After a very uneventful Sunday, on Monday we went to the Opera Garnier and La Madeleine. Both of these places were absolutely stunning, with incredibly intricate interiors. I had a difficult time drawing them, but I think you can at least see what I was going for in each of my sketches. The one on the left is the vaulting underneath the staircase of the opera house, and the one on the right is the exterior of La Madeleine. I elected to draw the exterior of the church to save myself some struggle, as the interior was very large and the photos I took did not have compositions suited to the size of my sketchbook.
On Tuesday we did a lot of wandering after getting some delicious falafel, and ended up visiting the Musée Carnavalet before making our way to the Seine for our cruise. None of the photos I took on Tuesday had very compelling compositions, so I do not have any sketches for that day.
Wednesday was a great deal more eventful for me, as I went on a solo excursion after the class went to the Jardin du Luxembourg. The entire park was incredible, though my favorite areas are the English style gardens and the Medici Fountain.
Once we were done at the gardens, the class headed over to the Pantheon, and I separated from the group. A few months ago, my high school band director mentioned that he and a few students would be part of a larger ensemble that was going to be performing in Paris in July. Earlier in the week, I emailed him to find out more, and he told me that the performance would be at La Madeleine on July 9th at 4:15pm. So at 3:30, I caught the train and traveled back to where we had been on Monday. I was able to say hi to a few old classmates (or rather, siblings of my classmates and friends of my brother), and Mr. Witkowski, my high school band director. The concert was amazing, though I think some of the pieces other directors chose may not have been very suited to the acoustics of the space. All in all, I’m very glad I skipped the Pantheon to see the concert, it was nice to see some familiar faces and hear live music.
Until next time!
