Dino's got skills

So while my visitors were in town, one of the areas that we did some sightseeing in was the Montmartre neighborhood. This artsy neighborhood is situated at the top of a hill overlooking Paris. The view from Sacre Coeur overlooking Paris is beautiful.

There is one area that is all set up with artists displaying their work and creating work as people walk by.  There are also many artists walking around the neighborhood looking for a tourist to be enticed by a personal drawing or silhouette cut out.  I have gotten pretty good at saying a firm NO when approached by people in the city.  During our ascend up to Sacre Coeur I was approached by a handful of people wanting to show me their work and to give them a minute to showcase their talent. One person was even bold enough to grab my arm in the midst of my broken record of “no, no, no!”

Just before reaching the church I was approached again by an artist. I am not sure what it was about this person that I allowed him to get more than 2 words out of his mouth before I completely shut him out. However he did, his name was Dino. He told me that he rarely sees blonde and loves curly hair, he continued on to say that he wanted to draw me just for his collection, no obligation from me to buy anything. So the MN nice slipped out and I sat down next to Dino and allowed him to start drawing.

He asked me where I was from, what brings me to Paris, and was I married. Dino stated that my husband was a very lucky man and quickly followed that by telling me that he was also married. 

Dino is originally from Italy and makes his home in Paris now. We had a cordial conversation with a little bit of Italian charm thrown in. At the completion of his drawing Dino told me that he wanted me to have it. That he didn’t want any money from me for it, just that I should keep it. In turn he also gave me his business card and asked that if I have any free time he would love someone to practice his English with.

All the while this was taking place, Dawn and Sara roamed the area and of course took pictures of Dino and I to prove that I gave in to Dino’s request to draw me.  They haven’t shared those pictures with me yet but if they ever come my way I will try to remember to share them.

What I do have though is a lovely drawing completed by Dino. He obviously has some mad skills in making people look better than they do in real life!!! I appreciate his viewpoint and will strive to look like the diva he created on the paper.

P.S. I kept Dino’s card in case any of you need a portrait drawn of yourself while in Paris!!