Stephanie Tickner Watercolors

Where does the time go? It seems like summer started just yesterday, and now we have already passed into fall. As the days get shorter and the trees burst with color, I have been reflecting back on the wonderful summer that just passed. I didn’t have much time for painting, but I experienced a great variety of man made and natural art that filled my days with wonder and awe.

The summer began just two days after the kids finished school in June. The company my husband works for is based in Annecy, France and they wanted him to work for a week at the France office. It was the perfect opportunity for a trip of a lifetime. Annecy is a beautiful city in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. We rented a tiny apartment in Le Vieil Annecy (the old part of town) in a building built in 1650! With high walls, arches, cobblestone streets, cafes and small shops, I felt I had gone back in time. We spent a week there touring churches, museums, and a castle, as well as admiring the beauty of Lake Annecy and the towering mountains. We fell in love with this gem of a city.

Le Thiou River and Pont Morens, built in the 13^th century!

Statue in front of Notre Dame de Liesse Church. This is a "new" church was built in the middle of the 19th century on the site of a 13th century sanctuary.

Beautiful sunny day on Lake Annecy.

Stained glass inside St. Pierre's Cathedral built in the 16th century

Front of the Basilica of the Visitation. Started in the beginning of the 17th century and finished in 1930

View of le Vieil Annecy's red roofs, Lake Annecy and the mountains from the courtyard of Le Chateau. It was once home to the Barons of Geneva. Construction started in the 12 century and lasted over 4 centuries! It is now a culture and history museum.

After our incredible week exploring the historic city of Annecy, we hopped on a train to Lyon, then Paris for the second week of our French vacation. In the City of Light we rented a ground floor apartment off a courtyard between tall buildings in the 18th arrondissement. One of the first things we noticed was the difference in pace between Annecy and Paris. In Annecy we walked everywhere and things were pretty close together. In Paris there were people rushing around to catch the metro and crowding into famous landmarks. Our metro ride was was about 12 stops from the apartment to the center of the city, and sometime the cars were so full we couldn't get on. Despite the pace change, there were so many well known sites in Paris that I felt like I had stepped into a book or a movie. History and art surrounded us everywhere we looked, from bridges over the Seine, to churches, and of course the museums. At times, the building themselves were so stunning and detailed they became part of the exhibit in their own right.

We visited Notre Dame, the Archaeological Crypt, Sainte-Chapelle, the Conciergerie, Sacre Coeur, the Eiffel Tower, l'Arc de Triomphe, the Maritime Museum, the Louvre, the Orsay and the Orangerie museums, and Versailles, Louis XIV's palace an hour train ride from Paris. I took hundreds of photos. Part of me wishes I had endless time to paint and try to capture some of my favorite memories. We walked miles and saw so much. It was incredible.

Le Grande Odalisque by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1814. Just one of the beautiful paintings we saw at the Louvre. I could have spent months here and not seen everything. It was not just the curated art either. The fact that the building was once a palace kept capturing my attention. The rooms were stunning all on their own!

This clock in the Orsay Museum was the inspiration for the clock in the train station depicted in the movie Hugo. You can see Sacre Coeur and the ferris wheel near the Louvre in the distance.

This is the ceiling of the Venus Room at Versailles.. The painting is called "The Goddess Of Love Subjugating The Gods And Powers” by Houasse, and it represents Venus being crowned by the Three Graces. Light meals were served in this room. I wish Versailles hadn't been so crowded. There was so much detail in every room, and I would have enjoyed having more time to linger and look. It was so beautiful and opulent.

We were sad to have to leave after two glorious weeks in Annecy and Paris, but we realized upon returning home that just a week later we would be heading to the Hudson Valley region of New York for our annual trek to the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival. We have been attending Grey Fox since 1996, and we love having the chance to relax at the beautiful farm surrounded by mountains while incredibly talented musicians share their art with us. I am not a musician, and I am always amazed by their ability to play such intricate music. And of course, there are all the stunning sunsets there.

Now that fall has really settled in and the leaves are dropping steadily, I feel the urge to head back into my basement art room to start painting again. As I look through the trees from my west facing windows, I can watch the weather change over the course of a day, and see the leaves fall and swirl in the wind. I look forward to creating my own new works of art as I remember a summer that was full of so much inspiring beauty.