TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday – Joie de Vivre


“Joy became for me not only a natural need, but a moral obligation.” André Gide The café culture of France is a frequent topic in my blogs and I have emphasized that it is more than just stopping for a coffee or glass of wine. Café culture describes much of what makes all of French…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday – June 30, 2026


“It went by so fast,” I said, as I rolled over to go to sleep last night. Almost two months in Europe is now behind us and we are heading home today. Yesterday afternoon, I sat at the cafe in front of our hotel in Helsinki, on a pedestrian street, and did this sketch looking…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday


“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life.” – Thomas Jefferson One of the most important lesson to ponder is the wisdom of a culture that makes an old man sitting in a cafe the most normal thing in the world.

This week in The Pearl – Colorado


This last week we were in Colorado, not at home in The Pearl. Our friends, Lisa and Tim, invited us to join them on a trip to Glenwood Springs. The objective of the trip was so Lisa could put her parents ashes to rest at the top of the Aspen ski run, a place they…

This Week in The Pearl – a bit of café culture


Tricia frequently says, “Wherever you go, there you are.” Jimmy Buffett sang that “you take the weather with you.” Both of these thoughts came to my mind this week as I was sitting outside at Via Delizia, just down the street. Wednesday was a good day – a trip to Oblation Paper & Printing, a…