*With a Van Gogh in the Musee d’Orsay (Terrace of a Cafe on Montmartre, or La Guinguette, 1886-87)*

Last fall, we had the pleasure of being able to go to Europe one last time before my parents moved away from Switzerland. We went intending to visit a few more iconic places in Switzerland, visit a new country for both of us, and for Wes to visit Paris for the first time. I have split this trip up into three posts to go with each of the three countries we visited. This is the post for France, where we were able to spend a few days in Paris, Versailles, and Giverny. To read about the other stops on this trip, click here for Switzerland, and here for Croatia.

I am convinced that fall is the best time of year to travel, at least to Europe. The weather is perfect, and the crowds are slightly less than during the summer. We went to Paris after a few days in Switzerland. We drove up from Geneva and stayed in Versailles, just across the street from the palace there. I was in the midst of my fall Strada challenge (if you don’t know what that is, it is a daily painting challenge during the month of September. The only requirements were to paint from life everyday) and so my goal was to paint everyday through the course of our travels. The first day we went into the city, and of course I had to try and capture that iconic structure. We went up the hill to the Sacre Coeur cathedral and I found a spot with a great view.

Of course a huge issue with painting in a city as busy as Paris is the gawkers. I’ve mostly gotten used to people coming up behind me to stare and see what I am doing, though the worst part is I often get unsolicited pictures taken of me while I’m painting, as if I am part of the scenery, or a site for tourists to photograph. I have had to make my peace with that though, if I want to be able to paint while traveling in these busy places.

*Tour d’Eiffel, 2023*

Oil on board, 5”x8”

Our second day was spent outside of Paris. First we went to the Versailles Palace. We explored the interior but of course the highlight was the gardens.

*In the famous Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles*

I didn’t paint there because we had so much to see and very little time because later that day we were headed to Giverny, the home village of Claude Monet and I really wanted to paint in his home town, the site of so many famous and beautiful paintings. It felt almost like an artistic pilgrimage and rite of passage. The feeling of being there and seeing his beautiful house and gardens was a highlight of this trip for me for sure.

*In the Monet House gardens, naming all the flowers we knew and recognized and admiring the massive blooms*

*Painting flowers in Giverny, a dream come true*

*Monet Daisies*

Oil on board, 5”x8”
$150

The third day of the French part of our trip was a museum day, so I started as early as I could to get a painting in before we headed back into the city. I decided on try to tackle more architecture and settled on the cathedral down the street from where we were staying. I ended up taking a couple days on this painting, despite it being quite small. I’ve just included day 2 of work on it. If you want to see the progress shots, head to my Strada Challenge 2023 blogpost.

*Versailles Cathedral*

oil on board, 5”x8”
SOLD

The rest of this the last day in Paris was spent at the Louvre and at the Musee d’Orsay. I’ve included a gallery of some of my favorite paintings that we got to see. It was definitely a favorite day of mine, and very inspiring to see all of these famous works in person!

After our time in Paris we headed back to Switzerland to regroup before leaving for a country neither Wes, my husband, nor I had ever been to: Croatia.