Travel

What do a London teapot, a street artist, and a performance stage have in common? Not much. Each unique and slightly weird in their very own ways.

This fellow seemed rather grumpy sitting as he was on the display shelf in the lobby of the Montague on The Gardens in London. Life as a teapot can be tough!

The UdderBelly upside down purple cow caught the eye of this prairie farm girl as we made our way around the circuit on the London Eye. It’s a temporary performance theatre and stage perched on the Southbank, London. Certainly is colorful!

Street performers seem to be everywhere throughout Europe. I’m accustomed to seeing mimes and dancers, but this is the first time I’ve seen a psychadelic lizard on a bicycle. Drop a coin or two in his bucket and watch him pedal like crazy!

Here are a few signs that gave us pause.

London Shop Sign.

Is it really non stop service if it’s only available 12 hours a day?

London Shop Sign: INKINO – I Never Knew I Needed One.

Gotta be a gadget shop?!

Provencal Winery Sign & Clock above the wine tasting bar.

Look closely at the time.

If you’re confused, maybe you’ve tested a few too many bottles!

Much ado has been made about the practice of ‘texting’ – trading instant messages as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family. Some love it. Others decry its lack of social grace.

Perhaps that’s why the concept of ‘sugaring’ caught my attention.  It seems designed to smooth and sweeten the social interaction on the French cafe scene.  As you will see from the photos, each wrapper that encircles a sugar cube bears a different message.

Most wrappers ask relationship oriented questions. Many feature check boxes for Yes and No answers. Others provide spaces to fill in the blanks with your answer.

Who knows? Perhaps the iCube might someday replace the iPhone as the connecting strategy of choice.

If your French is a bit shakey, here are my best efforts at translation:

Vous etes libre ce soir? Oui? Non?  Are you free tonight? Yes? No?

Rendez-vous chez…   Let’s meet at ….

Vous etes seul dans la vie? Oui? Non?  Are you single? Yes? No?

Un autre cafe?  Another cafe?

C’est toi qui invitez? Are you asking me?

Appelle moi au:  Call me at:

REFLECTION: On our last morning in Paris, I step out on the narrow balcony of our hotel room for one last time to see what’s happening in the street. Directly across the way, an elderly lady in her nightgown tends her window box geraniums. Several floors below a nun heads down the street, hands extended in front of her, holding what appears to be a blackberry. On closer inspection, I see she has two thumbs firmly fixed on the open pages of her prayer book. She traces the words as she walks. Not a blackberry prayer at all – something else entirely!

A few moments later we’re riding the airport shuttle winding our way through the city to Charles de Gaulle. Near the Sorbonne, someone has placed a bright red traffic cone on the top of a statue turning an elegant aristocrat into a redheaded witch. I laugh out loud. A few blocks later, homeless man sits up in his makeshift bed on the street. With his left arm he flaps his trousers in the air (perhaps his version of doing the laundry). With a grimace and wild motions of his right arm, he wafts away the odor left in their wake. My heart pings.

At every turn, there are sights to take in and moments to note. I’m struck by how much easier it seems to stay tuned when you’ve stepped outside your everyday routine.

A day later, on my first morning back in Saskatoon, I find myself wide awake at 3:30 in the morning (near noon in Paris). (more…)

There’s nothing unique or new about vending machines. They’ve been around for years. Here in North America we’re accustomed to using them for everyday purchases of soft drinks and snacks.

What can I say about a country where you can actually buy flowers from a vending machine?

This unit was located next to the ticket booth in a parkade in Avignon, France. The flowers were fresh and beautiful, too.

Talk about making it easy to pick up a bouquet for a special someone on your way home from work.

I love it! I’ll bet the recipients do, too!

All through Provence in southern France you will find handcrafted santons offered for sale as art pieces and souvenirs. The word, ‘santon’ means ‘little saints’.

Originally, santons were figurines associated with the nativity scenes in a Provencal creche. Over time, the santons came to be associated with various characters typically found in most Provencal villages – the fishwife, the scissors grinder, the chestnut seller. the simpleton, the spinner, the basketmaker.

Many of these characters are featured in the Musee des Santons that we visited in the village of Les Baux de Provence. Our favorite characters were Grasso and Grassette (pictured here). G & G are an elderly couple who symbolize love and fidelity in spite of their old age and their daily squabbles.

Having been introduced to the concept of Grasso and Grassette, we saw them everywhere in real life on the streets. Chances are good, you’ll recognize the archetype in your part of the world, too – maybe even in your own family or circle of friends.

Sadly, the iPad we traveled with during our four weeks in England and France made posting photos to my blog en route extremely difficult. So, posts have had to wait till our return.

Now that I’m back in Canada again, I’m going to be posting a few bits and bobs (Brit term, that) of interest from our trip: sights, signs, oddities, and observations. Nothing too serious! Expect a minor flurry over the next week. Hope you enjoy them.

For those of you who pride yourself as fashion forward folks, these jackets were featured in a London men’s wear store window in the Burlington Arcades just off Picadilly between Old Bond and Regent streets. I didn’t see any of these suits on guys on the street. And I’m pretty sure I would have noticed!

What I did notice is that harem pants are making a big comeback on the women’s fashion front! No, I did not pick up a pair myself!

While most of my sketches and paintings are fairly light in look and touch, this one takes a different direction. It’s inspired by the contrasting light and shadow in the alley way in Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas USVI. I worked hard to create the darks in this painting of the Royal Dane Mall, but when the brushwork was done it still lacked something. So I grabbed the chisel point Pigma black ink pen and went to work.

I’m pretty happy with the lively result and thinking I might take this approach again. Hope you enjoy the image.

Well, we’re back after a 10 day get away from frosty Saskatchewan to the toasty Caribbean. Quite the shift to leave Florida at plus 27C and arrive back in Saskatoon at minus 23C.

My top five vacation experiences rank up like this:

1. Time away with my sweetheart.

2. Feeling the warm tropical air and watching the coconut palms swaying in the cool ocean breezes.

3. Snorkeling off Grand Turk where the vibrant sea life just off shore shares the drama with a sea wall that reaches down some 7000 feet. On your right sponges, coral and schools of colorful fish. On your left, nothing but the pure azure blue of the deep blue sea. Spectacular!

4. Painting beach and tropical scenes – getting to use the most beautiful blue pigments.

5. Sailing on a catamaran, sipping a rum and coke, bopping along to the reggae music, watching the sun paint the sky as it drops into the sea.

Ah, sweet memories! And now, back to work!

PS – For a peak at a few more paintings from the adventure, see the Colors Of The Caribbean Album on my facebook page.

One of the fun things about traveling is watching the people you meet along the way. What is even more fun is surreptitiously sketching them absorbed in the moment. Caught this fellow working his morning crossword next table over at the Cosmic Diner in New York City. He was clearly into the task at hand. You can catch a glimpse of a few other sketches in the Facebook People Portfolio gallery posted today.