After an all night flight to Paris on Air France, I discovered showers in the Air France Club at Charles deGaulle airport, which made everything right again. I sleep pretty well on international flights..just not long enough. I am one of those people who needs eight hours a night and with the 6 hour time difference that means my body believes I'm getting up at 2:30 or 3 in the morning after four hours sleep, max. So I am usually half alive when I arrive in Europe and need help getting caught up.

The showers are accessed with a key after which one finds a gleaming clean shower room with shower, sink and hairdryer but no toilet or even a shred of kleenex. Towels and bathmat are sealed in plastic as is an amenity kit with toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, shaving cream and comb. I changed my clothes to be ready for the tour I will be taking shortly after arrival in Nice. I've been invited here by the French Tourist Office to write about visits to the south of France in the footsteps of Matisse and Picasso. We'll be visiting places where these artists worked, lived and played and learning about them from art experts . A major museum exhibit traces the influences that Cezanne had on Picasso.

I arrived in Paris at 8:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. at home) and have a 12:30 flight to Nice. I arrive there at 2:15 and must meet my guide and fellow travel writers at 3 in the Hotel Beau Rivage lobby. The Beau Rivage, perched at the edge of the Mediterranean, drew many great artists of times past. I know I am going to want more time there, but it's not on the itinerary.

The weather is nice and I am hoping to get some great images. The light in the south of France inspired the Impressionists and the artists who followed them so U an challenged to try to capture it on film. I have asked to have this blg moved to the News-Herald'.s first page again now that the Cavs finals are over. So I should be somewhat easier to find soon. here's hoping.