Week 2: Sunday, Monday...

On Sunday morning we went to a brocant in a town about a half hour away. We meandered from table to table, picking up French things... I bought 5 mismatched glass knife-rests; Kippy sets her table with them and I thought -- what nice little things on the table. Now I'm going to have to invite people to dinner at my house so I can use them. I also got a couple of vintage posters: a French Charlie Chaplin poster and one illustrated by Jean-Jacque Sempe,  a well-known cartoonist here. Meg got the sweetest opalescent glass, silver- trimmed salt cellars, for which Kippy expressed her interest if Meg decided not to grab them. I told Meg not to let go of them.

Monday, yesterday--we worked all day in the studio. Meg posed in the morning and we worked from our photo shoot images after lunch. We worked until we were called down to dinner around 8:30.  We chat while we work. When someone inadvertently drops a pastel we know immediately by the exasperated moan or cuss word (that could be the loss of $6, depending on the type of pastel which crumbled). We learned how to cuss in German from Brigita.

Today we'll work in the studio most of the day. Around 4:00 we'll walk a few blocks to Chantal's house. Chantal is a restorer of paintings and sculptures. She assists Kippy during workshops in the kitchen and serves the dining tables. She is adorable, speaks with a sexy French accent, and is always good-natured. I'll post pictures of our tour of her studio tomorrow.