Sidelined by a microbe in Nanterre


Last Wednesday the homeless viruses of the area decided they needed a place to hang out, and I was chosen to be their AirBnb. In spite of the efforts of the Airborne that we took I succumbed to their invasion for a few days of coughing and sniffing. Thankfully for me, they checked out yesterday,…

Settling in to French life


We are settling in to French life. Wait, you say, you have been living in France for over two years, aren’t you already settled? In one sense, yes we are, as far as knowing how things work, or too often don’t work here. Yet, where we have been living in La Thebauderie we are surrounded…

A week back in La Thebaudiere


We have been back in La Thebaudiere, our tiny village in Normandie, for just a week – so what have we been up to? Well of course we have spent time remembering our long trip, which for me includes some sketching. One of the best hotels we stayed in was the Central Heritage Hotel in…

My current travelsketching kit, January 2024


Since Tricia just had a birthday and it is so cold here in Normandie it seemed logical to head for a couple weeks in warmer Spain. Friday we are off to Paris for a few days, lunch with friends who live there, then on to Valencia and ending up in Peniscola. I am getting things…

Getting ready to head to Seattle then home


We arrived back in the US just 28 days ago. We started in Seattle then journeyed to La Conner, Mukilteo, Ballard, San Diego, Portland, Newberg, Portland. Now we will head to Seattle for a few days before flying to Europe on January the 2nd. Here are a few sketches so far this week: This one…