A less-crowded view Tour Eiffel.
The sibilant tinkling of the garbage men slamming the trashcans around at 6 in the morning, the melifluous late night sirens, the jolly honking of angry motorists: We finally made it to Paris!
After waiting months for a second jab, we got on a train up to Gare Montparnasse and met up with my step son, and just acted like tourists for a couple of days.
Paris was being pretty disciplined about Covid. You wear a mask in stores, on public transportation, and in museums. You show your QR code which proves your double vaccination when you go to a cafe or restaurant. The French have an excellent system where they give you the QR code on paper. You can also snap a photo and have it on your phone.
I walked a lot, did some drawing, took loads of reference photos for future painting ideas. I got up early one morning and walked up to the top of Montmartre to look out over the city from the Cathedral of Sacre Coeur. A peaceful scene. There was an unexpected wedding party (this was 8 o’clock in the morning) who came to take photos in the morning light. Several other young men were milling around and had clearly been out all night. They were opening fresh beers. They were friendly though barely standing.
This is a small watercolor about 14” across. I’m still adjusting the color. I’m also thinking about making it a large oil painting.
I sat on the steep steps and drew for a while. The view stretches down the hill and for miles out over a tangle of apartment buildings, churches, schools, and warehouses. Most of the buildings are from previous generations. Paris has strict restrictions on building anything new, and certainly not above about six floors. So the streets are described by those atypical, elegant buildings that are constructed to fit into the haphazard, crisscrossed streets (a city of Flat Iron buildings), and the typical grand and ornate Parisian windows with filigreed, iron railings. This is a daunting subject to do as a line drawing. I am finishing it at home. I’ve tried this subject several times before. I’ll get it right eventually.
The inside of the Louvre is stupendous. The outside is not too shabby either.
A highlight of our trip was a visit to the Louvre. It’s been decades since I went there. Though I’ve been to Paris a number of times in those years I was always put off by the huge lines of people waiting to get in. Covid solved that problem this time. We bought the tickets online and just walked up. We showed them our QR codes and then we were in.
I forgot how many familiar paintings are in there. Everywhere you turned there was Art History 101: Ingres, David, Gericault, Goya, Da Vinci, Holbein, Turner, Fra Fillipo Lippi, and hundreds more. There were a lot of visitors but the only really crowded part was the rolling line in front of the Mona Lisa – of course. We could see it from the side of the room without queuing up, but everyone appeared to want selfies with it, and for that you had to wait. The guards threatened a €1,500 fine if you pulled down your mask for the photo. We moved on. There was plenty more to see.
I need to go back before the normal lines come back. Next time Grecian, Roman and Islamic Art. And possibly some Egyptians? The Louvre is Really Big. And really fun.
When you leave the Louvre and cross over to the Left Bank, you find the Sennelier art store. This is the original store that has been there since the 1880s, and where Degas bought his pastels. All the supplies are stored in the original old wooden cabinets with little drawers and weather-beaten shelves. Of course I spent more money than I intended but it is a magical place, like something out of Harry Potter. I pretty much go there every time I’m in Paris.
We strolled and chatted, had lunch with friends, spent time with the stepson who we hadn’t seen in person for two years. A truly happy experience.
It was a relief to be out and about and experience life as it used to be, at least for a little while. Covid is still with us so we need to cherish these chances to feel normal again.