Thursday, Paris.

It rained in Paris today. But we're going to complain about rain in Paris? We were prepared. We had ponchos, umbrellas and rain jackets. We were at the train station at 8:30 a.m. Went directly to L' Orangerie to see Monet's Water Lilies, which they will no longer allow anyone to photograph, or you'd be seeing some spectacular pictures. We got to see the Italian Impressionist exhibit, "The Macchiaioli 1850-1874 Italian Impressionists?" Yes, the question mark was part of the title of the show. And it was appropriate. The paintings really weren't Impressionistic work, but these guys painted during the same years as the Impressionists. But it was worth seeing.

A light lunch then a trek a few blocks, passing by The Louvre in favor of the Musee D'Orsay, where we alll split up and wandered for hours to see the collection at our own pace. I started at the top and made my way down, knowing my feet would be hurting too much to climb the stairs as the hours passed. I am sated, I got to see my favorites. And lots of it. Vuilliard, The Nabi's, Toulouse Lautrec. Degas.

Upon leaving the museum, we stopped at a cafe for a refreshing drink, then caught an hour-long train ride back to Fontaine-Fourches, had a glass of wine in the kitchen, and dinner was served around 10:00. We rehashed the exhibitions, rested our tired feet, passed around Honey's children's book, "Looking For Butterflies" (http://lookingforbutterflies.com) , rehashed the exhibition again, and finally I think we are exhausted. I am. And I am first to make my way upstairs to bed at midnight.

Tomorrow we go back to the studio and paint some rainy Paris scenes.