Sober in Paris

IT WAS MY first trip alone, after five years in AA, and I was going to Paris. I had visited Paris in my drinking days, and drunken memories remained with me; I had been known as le buveur (the drinker). In my five years in AA, I had been transformed from a drunken, nearly penniless, irresponsible hack artist into a competent illustrator painter. This trip, sober, I was to sketch and paint the beauty of Paris.