine on the bateaux mouches. I'll pass on the dinner cruise, but to see Paris by night on the water would be lovely. Touristy, yes. But lovely.

We'll run out of time before we know it! Visit some of the other Paris in July posts -- you'll find wonderful things about books, art, places and more!

Art and Paris!

I told you I did some art at the lake! I actually pulled together a fair amount of cards to restock my inventory and some tags for Karla's Birdsong Swap.

(Karla does the best swaps. Ever.)

But since it's Paris in July and my Parisian posts have been woefully lacking, I thought today I'd share three cards with a Parisian theme.

Truth be told, I'm not sure I'm so crazy about the third one. I'm not sure it's done. I think it needs a little something... we'll see what that little something is!

Paris in July is a wonderful blog event. Visit links on Thyme for Tea and Bookbath. They have lots of links on their right sidebars! You can also revisit one of my favorite books about one of my favorite French Impressionists, Renoir, here on Chopsticks and String.

He Looks So Innocent

Look at that face.

And watch him sleep in the warm afternoon sun, oblivious to the fur coat he bears so elegantly.

Not so fast. Oh, he is a dear. Sweet as all get-out, with his snugs and purrs. He even brings me gifts.

At the lake we were laying in bed, and it really wasn't time to get up -- the early morning sun was deceptive. But someone had been up for awhile, and wanted to share his morning with us. These are paws that kill.

He nudged and meowed and persisted until I reached out and touched what I thought would be his head. Instead, a gift. A small, warm, gray, deceased body. Right there on the top sheet.

So, I took a Kleenex, covered him and put him under an overturned wastebasket -- just in case he wasn't as dead as I thought -- and tried to go to sleep again, despite the pawing and digging of the Incredible Killing Machine Gypsy Rose for his treasure.

Needless to say, I later took a walk into the woods with the wastebasket...

(A note about this -- several months ago, Gypsy began bringing his toys to me in bed as I was trying to sleep. It seemed very cute and sweet. It was a prelude....

I'm participating in the Paris in July postings. My first is here at Chopsticks and String -- another Aimee Laduc book!

Summertime - And the Living Is Easy!

So, what is summertime to me? Well, I'm back from the lake after a glorious week of perfect weather, and I have some answers!

Well, it's the lake, a crescent moon...

... a stunning sunset.

It's strawberries and shortcake.

It's ducks sunning themselves on the neighbor's dock.

This one seemed to have rather a big smile on its face!

It's beach flowers -- what is this, anyway?

And woodland flowers (OK, weeds, but they are flowers to me).

It's road trips to charming shops.

It's yard art! (Yes, to Rick this is functional yard art!)

It's tradition -- the annual July 4 Ride for Rick.

It's potato salad.

It's delicious dinners from the grill...

...and time for a glass of wine.

It's fireworks.

They were shot off right across the lake from us -- a perfect ringside seat!

It's watching swimming races across the lake on July 4. (Thank you, Zoom.)

It's having plenty of time for cat naps.

And time to meet up with a friend and former student worker who was waitressing at a wonderful northern restaurant!

Summertime means opportunities to finally getting to the art table -- I'll show you the results of that later!

I'll have more soon and be catching up with you soon, as well! Meanwhile, catch up on my take on the final work by a favorite author -- "A Big Storm Knocked it Over" by Laurie Colwin -- on Chopsticks and String.

Spit and Spot Stick

So, I'm with my friend Kate at one of her friend's homes. Cheri has become a Mary Kay consultant and she needs faces to practice on. The payoff is a tour of her lovely home, good company and lots of fun and great treats.

One of those treats -- fresh, juicy Michigan strawberries -- which drip white on my pale green shirt.

Cheri's husband, apparently no stranger to science or spills said, "Saliva. That will take it out." He says this with great confidence -- something about enzymes. (This was a seriously red stain.)

Cheri suggests spot removal stick.

I used both -- but I swear the saliva worked better! The stain is gone. I'm a convert. A good thing. Michigan strawberry season has arrived!

Don't forget to check out what I've been reading on Chopsticks and String!

Happy July 4!

Whether you are enjoying the fireworks...

Hanging out at the beach...

Checking out the bunting...

Or waving the flag,

I send you good wishes for a safe and happy July 4 -- and for lots of ice cream!

Happy July 4!

Don't forget to check out what I've been reading on Chopsticks and String!

A Little More Art

I'm very much behind in my online "Composition for Collage" class with Claudine Hellmuth, but I am enjoying it tremendously. I wanted to share the two pieces I did for the "Horizon Line" assignment.

Claudine explains basically there are two horizon lines, high and low. She also said it was sometimes harder to find examples of high horizon, so I decided to do both of mine that way. (I still want to do low... someday. First I need to work on "vignette" and "grid.")

Above is a high-horizon snow scene. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the white paper is quite textured. I added a bit of gray watercolor for shadowing and to make the "hills" stand out. The paper for the sky is more navy than black, with flecks of gold and silver. The small moon doesn't show up so well -- it's gold foil. I'll probably rephotograph this in better light. I liked its stark simplicity.

This one needs work, I think. But not much. I basically like the uneven high horizon and the flow. The paper has lots of gray/aqua metallic elements and looks like a stormy sea. Overall, the eye seems to move well. But there is one spot where my eye, at least, seems to get stuck.

The little cat hanging outside the boat is bothering me -- enough that I think I'll cover him up with paper. My intent was that he was in the boat eyeing the "fish" stamp, but it looks more like he fell out! And the art style isn't the same, which in some cases is fine, but in this one might be jarring.

The class has two slide show lectures -- one about the various composition form, another called "From Cluttered to Clean" where she takes elements and moves them around or swaps them out to organize the piece. I will have missed both of the online chats due to work, unfortunately, but the transcripts are printed (though reading a chat transcript is disjointed at best.)

Best of all are the 20 pages of downloads she supplies every week. There is a nice variety -- color, black and white, vintage, photos. For $30 (indefinite use of class materials; feedback from Claudine is done at the end of this week), it has been well worth it!

Don't forget to check out what I've been reading on Chopsticks and String!

The Disabled Listener

Over the winter holidays, Rick and I went to see "The King's Speech."

If you didn't know about it already, you surely know about it now, with a stash of Oscars, all well-deserved, for telling the story of King George V and how he conquered his stutter.

The film opens with the then-Prince Albert (Colin Firth) preparing to make a speech in front of an enormous stadium crowd. He is clearly frightened before he begins and when he speaks, his stutter is halting, challenged.

The woman sitting behind me in the theatre started to giggle. She kept giggling throughout the opening. I turned around and gave her the dirtiest look I know and decided if she didn't shut up, I'd say something. As I did, I thought, "If my friend Sharon was here, I'm not sure that woman would stand a chance!"

Fortunately, she stopped laughing.

But did the film make an impact on her? Would she laugh again?

She would be well advised to listen to my friend Sharon. And you can, too, in this fourteen-minute video of her speech at the recent TEDx Lansing. Listen HERE (Sorry, I'm having trouble embedding the screen, but the link will take you there.)


A little bit about Sharon before you start. I've known her for a number of years now as part of my great group of women (which I call the GGs). When I met her, she was an editor at Booth Newspapers Lansing bureau. She moved on to be a vice-president at TruscottRossman, one of our area's best known public relations firms focusing on policy. This is a woman who deals with high-profile and issues on a daily basis. And when she's not doing that for work, she is warm, funny, and giving.

Sharon Emery has a lot to say.

Sometimes it just takes her a little longer to say it. She chooses her words carefully. We should all take a lesson from her on that one.

I hope you will find time to listen to this and to share with others who could benefit from Sharon's words (couldn't we all) -- or to those who might find inspiration from them.

Thanks, Sharon. You inspire me every day.