Aigues Mortes

Last weekend we went to the south of France, near Nîmes. We attended a friend's wedding and the following day we rented bikes and we spent the day visiting Aigues Mortes, in the Camarge area. This medieval town has a very well preserved city wall. 

We visited the Constantine tower and the walls, where I sketched this view. 

LA ROTONDE : a Ledoux building

This is one of the few buildings left that was designed by Nicolas Ledoux ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Nicolas_Ledoux ).

He was a prolific architect in the 18th century, and he worked mainly for the king. Unsurprisingly, after the French revolution there was not much work for him.

Many of his buildings, which represented the king's power, were destroyed.
La Rotonde did make it to our days, which quite incredible considering it was one of the 60 toll houses that the king ordered to be constructed.

Now it is a very trendy cafe.

Stockholm, 2014, Södermalm

This was sketched from Södermalm island. The main building on the left is Stockholm's Town Hall.

We stayed in Södermalm, which is maybe the most exciting neighborhood of the city.

Stockholm is one of my favorite European capitals : the topography, the skyline, the archipelago, the bike friendly culture, the summer energy you can breath here... just great.

Ryōan-ji, An iconic Zen Garden, Kyoto

This is, probably, the most world known and most iconic Zen Garden. It's located in a Zen temple in the northwest of Kyoto. 

Ryoan-ji means "the temple of the dragon at peace". The temple itself is great but the highlight for me was this garden : an image that I have seen so many times in the past as the ultimate example of sobriety, elegance and harmony.

It was a real delight to spend 30 minutes drawing this wonder.

Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto

Several temples are part of this big pilgrimage Buddhist complex in southern Kyoto. They are the 17th century reconstruction of the 8th century original temples. They are Unesco World Heritage listed.

The main building, which is represented in the sketch, is a massive wooden structure that supports a great veranda. The sight from the veranda is spectacular: Kyoto and the surrounding hills.

You can see some photos at this link : https://www.google.fr/search?q=kiyomizu-dera&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=xv3UU5uuF6e_0QXJ-4GQDg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1240&bih=664

Ninna-ji, Kyoto

This is Ninna-Ji, one of many temple complexes that Kyoto has.

The day we visited this temple complex, we also visited the Golden Pavillion (Kinkaku-ji), the Ryôan-ji which is famous for its zen garden.

This five storey pagoda was built in the 17th century. It is made of wood and it is hard to believe how high it is.

Imperial Palace, Kyoto

One of the highlights of our visit to Kyoto : the Imperial Palace.
A mix of a fortress, zen Japanese gardens and a monastery.