One of the highlights of my Paris trip last June was the ongoing search for books on travel sketching (carnet de voyage aka carnet de voyages aka carnets des voyages). Books on how to keep such a sketchbook, as well as all kinds of travel sketchbook/journal reproductions, are quite popular in France and large bookstores have entire sections devoted to carnets de voyages.

I spent an entire morning in FNAC, sitting on the carpet, pouring through book after book. Pure heaven for me! And, although it was hard to choose I did end up bringing back eleven books. Most are travel sketchbook reproductions, but my favorite finds are the three how-to books shown below.

Click on the images below to see larger versions,
and on the titles for links to amazon.fr.

Créez et Composez Votre Carnet de Voyages	Créer son Carnet de Voyage	Carnets de Voyages

Luckily, one does not need an extensive comprehension of written French to understand these books; you can figure out most of the content from the pictures alone. They each have a different style, but in general include tips for
drawing, watercolor, collage and adding text, with emphasis on creating a personal record rather than an artistically impressive result.

There are few books written in English about keeping travel sketchbook/journals (but there are some; I’ll be posting about my overall favorites soon). Are these French books earth-shatteringly great? Probably not, but they are precious to me because they are not something I can find at home.

Update: See sample pages from these books in this post.

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Coffee and the View at the Café de Flore

In June of this year I found myself in Paris, France on business and was able to stay an extra five glorious days for exploration and discovery. Here are a few pages from my sketchbook of that trip.

The Stravinsky Fountain at the Centre Pompidou, and the coffee I had while making the sketch

Rue Saint-Honoré @ Place A. Malraux

I was by myself which I didn’t mind a bit, and decided to wander each day with no particular plan or agenda. I just followed my nose as they say, and soaked it all in. I ended up not visiting a single site that required a ticket or a wait in line. I didn’t even go into any art museums (except for gift shops, of course!). I did a ton of walking, people watching, a bit of shopping and some fun sketching. Most of my sketching was done from sidewalk cafes with a café au lait or glass of French champagne for moral support. Very refined!

Notre Dame Cathédrale, and the sketch right before rain forced me under a tree to add the watercolor.

The Sennelier shop on Qaui Voltaire	Across the Siene to the Louve

Paris is a visual feast and yes, beautiful. It’s a great place for just looking, a favorite pastime of mine. I got some great ideas from Eric Maisel’s A Writers Paris book which I highly recommend. It is not so much about writing as about setting time aside to pursue creative exploration and how a focused trip can facilitate that process. His ideas aligned very will with my intention for the trip so finding that book was a real bonus.

I Ate Well!

Earlier in my life the idea of being somewhere significant by myself (let alone Paris!) would have been horrifying. But now it was just what I needed and I had a wonderful time. I do promise to take my husband along next time though!

Posted in Food, Landscapes, Paris, Travel Sketching | Leave a Comment » | View 36 Comments »

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