What could we do in Paris in the winter?

Most likely, we'd go to a museum or three.  

But, we are still in Quebec City, so no Louvre and no Eiffel Tower gazing.  

Here on the St. Lawrence river, the mercury is well below freezing, and 

with the wind chill, you need some serious nerve to romp about outdoors.  

This is precisely why the sketching group I participate in spent last 

Saturday morning at the Musée de la Civilization.  It is warm, the staff are 

quite hospitable*, and there is a marvelous "Paris en scène" exhibit on. 

Click here to see sketches by some of the others (note all comments are in French). 

All about Paris's pre-WWI golden age, the exhibit ranges from 

the birth of cinema to the circus, and from Sarah Bernhardt and 

the Moulin Rouge to classical artists such as Auguste Rodin. 

Jerod wandered the exhibits while I sketched them...

or more precisely, sketched the people looking at them.  

 It was a good warm-up for a someday trip to the real City of Light.

*During the winter, the Musée de la Civilization offers free entrance on Tuesdays, as well as Saturday mornings.  The coat room is free, and they'll even take your boots if you know to bring another pair of shoes.  In addition to the Paris exhibit, there is one about the history of video games, one about Quebec, another on the quasi-voodoo art of Haiti, and much more.  You could spend weeks there, just taking advantage of the countless opportunities to explore (and sketch!).

In fact, some of the local sketchers I know do just that - they're at the museum nearly every Tuesday during the "open" season.  If you bring your sketchbook, just look for others doing the same.