Laon cathedral, France

Last summer we drove down through France to Lake Annecy to camp by the water. We're not enthusiastic drivers, but each place where we stayed on our leisurely journey there and back was distinctive and memorable, even if the names of the places we stayed were not: Troyes and Lons-le-Saunier going south, Tournus and Laon on the way back, my sketchbook helpfully reminds me.

Laon cathedral is visible for miles, rising from the city on a ridge in the Picardy plain after our journey through the Champagne region. Driving up to our hotel in Laon's old centre is like going the wrong way up a helter skelter, the route becoming tighter and narrower as it nears the top. There's a cafe next to the cathedral in the square, of course, and the next morning we sit there drinking coffee and drawing while we prepare to head back to the Channel Tunnel.

This image for sale as a limited edition print: contact jameshobbs45@gmail.com

Urban Sketchers London sketchcrawl: Saturday 1 December at 11am

Poster drawing by Katherine Tyrrell

The next Urban Sketchers London sketchcrawl is coming soon. We will be meeting on Saturday 1 December at 11am in the free-to-enter Natural History Museum, near to one of the exhibits for which it is best known: the diplodocus skeleton in its central hall by the main entrance.

As well as the diverse and extraordinary exhibits in this museum, and the other ones nearby, there is plenty to draw outside if the weather is up to it, such as the skating rink that arrives close to the museum each winter. There's more information at the Urban Sketchers London website. Follow the tweets @urbsketchlondon.

It's a relaxed and pressure-free event. Come for as long as you can and meet other artists who get up to the same kinds of this as you do. Just bring whatever you usually draw with. You know it makes sense.

The Natural History Museum is at Cromwell Road, London SW7 5DB. www.nhm.ac.uk