The first stop on my 2025 France trip was Paris. I only had a day and a half there before the start of my workshop in Giverny, but it felt like longer. You can cram a lot of fun into a day in Paris!
For the title page of this chapter of my journal, I chose a frame design that reminded me of an ornate gilded mirror one might expect to see in a Paris apartment. I found the design through an online image search and printed it in the size I needed for this 7″ square page. (Read more about designing the title pages for this travel journal here
After painting the frame, I did the pink background wash, then penciled in the lettering and inked it with a permanent pen.
I wanted the surrounding striped background to be reminiscent of vintage wallpaper, so, after I painted the pattern on the stripes, I washed over the pattern with clean water to blur and soften it.
Opposite the title page, I added an illustrated hand-drawn map of places I saw, restaurants where I ate, and the hotel where I stayed with my friend, Judy.
The map was drawn after I returned home. I think it’s easier to do something like this at the end of a trip, so you can look back and see what the highlights were, the things that were memorable and important to include.
I kept the map border simple, so there would be plenty of breathing room between the two pages.
We took a river boat ride the first afternoon when we were jet lagged and sleep deprived. It was a nice way to see some of the sights without having to expend too much energy.
Judy had never been to Paris before, so she was thrilled to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time. And, I have to admit, even though this is my third visit to Paris, it still gives me a jolt of joy to look up at that incredible structure soaring into the sky. It’s so impressive!
I had to include a Metro sign on the map to remind me of the adventure we had the day we took the subway from our hotel to Musée d’Orsay – two hapless American tourists who missed their stop because they couldn’t figure out how to open the door when the train pulled into the station. So ridiculous! We’re still laughing about that one.
I sketched in some of the things we saw along the river during our cruise, like the Grand Palais, the Louvre, and Notre Dame, and I added Montmarte to the map because I went there a week later when I returned to Paris.
We loved our visit to Musée d’Orsay, which I noted with a tiny little Van Gogh sunflower painting and the famous Orsay clock.
Other scenes on the map include our hotel, which was right next to the Seine and just a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower, plus two restaurants we enjoyed. Su Misura is an all-gluten-free Italian restaurant, and their food was out-of-this-world! I feasted on yummy homemade multi-grain bread, ooey-gooey cheesy cannelloni, and decadent tiramisu without even giving a thought as to how many calories I was consuming.
All the lettering on the map was penciled in first then inked using a calligraphy pen fitted with a flexible pointed nib.
I couldn’t resist adding this last little sketch to the page. When we took a taxi from our hotel back to Charles de Gaulle airport to meet the group for my upcoming workshop, the driver stuffed all four of our bags into the small trunk of his car. As we sped down a congested highway, surrounded by heavy traffic heading out of the city, we suddenly heard a *POP*.
Judy and I looked at each other, wide-eyed and horrified…the trunk latch had given way and popped open. We had visions of all of our worldly belongings flying out of the cab, smashing to the roadway, and being scattered for miles. The guy reassured us, saying, “Ees okay!” and then pulled over to slam the trunk shut. A mile later, we heard the telltale *POP* again. Yikes!
He finally pulled off a few miles down the road and wisely moved one of the carry-on bags to the front seat. The rest of the trip was uneventful, and we arrived at CDG with all of our bags intact. But I’ll never forget the look Judy and I exchanged each time we heard the trunk pop open. It was one of those funny experiences which would be long forgotten if I didn’t include it in my travel journal.
Paris sketches and journaling will be coming up next!
To read my earlier posts about this travel journal, check out these posts:
