Celebrating the Tour de France

There it is - The Arc de Triomphe. I feel like I'm in a dream - this is where the famed Tour de France race ends. I can imagine crowds are everywhere! Everyone wants to be here to see the exciting finish of the annual bicycle race that covers approximately 2,200 miles over a period of about 3 weeks. Cyclists flock from around the world to compete in this famous race. The race is broken into individual 'stages' each of which represents a day on the tour. Although the course changes every year, the finish is always in Paris along the Champs-Elysees.

The scene is so clear in my mind -- Its a hot day in July, and I can hear all the yelling and excitement in the air. Its been 3 weeks of excitement as the racers have traveled all over. I can see the colorful display of cycling 'kits' (outfits) in my mind as they approach the finish. What a thrill it is to be in this famous place where the cyclists approach the Arc de Triomphe and celebrate the end of an amazing race- the Tour de France !!


<<< from my continuing adventures in Laure Ferlita's An Imaginary Trip to Paris class >>>

Home Brewed Harvest 2009

This is the latest chapter in our tale of a journey, .... an adventure...

In preparation for the holidays my oldest son  brewed some special holiday beers with a friend, and once again he asked me to work on the labels. I am delighted to be able to collaborate with him despite the many miles that separate us (me in California and he currently in Texas). I blogged about the first labels earlier this summer (Home brewed...).  Here is the latest chapter in our story...

The latest brews were released to celebrate Thanksgiving. The wild names of the different brews are totally from the creative imaginations of my son and his co-brewmaster.  Note that these batches were not made from kits -- the contents are their own new recipes from scratch! For the labels, I started with some sketches of the artwork that my son sent me, and adapted them to the hand crafted label design that we developed earlier in the year. I fell in love with the fly that my son drew for the Winter Buzz -- the fly has quite a personality! 

Reindeer Fuel:  a Bourbon Oak Barrel Stout

Reindeer Fuel Extra:  a Bourbon Oak Barrel Stout with extra Bourbon additive for 'extra kick'

Winter Buzz (or 'The 10th Plague'): a Coffee Porter 

Holiday 2009 neck-hugger:

... what will they dream up next ???? ....

Leaving my comfort zone

Our next assignment (Trip to Paris class) sure pushed me outside my comfort zone. The idea was to leave behind all pencil, erasers, and pens... and just use the 'brush'. Eek.... this sounded impossible and I felt like I was wearing someone else's shoes... but I gave it a try. I relaxed a bit when I discovered that the reference photos were darling little ballerinas. They were not as intimidating as some of the architecture that we've seen on our travels. Each sketch/painting was done in 5 min or less. 

<<< from my continuing adventures in Laure Ferlita's An Imaginary Trip to Paris class >>>

Thanksgiving - a day to count your blessings...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

With best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A Moment in Time at Giverny

Somehow I didn't put two and two together -- Paris and Monet ... but here I am in Giverny for an afternoon. The gardens are absolutely beautiful, more beautiful than the paintings and photographs that I've seen before. I just wish there weren't so many people so eager to see these gardens today. I would love to sit here for an afternoon of peace and quiet and just 'soak up' all of the beauty.


I was drawn to this corner of the pond in the Water Garden - the delicate pink water lily reminds me of the water lilies back home in the pond in our backyard. Although our backyard is nothing as elaborate as Giverny - it is a peaceful escape. But, now having seen Giverny I bet images of it will come to mind once I return home ... and I'm sitting by my own pond.

<<< from my continuing adventures in Laure Ferlita's An Imaginary Trip to Paris class >>>

My room at the Meurice Hotel

The hotel rooms in Paris are known to be small, but Laure splurged for us all at this hotel, the Meurice. I was so surprised -- my room even has a "les sejour' (living room) - unbelievable! The couch looks inviting after another day of walking and site-seeing. Now, if I can just find a tasty glass of wine, maybe I can lounge on the couch a bit and reflect on all that we've done so far....

<<< from my continuing adventures in Laure Ferlita's An Imaginary Trip to Paris class >>>