On Friday we visited the city of Luxembourg, in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.  It is a country ruled by a king (of sorts, the grand-duc Henri), and the city gives the impression of a well fortified castle complex.   It is a tough nut-to-crack.

Luxembourg was the first place I set my foot in Europe, decades ago, debarking from Icelandic Loftleider airlines.  Armed with a sleeping bag and 14 pairs of underwear, I spent my first day there drinking strong coffee with a Luxembourgish after helping him push his car.

Yesterday, in this city of the very rich, fine cars plied the thoroughfares and there was no need to commensurate with the population.   I did drink very good coffee, in a coffee shop, as Blair carried a 50s Danish design chair we found in the dumpster, back to our car.

I had my first painting student this week, closer to home in the Luxembourg Gardens (so named for the Palace Luxembourg, built for Maria de Medici on  the site of a former palace belonging to the duke of Piney-Luxembourg.  The Palace Luxembourg now houses the Senate of France).   My student was from Minnesota, and luckily was not daunted by malevolent weather.  We sat waiting for the rain to pass, as we contemplated the Medici Fountain.  She'd never painted in acrylics before:  "rain is our enemy," I told her.   She blocked out the scene, and in a jiffy her muse took over the lesson.  Passers-by oohed and aahed over her completed canvas.

Blair and I walked the streets of the city of Luxembourg, noting vestiges of medieval carvings stucco-d up to on the corners of buildings.  The city of Luxembourg dates to the 10th century.  An elevator has been installed to ease the climb up and down the hill to see the "restored" abbey across the moat/river.  We saw the Black Madonna and Child that dates from 1380.  We were most impressed with a portrait show hanging in the same complex:  Roland Schoals produced 504 paintings of artists, placed edge to edge to fill a large wall (about 1000 square feet).

The air of Luxembourg was cool and fresh, in defiance of its years as a steel and iron region.  Still, the largest steel maker in the world, Arcelor, hails from Luxembourg.  Banking has since upstaged that predominate industry.

My second student this week faced even more dire conditions for painting.  We camped beneath a heavy canopy of chestnut leaves as rain fell continuously.  His muse was even more powerful than the last student's.  It was two hours before we packed up our paints.

It is a curious sensation to watch an artists' inner being take over a painting.  It defies science and logic, making him impervious to the elements and unshakeable from his goal.  It is magic, a force which defies explanation -- not a choice, but a vocation.

On the way to the Duchy of Luxembourg we spent the night at a funky "logis-de-France" in Koenigsmacker (the friend we accompanied had an early morning appointment).  We slept between pressed sheets, but the decor left a lot to be desired.  In the morning we walked around the germanic-french square, examining the statues.  One was of a young woman with a mop; the other was of a friendly, smiling lion, the loveliest I've seen. As I bent to rub his head, a loud roar emerged from not far away.  I turned to see an old man giggling as he resumed his morning walk.

Laurie (text) and Blair (painting) PESSEMIER
"Luxembourg Gardens"  Oil on linen   18 x 15 inches