June 2012 in Barcelona

View of Barcelona from the top of the Sagrada Familia Basilica.

I hadn't yet returned from Montreal this summer that I had already planned to spend June 2012 in Barcelona, with a side trip of one week to the south of France for a watercolour workshop.

I am an unconditional fan of Antoni Gaudí, the wild architect who designed the Sagrada Familia Basilica, which I visited in 1969 when it was still a shell (though its construction had begun in 1882). Now that it's almost finished -- it was inaugurated about a year ago but construction is expected to continue for several decades -- I want to see what his successors have done with it, though I already like what I've seen in the pictures.

I also look forward to revisiting Gaudí's other buildings and Güell Park, with its mosaic dragon -- all perfect sketching subjects.

Because of my newly-found passion for sketching, this is going to be quite a different trip. Add to this the fact that I now speak Spanish fluently, and you have a different person visiting what must be a different place after forty-some years... no wonder I'm excited about this!

I had tentatively booked a place in a workshop in the South of France for the last part of the month, but after looking into travel insurance I realized that I couldn't make that commitment at this time. They required a large deposit and a final payment a full two months before the workshop, and the refund policy was not generous at all, and travel insurance did not cover the kind of circumstances that had me worried.

There were other things that bothered me about that particular place, such as having to rent a car because they no longer wish to provide transportation to the painting sites. It makes sense from their point of view, since most of their clients drive in from other parts of Europe. As of next year, they're even opening a campground for those who come with their RVs. I'm not sure I'd like to vacation in a trailer park, and the thought of driving in France isn't something that brings a smile to my face.

As for Barcelona, there's a very tempting apartment that I could rent for the whole month of June for 750 euros -- that's about $1,000. Since sketching is my new passion, I could easily spend a month sketching there, with the occasional side trip to other Spanish towns.

But could I resist flying to Paris once I was over there? That's my dilemma right now.