Paris Rue du Moulin Des Pres 13 Arrondissement

I lived in this house in the 13th arrondissement of Paris for a year with my Aunt, Uncle, and guy and girl cousins.  It was a swell year and I was fortunate to live with them.  The 13th is most notable for Chinatown and the old school Butte Aux Cailles area.  Many tours of French tourists would be led down our street and for good reason, the “papillon” (butterfly) houses like the one we lived in.  They’re called this because the structure is divided in half with another family living on the other side.  The whole neighborhood is uniquely beautiful with these old stone papillon houses.  behind the them are little yards which is extremely rare in Paris.  The skies are often dramatic, with the sun shining on one side and storm clouds advancing on the other, often for only a few minutes of rain.  I included some of my favorite things about Paris in this illustration.  Baguettes, beautiful French women (especially on bikes), Kaz the family golden doodle, my vintage Peugeot road bike (yes that’s me and yes I took the liberty of making myself look a little better), a bottle of St. Emillion grand cru red wine from Chateau Ambe Tour Pourett that I went to when I was in Bordeaux, a bottle of Chabli premiere cru white wine from my favorite of all the neighborhood wine stores, a Citroen DS 19, and a Citroen 2CV aka “duck”.  Even Penny, the neighbor’s dog is here.  And of course a pile of ubiquitous poo that plagues Paris’ sidewalks.  The ladies are based on two lovely French actresses, Anna Karina and Bridgette Bardot.  For the fashion curious the outfits are from Hermes Fall/Winter 2012 and Michael Kors Pre-Fall 2014.  I’m wearing the stereotypical French navy Breton shirt and scarf that I wore as a joke but most of my friends took seriously.  I love the vines, slate shingles, and shape of their house and had to illustrate it.  I think I spent more time on this than any piece before.  That’s a LOT of time.  It’s big, 24” x 36” poster size

The Citroën DS 19.  A legendary French car introduced in 1955 at the Paris Motor Show.  Classic & Sports Car magazine brought together a judging panel that of well known car designers and they voted the Citroën DS as the most beautiful car of all time.  It was always cool seeing one of these when I lived in Paris.

The Citroën 2CV (French: "deux chevaux"), another legendary and iconic French car.  Introduced in 1948 people mocked it for It’s utilitarian looks.  The Dutch, the Germans, and others nicknamed it “The Duck” because of its looks and even Citroën came to embrace the name.  It was cool seeing these around Paris when I lived there.