It is a little over a month since our return from Italy and France. It's taken almost that long to catchup up with old business and to make a start on the work picked up over there. Paris was it's usual wonderful self. Before going to Paris the first time I admittedly had no fascination for the city. I know it's the "city of lights" and the historiclal center of much of European culture, but I thought of it as too big , too intimidating. True, it is a Megalopolis, but I find Paris to be like the type of fruit that has a thick shell of industrial and commercial pith around the outside but a good good good center. You can walk along the Seine River from the East end of it, the Isle de Cite, past the Louvre, Musee Dorsay, etc. to the more modern West end, the Arc de Triompe. I did most of this walk this trip loaded with my easel and painting gear, and did underpaintings of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower along the way, a painters dream. There is for the less ambulatory a great Metro system which covers the entire city, subways and busses and an old city East-West line that runs below the Left ( South) Bank of the Seine. Across the river from Notre Dame on the Left Bank is the Latin Quarter where the most wonderful food in the world is displayed in the storefront windows of restaurants that often have barkers in front of them urging passers-by to come in and enjoy. The French seem to have a particular talent with eggs and an omlette at a sidewalk cafe in Paris is to die for. It has never for me appeared alone and forlorn on a plate as Rick Steves laments in his book, but is usually served with bread and a bit of salad. Those who prefer their eggs vulcanized like rubber may be disappointed however. For the collector there are numerous galleries and shops along the Siene and down any side street on which you might venture. Right across the street from the Louvre, however, is a collectors heaven called the Louvre Antiquaire. It is a large Antique mall of Museum quality Antiques and Art . Prices I have found there are reasonable, no higher than other shops in Europe, and quite often less than one would pay for the same item, were it available, in the U.S. The weather in Florence was warm, almost hot. Sweat broke many times carrying my gear around. Again, it was heaven doing what every painter would love to do. It was also most fortunate to be guided by my friend Signore Marco Ceri and wonderful man from an old Florentine family who owns a great shop on the south bank of the Arno. He and his British wife, Elizabeth, live in a 15th century mill in the hills south of Florence that they also operate as an Inn. Elizabeth is one of the best cooks ever and studys Renaissance cooking. Staying with them is an experience never forgotten. Contact us should you wish to do so. When you're in Florence you notice skullers (you know the guys who row those long skinny boats ). I have photographed them many times and often wondered from where they came. Marco and his son (Marco was in Mexico City rowing for the Italian Olympic team back then and his son Daniello is three-time world single champion rower.) are members of the Florence Rowing Club. They are headquartered under the Uffizi in what used to be the old Medici riding stables. It was great fortune to be taken by Marco down to the rowing club and set up beside the Arno to paint a coveted view of the Ponte Vecchio. When you're in Florence stop by Harry's Bar on the north bank of the Arno and say hello to my friends there. Particularly Signore Rillo Cosimo. Working all day across the street from them by the wall banking the Arno, I got to know them. The food there is excellent, the Tuscan bean soup with shrimp was the best. You might even see a Lance original there on their wall. Getting to Antique Art, let us for the moment bypass the Louvre in Paris. Someday we'll do the Louvre. Let's consider Florence's museums. Florence, even more so than Paris, in the heart of it is small and pedestrian. The streets are alive at night with pedestrians and street artists. There are more things to be seen than the senses can digest. European travelers often refer to "torture by culture". In Florence many attractions are crowded and have long lines. It is best to inform your hotel when you make reservations of the museums to you would like to visit. It takes them three to five days notice to get tickets for some venues, particularly the Uffizi, and the Academia to see Michelangelo's David. The Uffizi is big, like the Louvre (well maybe not quite as big as the Louvre), the Met, Chicago Art Institute... my choice for the "best" Museum in Florence is the Bargello. The Bargello is the old jail and quite a remarkable building itself. The walls of its open courtyard, four or five stories high, are covered with the carved family crests of its former wardens. There are a lot of them. There is also the best collection of Art, that includes Michelangelo's Bacchus and Donatello's David, and artifacts representing the culture and history of Florence and Italy that I have seen in one place. It is small and easily consumed. The greatest single smallest place to see in Florence hardly anyone knows of. When I was there with my wife during the middle of a busy tourist day we were the only ones there. In 1975 workers maintaining the structure that houses the Medici Chapel behind the Palazzo di San Lorenzo broke through a sealed up doorway and discovered a room (approximately 12 feet by 20 feet) with a whitewashed barrel ceiling that Michelangelo had used for refuge during an uprising against his patrons the Medici's when, fearing for his life, he had to stay in hiding for some period of time. To pass the time he drew on the walls. They are covered with his images of human figures and faces. You have to ask at the ticket booth when entering the Medici Chapel to see the room below the sacristy. If you don't ask no one volunteers the fact that it's even there.

Steve B. Lance