On the loose in Dublin.

WHOOO Dublin!!

I must say, it's nice to be back in a country where I speak the language, and therefore can understand the clever wordplay in the advertisements. Very punny, indeed:

And this - finally, a coffee joint that tells it like it is:You may have noticed that I have a fondness for wig shops... I am especially fond of ones that tell me not to worry. OK! Not worried. I'm definitely not worried about there being any shortage of wigs, should I ever be in need.Here's a slice of some of Dublin’s charms. Charm away, little doors:Some ladies hanging out in Dublin:Travel can be exhausting. Found this guy on the lawn at Christchurch cathedral - it looked like a good idea, so I assumed a similar position on a nearby lawn (but kept my shirt on).

Le dernier jour.

Last night after getting back from Nuernberg I stayed over with the lovely Ms. Susan (aka Violette), who scored this sweet lorgnette – a quality accessory purchase of which I am most covetous - from the optics shop down the way on the Rue Lepic, observe:We both were out on on our separate journeys, however, by mid-morning today – she on to Angers, myself off to enjoy my very, very last (sniff) day in Paris before heading off to Dublin. Weeping and plodding through the city I went, including a pilgrimage to Le Paradis for their eeeeexcellent DIY (rather, mix it yourself – "MIY"-?) hot chocolate:By the way, this advisory was written on the back of the bathroom door at Le Paradis, I thought it was worth sharing with you all:I got one last look at lovely St. Merri, which has a new and interesting painting on its ceiling since the last time I was here:Okay. Onward to Dublin... au revoir, Paris, à la prochaine!

FLOCKE.

So the reason for my daylong detour to Nuernberg, Germany was to drop off a painting for a client. However, once in Nuernberg, I could not pass up the opportunity to see this:...the widdle baby polar bear born last December at the Nuernberg Zoo. CUTENESS. I couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, she was out only briefly, and was a bit far away from where I was standing... here's the best photo I got of the wee bundle of fuzzy adorability that is Snowflake, the polar bear cub ("Flocke, das Eisbaerbaby):I also got to see her waddle offstage with her minder. I died. Died of cuteness overload.
Also cute, though significantly larger, was Flocke’s Mom, Vera:Unfortunately the Zoo has embarked upon a rather odd tactic for its marketing campaign to woo Nuernbergers to come see Flocke; behold, one of the umpteen bus shelter posters to be found around town:Translation: Knut (the polar bear born in 2007 at the Berlin Zoo) is yesterday’s news, like Knut is so totally five minutes ago. As in, Knut, he’s all grown and no longer a cute widdle fuzzy wuzzy Eisbaerbaby, now he’s a full-grown polar bear just like all the others and could probably bite your head off, so who cares about Knut? COME SEE FLOCKE. Kind of a harsh message to put out there... that animals are no longer worth your while after they’re no longer widdle and cute. Alas, ageism strikes everywhere.

All that said, Flocke was indeed worth the trip. There were countless other lovely animals as well of course. And it was a beautiful day, sunny and gorgeous, and I was happy:

After the zoo expedition, I got to waddle about in Nuernberg. Many things were closed, as it was Pentecost. But it was an entirely pleasant day weatherwise and otherwise, city was lovely and in fine form, great walk through the center and up to the Kaiserburg. Here’s a shot of the placid Peignitz river:And a view from the heights of the Kaiserburg:A curiosity in the Hauptbahnhof - a whole world of wigs:On my way back to the airport back to Paris at the end of the day, I snuck a photo of this couple on the U-Bahn... they were just so ridiculously, cutely typisch-ly Bavarian looking, I couldn’t help myself......not quite as cute as Flocke, but almost. Maybe.

Adieu, 7 rue Dupin.

With much sadness, it was time to vacate my lovely apartment in Paris this morning. Sadness! It was a great place, the owner is awesome, and if you are ever in the need of a petite studio in Paris (for one or two people max), I can give you the owner’s contact info. Good stuff.

Tonight I fly into Nuremberg, and in the meantime, I’m hanging with my classmates Linda and Susan:

Ah, Paris. More interesting street art:
This could potentially be street art, but I suspect it's more likely that it is an accident that this mannequin is lying on the ground. Since the standing mannequin in the front bears a resemblance to Naomi Campbell, however, I prefer to think that this is a mock scenario wherein Naomi-mannequin has smacked down her rival mannequin (likely with a cell phone). This would add some drama to the scene:Will I ever tire of drippy, touristy, trite photos of the Seine? Answer: no.I made it, safe and sound, to Nuernberg via the heinosity of the RER and via Air Berlin (less heinous). Here’s a self-portrait in the mirror of my hotel room in downtown Nuernberg:bis morgen...

Fun to be had in Argenteuil.

A sunny, gorgeous day in the Paris region. Today I went out to Argenteuil, north of Paris, to hang with the Mennesson-Mentré crowd. In doing so, I was privileged to hang with the cutest two little girls on the planet, behold:
Here's Sarah...And me with her sister Meghann (this photo taken by Axel le voisin, aged 5):Here's Sarah avec maman:Here's Meghann with Axel le voisin (aka Spiderman)
...and Sabine and Philippe (maman et papa) are pretty cute too. Hee hee.

The last days of Paris in the springtime.

Spent the day getting some last errands and last delights of Paris in, before I leave for good next Tuesday (sniff). Graffiti, as always, had much amusement to contribute to my day... this one projected a rather bleak sentiment, “this world is destroying us.”…while this one was decidedly more upbeat: “have fun.”Here’s a particularly unwelcoming front door on the rue Vieille du Temple:This, by contrast, is one of the more welcoming places in the Marais – Celis, a boutique selling handmade alpaca sweaters. Cozy.I usually try to avoid its touristy-ness and crowdedness, but I went up to Montmartre to look for some fabric:And, of course, I went back to the Louvre tonight to draw. Ah, the Louvre:

All good things must come to an end...

Today was our last day of class, for which I am extremely sad; I'll miss everything about the class, including the great location in Gericault's former studio......here are our fabulous Studio Escalier instructors, soon to be wed, photo taken by Sadie Valeri:Tomorrow night I will probably still take in one more night of drawing at the Louvre, however:Side note: today is a holiday in France, the official end of WWII in Europe – 8 May 1945. One of many many many holidays in France in the month of May.