What's Next?

What's Next? Here's a hint - it's an oil painting I did of my two boys when they were small.

As an artist and former art teacher it's just in my blood to want to not only paint and create but to share how I paint and create. So here's what's next. I'm gonna show you some step by step processes in the techniques and styles I use to create my artwork. First up, will be a step by step example of how I create a portrait in oil. Now, if you are an artist it may not be your way to paint, and if you are not an artist it might or might not be kinda interesting to see a portrait come to life but anyway you look at it, it's still Jane's Perspective.

Marseille, France and Home

It's the last official stop for the cruise before we hit Barcelona, disembark and fly home. We're in Marseille, France. Sounds romantic, huh? Actually here's the dose of reality you get when you're on a budget. The picture below is typical of the docks your cruise ship can be positioned into. Actually our ship was relatively small so it often got into ports that larger ships couldn't get into so you might actually have a better view from your ship before you get tendered in. But I wanted you to see why, if you aren't able to do a lot of walking, that you will need to take shore excursions or grab a taxi at the dock. Just walking across some of the parking lots at the dock was a little hair raising. None of the docks are made for pedestrians and none of the dock traffic tends to expect walkers on their roads. Of course, despite all that, we were walking and there's still a lot to discover in this process for example, there was a French amusement park on the dock. Though it was too early in the day to be open it was kinda neat walking through the rides and concession stands seeing everything written in French. We would grow to resent everything written in French later in the day, but I'll get to that. As we walked we discovered an old French fort and from the edge of the water we could see Notre Dame de la Garde in the background. The early morning sky created a beautiful scene to see.

The port where we docked is full of sailboats and fishing boats.

Because we were up and at 'em so early we were able to watch the fishermen as they came in with their catch of the day.

On either side of the water (cause the port is shaped like a water peninsula) are hotels, high rise homes and cafe after cafe after cafe. One just blended into the next with the only way to tell the difference was the color of awnings or tablecloths. You could have eaten your way into oblivion if you stopped at each one.

Check out the menu board in this photo. Yep, everything is in French. How quaint, but now I'm sorta needing some English somewhere. Street names, shop names, products, signs, EVERYTHING is written in French and no one seems to want to translate for you. I'm beginning to think the French don't like us.

The nicest French folks we found were at the local MacDonalds. They let me use their potty (Ed said I hit every MacDonald's potty across Europe). Though the food was a little strange (check out the photo of the MacDonalds' menu board) the bathroom was even stranger. But they let me use it so down I went into the bowels of the storage room under the store, to a unisex bathroom with, of course, no toilet seat). We had a snack of french fries (no pun intended) with their mayonnaise-type sauce and a coke with no ice. YUM.

The rest of Marseille was basically a busy city with stores lining the streets and a mall that we wandered through. Buses. street trolleys, traffic and street vendors abounded on this busy Monday.

One interesting aspect of the mall, however, was that it was built right next to some ancient ruins that I figured they were trying to raise money to "save". A couple of French men were babbling about it and they had handouts and brochures with pictures of the site and what looked like contribution forms to fill out. Beats me, it was all in French and again, no one seemed to want to translate.

I figured I'd make the best of the day and shop a little though it was all stuff I could have bought in my local mall back home. Half way through one store Ed came and got me and said we were leaving. It seems he was going to sit down outside the entrance to the store and wait for me but was rudely told he couldn't sit unless he bought something to eat. Now, get this, the mall is empty, it's too early for any meals, and there's about 50 empty chairs. BUMMER. I have to say, however that once out on the street I found some awsome 5 Euro shoes. Ed even found a jacket he sorta wanted but Marseille had just bummed him out so that he didn't want to spend anything more than he had to in this whole country. I, on the other hand, had money left from the budget but my Jane's Perspective still wouldn't let me buy anything but stuff that I just couldn't get at home so I settled on a little shop that sold French soaps and bought up a mess of different "flavors" for myself and for gifts to take home. They made delightful souvenirs. And upon leaving France, we pulled out of port as night fell and were treated to one of the most beautiful night time scenes we had seen on the whole trip.

A last meal on board with our traveling companions left us with time to pack, put our bags outside the door for pick up, and an early bed time call for we had to be up by 5AM when we were loaded on buses for the Barcelona Airport. After a change over in Amsterdam, we were home by 5:30 pm Memphis time the same day. (Dont' let that time fool you, we were still over 11 hours in flight time. Our bodies told us it was closer to midnight).

So the trip was over. We were safe and sound at home and we had money left over from our 50 Euro a day limit. That last night on the boat, I overheard a fellow say he would be glad to get home to eat some "real" pizza (insinuating that our pizza is the "right" kind of pizza - be aware that only in America do you get all that tomato sauce). Was it just a coincidence or ironic that we ate out at CiCi's pizza buffet on the way home from the airport that night?

The best thing about the trip in my opinion is the time of year we traveled (early Nov.) because we hardly ever had to stand in line, not even at the Vatican, and the weather was perfect. The worse thing about the trip in my opinion is the long flight time and uncomfortable planes. The greatest advantage we had on the trip was that we were young enough to walk as much as we did. The most lasting effect from the trip was our weight gain of over 5 pounds each. But with all the pros and cons I wouldn't trade the memories for anything. Thank you for allowing me to reminisce by sharing with you.

Lost in Monte Carlo

The information I took with me for my cruise tells me that Monte Carlo is only 1 square mile. So how hard can that be to navigate? Don't let it fool you. Monte Carlo is built on a hillside with tunnels, elevators, and escalators to get you from one street level to another only once you get out of the elevator or off of the escalator you can lose your bearings and be totally lost. Irregardless, I came home with really fond memories of Monte Carlo. . . lots more than I thought I would have since I figured it was a country/town for the rich and only the rich. I was pleasantly surprised and if I do say so, got quite a nice photograph of Monte Carlo. (Jane's Perspective thought: You CANNOT take a bad picture in Europe). See. In this next picture you can see what I mean about tunnels and walkways and elevators and escalators. They are all over the hillside. Ed's got that Monte Carlo "Where the F----- are we?" look.

The best thing about getting "lost" in Monte Carlo is that you can always find the water and thus never lose where you got off the boat. AND if you get lost really early in the morning like we did you'll find flower, fish and vegetable markets everywhere. But by noon they disappear like they were never there.

Lost again, Ed found this statue of an early race car for the Race at Monte Carlo. Since we are big Nascar, Indy, and Formula One race fans it was cool to walk the streets where the race occurs and now every year when we watch the race on tv we can point out places we walked and stood and it just brings back great memories to say we were really there. For one of my souvenirs I got a ticket holder with the Monte Carlo race logos. I put my Nascar tickets in it every year when I go to the Brickyard Race in Indy. Last year someone complimented me on it and asked where I got it. I was really tickled to answer "Oh, I got this in Monte Carlo". Cool.

One thing you'll love about Monte Carlo is the part of the French Riviera that you are on. The water is so clear it looks like the boats (excuse me, in Monte Carlo, they are all yachts) are floating on air.

And the shopping is so cool. Good thing it was Sunday and most of the shops were closed when we walked by or I'm sure I would have gone home with the Prada bag that my husband was pointing out in this photo or a set of Gucci luggage or a fur lined something or other. (Yeah, RIGHT).

Famished for lunch and almost at the end of our cruise with some money in the budget to spare, I talked Ed into lunch in an outdoor cafe right on the Riviera. I just had to take a picture of my 40 Euro chicken salad sandwich.

As if we hadn't walked enough, we found these wonderfully wide stairs and folks were all over them walking up and down so we headed up, and up, and up, and up. Even though they were relatively easy to climb they just seemed to never stop.

Low and behold at the top is the Prince's palace and a view to die for. (That's where I got the first picture in this blog of the city).

Heading back down from the palace, we found that there's an easier way to get up to the palace and that's through all of these cool little walking streets with shops and cafes lining each side. I just had to do a painting of this.

The only thing I regret about Monte Carlo is that I didn't drive a Ferrari. We still had one more city to visit and it would be the only city we would see in France so I was still holding tight to my money in case there was a "to die for" souvenir there. If I ever get a chance to go back to Monte Carlo, though, I'm gonna come off the 80 Euros it takes to drive a Ferrari through the streets of Monte Carlo. Although I missed that we did find the casinos and I can always tell my grandchildren that I gambled in Monte Carlo (even if it was only 5 Euros in a slot machine). Hey, its the principal of the thing that counts (Jane's sometimes Perspective).

Pizza in Pisa

Today was a Saturday and Ed and I took the train to Pisa. (We're old pros at this train thingy by now). My only problem was that our nice stroll across Pisa to the Leaning Tower took longer than I thought and I needed to pee really bad by the time we got there. Ed still laughs when we remember all I could think about when we got to Pisa was finding a potty. Once one was found I had to rush back to Ed before I could enter to get change for the "admission fee". (Remember to carry change for the toilets in Italy. Most charge up to 1 Euro for usage.)

Once "relieved" I came out to see a breath taking view of the Leaning Tower. No matter how many pictures you have seen, you'll still be amazed to see it in person. The gleaming white of the stone contrasting with the pristine green of the lawn is so very picturesque. Everyone takes pictures or sketches it as you can see in this painting I made from one of my photos. This piece is titled "Sketching Pisa".

Once you've seen the chapel and the grounds around the tower you can go up into the tower for something like $45 Euros. For Ed and I that was out of our budget and I wasn't too hip on climbing a crooked tower with scaffolding around it. I mean exactly when do you think this tower is going to topple over? I found out later that they don't let people go up just any time so I missed an opportunity but if it was any consolation I saw my traveling companions photos and the climb is not an easy one due to not only the height but also the wear and tear on the steps. And if you are prone to vertigo like me they say that the slant kinda "gets to you" after the first couple of hundred steps.

My perspective (Jane's Perspective) was that I was here and I was soaking up the whole atmosphere just by standing and staring at this beautiful sight. There was no need for me to pay to do more. And while I was there I was able to snap a picture of an adorable child feeding the pigeons. I, of course, had to paint that too. This is a small piece, only about 14 X 20.

Before we left the area, Ed and I had to take the obligatory "holding up the Tower of Pisa" picture.

Now it was time to stroll back to the train. There was plenty of time so we wandered the streets around the tower and found a weekend flea market. Whenever you are in a town on the weekends look for open air markets. You won't believe the bargains and the assortment of goods from which to choose. This is where you can really find a souvenir that's not a China knock off. I painted these two gentlemen who were taking a break at the market. Notice the tents that lined the streets filled with merchandise. I bought a sterling silver ring that looks like an antique and a sweater and spent 15 Euros. (The sweater was a gorgeous purple angora that a lady was selling for 5 Euros).

Around every corner were more and more flea market finds AND as if that was not enough, fruit and vegetable markets line the alleys and by ways. I painted this scene too but my painting just doesn't do justice to the color of the stands.

Now we're hungry and tired but still have time to kill before we have to take the train back to the boat so we stopped for lunch and (you guessed it) we had pizza in Pisa.

This next painting is taken from a photo I took as we sat at the outdoor cafe for our pizza. See why I loved this town so much? Everywhere was something of beauty and Italian flavor. What a fabulous day for our last day in Italy.