By LadyMadeline
When I heard the CP crew was visiting Europe, I knew I had to visit their show. Paris isn’t too far away from Amsterdam compared to the US, so there I was, standing on Gare du Nord. The first thing I did was buy a Paris Visite card which enabled me to use the metro, RER and bus as many times as I wanted to. There are a lot of metrolines in Paris, but with a route map, it’s quite easy to get around town.
On my first day I visited the Sacré-Cœur, a church located in the neighborhood Montmartre. There were a lot of nice stores in the streets surrounding the church, so I spent my time wandering around. Afterwards, I took the metro to Louvre-Rivoli. It took me a little while to find it, but eventually I saw the Artoyz logo pop up. I spent some time checking out the store and started to chat with one of the Artoyz owners. He told me the CP crew had headed out for a lunch, but they could return any time. I only had to wait for a little while when I saw a group of people entering the store. I recognized the artists as they went downstairs to the exhibition room and then Daniel (sethsabbat) noticed me. After a brief gab, I waited in the store, but was then invited to come downstairs (which was awesome!). I met all the artists who were busy unpacking and installing all the pieces. The art looked beautiful and fortunately, everything made it in one piece. When it was all unpacked and put in place, we went to Daniel’s house; he collected some amazing old books and other wonderful items that could be used as risers at the show. We spent Wednesday night talking and we went to a nice restaurant nearby where we ate pizza with the whole group. I really enjoyed listening to what everyone had to say. Very interesting and kind people.
After breakfast at Daniel’s house Friday morning, we took some extra books and additional display items to Artoyz. The artists had just arrived and used the things we brought to add the final touch. When they had finished setting up the show, we went to the Louvre. And I can tell you one thing, it’s gigantic! Really, the Louvre is huge. I think you need at least 3 days to see every piece that’s in there. Although we weren’t able to see everything, we came across a lot of beautiful pieces and I was truly amazed by some of the paintings I saw. Travis was finally able to see a painting he had been wanting to see for a long time, which was really cool. After visiting the Louvre, we stopped for lunch and headed back to Artoyz where the opening would start in less than one hour. Everything was checked for the last time and then it was time for the opening. Before I knew it, the entire store and exhibition room was filled with people. Pieces sold quickly and I was lucky enough to be able to buy some pieces myself.
I had been carrying around my sketchbook for some time (I was too shy to ask for a sketch), when Travis suggested to draw something for me. All the artists where standing together and they were so kind to pass my sketchbook around, which left me with 4 beautiful and totally awesome sketches.
When the opening night came to an end, I had to say goodbye to everyone because my train was leaving early the next morning. Daniel and I went back to his home and spend some time posting pictures on the board. Then I slept for a good 3 hours, packed my bag and took a cab to Gare du Nord. I was home again at 11 AM. I had an amazing time in Paris and I can’t explain how lovely it was to meet Kathie, Brandt, Travis and Teodoru and to be able talk to them in person. They are very kind, wonderful people and I hope I will be able to meet them again!
