"Houseboats on the Seine" oil on panel
I painted this standing next to the Seine, between Alexander III Bridge and the Place de la Concorde. A handsome Frenchman approached me while I was painting and said something in French. I said, in French, that I couldn't speak French. "Je ne parle pas français." He looked at me like I was a Martian. "What exactly are you attempting to say?" he asked in English. Prior to that, I thought I had the phrase down pat.
About halfway through my painting, another artist parked himself right behind me (maybe three or four feet away) and started doing a watercolor. I tried to ask him to move back a little but he gave me that same blank, non-comprehending look the Frenchman had given me. Language, alas.