Doors of France

My last post about our bike tour of Paris has me reminiscing about the two weeks we spent there in 2008. I've decided to share a video I made about our trip, but first there is a little background story to tell.

I am a faux finisher, trompe l'oeil artist wannabe. I've taken classes at Vigini Studios in San Antonio, but for whatever reason, lack of confidence perhaps more than likely, I have not put this passion into action (outside my own home). I love the artistry of Nicola Vigini, Pascal Amblard, and Michel Nadai.

 (L) Door Knock by Michel Nadai -- (R) Wine Cellar by Nicola Vigini

These paintings (yes they ARE paintings), are two of my favorites. I'd love to be able to paint something even 1/10 this beautiful some day. Should I ever even attempt a trompe l'oeil painting like this, I'd need to have something real to look at. That takes me back to our France trip. As we traveled around the countryside, I was surrounded by beautiful doors and architecture and began taking pictures for reference ... LOTS of pictures. It became a joke between myself, and Mark & Laura. I would either hear "Hey Mom, there's a door, do you have a picture of that one yet?" or "Really, another one, don't you have enough YET?". Well, the answer to both was usually "NO!". Halfway through the trip Paul McCartney's song, "Let 'Em In" popped into my head, (♪ ♫ ♪ someone's knockin' at the door ... somebody's ringin' the bell ♫ ♪ ♫), and an idea started brewing. I began taking specific pictures of "open doors" with this in mind. When we got home, I put together my video.

A few artistic notes:

• Pay attention to the words, "knockin' at the door'' & "open the door, and let 'em in" - I tried to match up a closed door with an open door that leads to one of the many places we visited.
• The last montage of pictures takes you up the pathway & stairs we climbed to the top of the abbey on Mont St. Michel.
• One of the last pictures is of the doors of Notre Dame being refinished, which to me represented the future.
• The picture of me in front of a blue door was taken at the end of our trip when Laura said, "Wait, Mom, you don't have a picture of THAT door"!

TIPS: Double click on the link to view it and that will take you to YouTube. It is best watched full screen, and be sure to have your sound on (it starts after 15 seconds). All this being said, it's not anything spectacular, but it is kind of quirky and I like it. I hope you do too, please leave comments!  :)

Here's the video, ENJOY!:

One more thing of note, we would plan the next day's events in our hotel each evening. The night before we visited the Hotel Dieu in Beaune (a former hospital) in the Burgundy region, I learned we would be seeing an old fashioned Pharmacy. Laura was interested not because she's a chemist, but because the guidebook suggested we look for "Poudre de Noix Vomiques"! That explains the pictures of both Laura quizically searching & Mark excitedly finding their "Vomit Nut Powder"!!