Remembering the Louvre

Just one year ago, my sister Marla and I were in France. We got up early and took a taxi to the Eurostar. After a 2 and 1/2 hour trip, we arrived in France. Found a bus and began our sightseeing. The whole day was amazing with us not really knowing what to expect or what to see. I guess our preparation stopped at getting there. The bus stopped at the Louvre and we got out. We aren't really museum kind of people and couldn't decide if we wanted to go in or not. But eventually, said, as we did all day long, "Well, we're here, why not." It was an amazing experience. One of the neatest and opulent places I've ever been to. We saw the old fortress that the Louvre Palace was built over. We saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Napoleon's Rooms and so much more that I can hardly remember everything unless I look back at pictures.

As I think over this last year, I am so glad that I was able to start the year traveling with my sister to London and Paris. It was magical and amazing and I've found that words sometimes aren't enough to describe the feelings and wonder of all the things we saw and did while we were there.

France

I am saddened by the loss of life and freedom the French people are suffering through this week. To hear the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and other famous places are closed makes me sad. May God bring peace to everyone who is living in or visiting France. May the God of hope fill them with all joy and peace as they trust in him so that they may be filled with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here is a link to my favorite blog. http://historicalromanceuk.blogspot.com/  It is wonderful to have a wide variety of Regency Romance Writers blogging about historical places in England and of the writers, poets and people of the past. Some of my favorite writers are contributors to this blog. 

Both pictures in this post are different views as we were on the bus of St. Paul's Cathedral.

This week my editor and I finished the last chapter of reviewing my first novel. Now I will go through it and do clean up. In January, American Christian Fiction Writers have a contest. I will enter it as I did with the Romance Writers of America's Contest last year. Perhaps I will make it to the next level as I did not in the previous contest. 

Or perhaps I will finally come to the realization that writing for me is a hobby that I enjoy but do not excel at. I do enjoy writing. I enjoy having a concept and then continuing to wrestle with it until it takes a form all its own. Sometimes so far away from my original intention.  I have heard writers say that sometimes the writing takes over and they are just along for the ride. I've experienced that. I wonder if all art forms evolve seemingly as you work on them.  

Ceilings and Hallways

Two more weeks until my back is healed, I hope. It's never taken longer than that, so I have hope. It has been a crazy week. But it is summertime and what better time to have it crazy. The following pictures are from the Louvre. I've entitled this post as Ceilings and Hallways. Places that most people don't show off and yet at the Lourve these particular areas were impressive. Ornate and full of character.

I have contemplated these pictures more than the others and I wonder why. I have come up with the conclusion that I feel at peace looking at them.  Other rooms require something from you and so I feel that when you are in them you imagine the people from another time doing those actions. Eating, sleeping relaxing or working. A hallway requires nothing except walking and the ceiling is just there whether you look at it or not.

My writing has continued at a good pace. My editor keeps me hopping. I wonder how she finds the time to read and re-read it and ask questions like - Where did she get money?  Where is the carriage being housed? My first reaction is to say they don't matter. But if she's asking questions then maybe my readers will ask those same questions. And there is nothing worse then waiting to hear answers that are never addressed. So I'm off to figure out how my main character found some cash and where is that ghastly carriage. Or I'll look down more hallways and gaze at more ceilings in an attempt to discover their secrets.

Chip

 Amidst all of the things that life brings, this week we had to put down our dog, Chip. He was thirteen and had lived a full life. But that doesn't matter. We loved him and he was a part of our family. My husband brought him home when my youngest son was eight years old. He had hip displasia, so it was hard for him to walk but that never really stopped him. We started by calling him Chocolate Chip, and from there Chip, then on to Dip which became Dippers, to Skippers to Skip to Old man. He answered to all of them. In the evenings, as my kids pet him, they would sing to him about how great a dog he was. How can one ever replace that kind of love. It can't be done and in a way it shouldn't. Our German Short Hair, Libby is sad. She has napped the last two days and looks everywhere to see where Chip is.

Nothing is new with writing. I'm still re-reading A Series of Scandals. I enjoy it but have very little to report.

So I went through my pictures once again and have posted a few from Paris. The Seine River as we crossed the bridge.

The Palace of Justice. People were lined up to go in.

Marie Antoinette was imprisoned there and it was built in 1240 and then began reconstruction in 1857.


Then there is Notre Dame and once again the Seine River.

France and Writing

Like the English during Regency times, I'm intrigued by France and all things French.  Spending a day in Paris, of course was not enough but at the same time gave us a flavor for the place. The Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs-Elysees was amazing to see. Champs-Elysees is French for Elysian Fields, the paradise for dead heroes in Greek mythology. This statue was in a round-about and in the background stands the majestic Eiffel Tower. Leaving the Louvre we saw the Chateau de Vincennes on the Seine River, and on the right was what we thought looked like a church with its spire missing. An amazing place. 

Now I am making my way through reading and editing my Regency novel once again.  (Perhaps the 100th time) I scan through each page looking for grammatical mistakes and then for plot holes. My sister reviews one chapter a week doing the same thing. It is tedious work and has its own challenges as well as surprisingly bringing a strange type of satisfaction with it.      

 

Buckingham Palace and the Eiffel Tower

Buckingham Palace. 775 rooms, 19 State rooms, 52 Royal guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. Buckingham House was transformed into Buckingham Palace in the 1820s by the architect John Nash for George IV. But the first monarch to use Buckingham Palace as their official residence was Queen Victoria, who moved there in 1837.

I've decided to throw myself into writing and have committed to write between 1,000 to 2,000 words a day. Not re-working but writing something new. 

I've found that the difference betweeen the movie and the book of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has to be the rich dialogue between the characters that shows who they are.

This excerpt is priceless:


 "If I were as rich as Mr. Darcy," cried a young Lucas who came with his sisters, "I should not care how proud I was. I would keep a pack of foxhounds, and drink a bottle of wine everyday."
"Then you would drink a great deal more than you ought," said Mrs. Bennet; "and if I were to see you at it I should take away your bottle directly.
The boy protested that she should not; she continued to declare that she would, and the argument ended only with the visit."

The Louvre and Grosvenor Square

One more week of waiting to find out if my book made it to the semi-finals. Even as I wait, I'm still working on it. Plotting each story to make sure each is resolved. No threads hanging. I have to say that this part is quite fun.

The pictures on either side are from the Louvre. I thought they were wonderful paintings of women of the 18th and early 19th centuries.

The picture on the left looks to be two sisters in their everyday life. It was sweet to look at.

The one on the right seems to warn of impending doom not only in the dark skies (future) but also on where she is walking (her path). But the light shining on her face (mind) and on her upper body (heart). It seems she is looking back to urge the rest of us on. I am still captivated by it.

 Below is a statue in the Louvre.  And the picture to the right is a statue in Grosvenor Square of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The park had various memorials to soldiers and to those who were England's allies in past wars.

Missed Writing Contest

I've been writing at least two hours everyday hoping to enter another contest with the deadline of March 2. I went on their website today to make sure they had not reached their limit of entries. And they had. I should have entered and then edited my entry until the deadline. I didn't want to do that because I was afraid that I would not have the full book re-worked by then. I had planned to work all weekend and submit it on Monday, but now I guess I can take my time.










 The rooms are in the Napoleon's wing in the Louvre. They were opulent and wonderful to see. Reds and gold everywhere. The ceilings and the rugs were works of art.

Snow has been falling now for three days and is supposed to continue all through next week. With my husband in Chicago on business, it looks like I'll be outside shoveling. I don't really mind it, and at times enjoy being outside. One year when we were in the middle of a blizzard with two feet of snow in two days, I shoveled in the moonlight. That was so peaceful, and I was sad when the job was done.

France

My sister and I spent a day in Paris taking the Eurostar in the early morning hours and arriving in Paris before 9:30 a.m.  Our first stop was the Louvre. 

 The above picture is a part of the Louvre  Palace.  There is a fortress that was begun by Philip II in the 12th century. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and it was renovated by Francis I in 1546.  However, Louis XIV did not live here as he chose Versailles as his home in 1682. At that time the Louvre was used as a residence for artists. Louis XV agreed in 1750 to display the royal collection of 96 pieces here and during Napoleon's reign, it was open to the public to see the nation's treasure.

The Palace is three-sided with the glass pyramid entrance in the middle.

Absolutely magnificent.

And now to continue with my writing. I am still working on mapping out the story. I think I have a good direction and then come back and re-work that section. I am only up to Chapter Five and so I haven't covered any ground just yet.

Nine more stories to read for the contest. Once I finish with this, I will have more time to work on writing.