Back in May I took a trip to France, settling at my aunt’s apartment in the south-east side of Paris. It was extra exciting because it was my first time out of the country and I’d be able to use the French I spent years in school studying (spoiler: I actually didn’t end up speaking much French afterall since it was easy enough getting away with basic English in tourist-heavy areas). Although the trip was 3 months ago, I just recently had time to compile all the little snippets of my voyage in this post.

Paris is where I finally broke in my new hand*book sketchbook: a small little thing (3.5 x 5.5in) I constantly kept in my bag along with a black micropen. This little book pretty much documented the entire trip for me so here it is via its pages:

We took AirFrance on a direct 9-hour flight to Charles de Gaulle airport. They actually served wine and liquor in small bottles which I found so hilariously Parisian. There is nothing like sipping Merlot on a long flight while trying to figure out if the pressure in your head is from the altitude or the wine.

Sickeningly jet-lagged, I finally made it to my aunt’s place in the bright morning. The room we stayed in was a cluttered mess, which I guess it charming in its own way. That drawing you see is just one side of the small, cramped room I was staying it. See if you can spot our three luggages amongst the skew of clothes.

I kept track of each day on a ripped piece of paper I tucked in my sketchbook. Why I decided I needed a separate piece of paper rather than writing directly in it is still beyond me. We had 19 days filled of mainly tourist locations. I visited a great handfull of art galleries that included: MAC/VAL Contemporary Art Gallery, Espace Dali, Louvre, Musée D’Orsay and Palais de Tokyo (which was unfortunately under construction but I was happy enough picking up XOXO James Jean postcards).

To say that I’ve started an obsession with collecting tickets from all these trips is an understatement.

I don’t usually feel the need to buy tons of souvenirs when I’m travelling but I have a soft spot for kitschy things. Miniatures being a bonus. The first few days were spent on a roadtrip to Holland to visit the Keukenhof tulip garden. Aunt’s idea, not mine. Either way I thoroughly enjoyed the waffle vendors there and am more than satisfied with my cute little magnetic clogs that have absolutely no use in my room since all my surfaces are wood.

When we were back in Paris, the onslaught of activities started which I’ll just skim with these pages from my sketchbook:

I’m hoping to visit Europe again some time in the near future. Next possible stop: Amsterdam or Poland.

Tags: France

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Life, Sketches and Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.