Pictures directory suddenly 'unable to find'

Question

This morning I went to save an image and although my Pictures directory can be seen, when I click on it, I get the message that the file/directory cannot be found and my 1000's of photos have disappeared. The Trash is also empty.

output of ls -Al ~ ~/.dropbox-dist:

gary@gary-ThinkPad-X1-Carbon-2nd:~$ ls -Al ~ ~/.dropbox-dist
/home/gary:
total 816261
drwxrwxr-x 15 gary gary      4096 May  7  2017 1-Gary
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary  45274341 Apr 24  2016 1 HOUR Romantic Piano Music _ Latest Rexation Music 2016-NgBdG8VgDRM.mp3
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Nov 18  2016 .adobe
drwxr-x---  2 gary gary      4096 Feb  7  2017 .android
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3546453 Nov 20 00:21 Anne-Marie & James Arthur - Rewrite The Stars [from The Greatest Showman - Reimagined]-pRfmrE0ToTo.mp3
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary       114 Nov 12  2017 .apport-ignore.xml
drwx------  2 gary gary      4096 Mar 21 14:28 .aptitude
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary     52278 Oct 30 11:34 asia_2016.odt
drwxrwxr-x  4 gary gary      4096 Sep 26 08:24 .audacity-data
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3432885 Nov 18 10:12 Ava Max - Sweet but Psycho [Official Music Video]-WXBHCQYxwr0.mp3
-rw-------  1 gary gary    144827 Mar 21 12:15 .bash_history
-rw-r--r--  1 gary gary       220 Nov 13  2016 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r--  1 gary gary      4167 May  2  2018 .bashrc
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary      3771 May  2  2018 .bashrc_bacxkup
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary 143800005 Oct 26 06:20 Best of Shingo Nakamura 01 (2-Hour Melodic Progressive House Mix)-WYp9Eo9T3BA.mp3
drwxrwxr--  6 gary gary      4096 Jul 28  2017 .BitwigStudio
drwxrwxr-x  6 gary gary      4096 Jul 27  2017 Bitwig Studio
drwx------ 32 gary gary      4096 Mar  7 15:24 .cache
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   4548453 Sep 19  2018 C+C Music Factory - Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) ft. Freedom Williams-LaTGrV58wec.mp3
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   4122033 Feb  2 13:39 Chaka Khan - Like Sugar (Official Video)-RecY5iZn6B0.mp3
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   4038370 Oct 23 01:07 Charles J - Do You Want (Original Mix)-_q2m_8fol2U.mp3
drwxr-xr-x  5 gary gary      4096 Oct 20 20:30 Charts
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary  44453932 Jan 25  2018 (Christina Perri) A Thousand Years - Sungha Jung-VKEq8HFDKwU.webm
drwxrwxr-x  6 gary gary      4096 Sep 12  2017 .clamtk
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3959349 Nov  5 23:50 Clean Bandit - Baby (feat. Marina & Luis Fonsi) [Official Video]-hlznpxNGFGQ.mp3
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   4299405 Feb 26 21:39 Clean Bandit - Mama (feat. Ellie Goulding) [Official Video]-Ao3XJ-UDdzI.mp3
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Nov 22  2016 .compiz
drwx------ 53 gary gary      4096 Mar 21 14:28 .config
drwx------  2 gary gary      4096 Nov 19  2016 .cups
drwx------  3 root root      4096 Aug 31  2017 .dbus
drwxr-xr-x  5 gary gary      4096 Jan 22 19:34 Desktop
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary  25906711 Apr  1  2015 DIY Solar Ice Maker - solar powered 'off grid' ice maker - easy to set up! - use HFT panels-T9CcPZMK-bc.mp4
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3735357 Dec  7 19:35 DJ Snake - Taki Taki ft. Selena Gomez, Ozuna, Cardi B-ixkoVwKQaJg.mp3
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3414885 Dec 13 00:10 DJ YANKEE X DICE AILES - LEAN ON ME-Oeya0lh9NY0.mp3
-rw-r--r--  1 gary gary        25 Nov 13  2016 .dmrc
drwxr-xr-x  5 gary gary     12288 Mar 21 14:36 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 23 gary gary     16384 Mar 20 14:11 Downloads
drwx------  7 gary gary      4096 Mar 21 14:22 .dropbox
drwx------ 22 gary gary      4096 Oct 19 01:05 Dropbox
drwxr-xr-x  3 gary gary      4096 Mar 20 02:34 .dropbox-dist
drwxr-xr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Dec 19  2016 dwhelper
drwxrwxrwx 27 gary gary      4096 Nov 16 01:00 E Books
-rw-r--r--  1 gary gary      8980 Nov 13  2016 examples.desktop
drwxrwxr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Mar 14 21:48 .FBReader
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3326749 Feb 13 09:03 Filatov & Karas - Au Au (Official Music Video) [Premiere]-06aGC9gqy1I.mp3
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary         0 Nov  8 01:50 foo2zjs.tar.gz
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3064557 Oct 26 06:29 Freya Ridings - Lost Without You (Official Video)-tDPpex1wvOc.mp3
drwx------  4 gary gary      4096 Mar 21 14:22 .gconf
drwxr--r-- 18 gary gary      4096 Feb 17 10:53 gdalwmscache
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3037701 Nov  5 15:04 George Ezra - Hold My Girl (Official Video)-6Xlo2abddXU.mp3
drwxr-xr-x 24 gary gary      4096 Mar 19 13:37 .gimp-2.8
-rw-r-----  1 gary gary         0 Feb 16 21:27 .gksu.lock
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Nov 18  2016 .gnome
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Sep 30  2017 .gnome2
drwx------  2 gary gary      4096 Aug 27  2017 .gnome2_private
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Mar 21 14:22 .gnupg
drwx------  5 gary gary      4096 Mar 17  2018 .googleearth
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary  57842874 Aug 19  2017 google-earth-stable_current_amd64.deb
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary  57842874 Aug 19  2017 google-earth-stable_current_amd64.deb.1
drwx------  2 gary gary      4096 Nov 18  2016 .gphoto
drwx------  2 gary gary      4096 Mar 13 14:33 .grsync
drwx------  2 root root      4096 Aug 31  2017 .gvfs
drwxrwxrwx 10 gary gary      4096 Nov 11 05:17 Health&Exercise
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary  14469661 Jun  4  2017 HouseLogix - HDMI Repair Kit Installation-IrNk85K4Zbo.webm
drwxr-xr-x  3 gary gary      4096 Mar 21 14:22 .hplip
-rw-------  1 gary gary    344436 Mar 21 14:22 .ICEauthority
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   5303541 Oct 28 22:46 JABBAWOCKEEZ x Tiësto - BOOM with Gucci Mane & Sevenn-QYU18mrBB54.mp3
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3081669 Nov 28 18:53 Jax Jones, Years & Years - Play (Visualiser)-HuIrr-qJ_UQ.mp3
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3417189 Oct 20 19:22 Jess Glynne - Thursday [Official Audio]-D-F9h6lu7fQ.mp3
drwx------  2 gary gary      4096 Feb 14 09:41 .john
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3356045 Jan 12 02:57 KARA MARNI - Love Just Ain't Enough (Official Video)-73hvZ77fzFM.mp3
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Nov  4 00:19 .kde
drwxrwxr-x  6 gary gary      4096 May 10  2017 kdenlive
drwxr-xr-x  4 gary gary      4096 Feb 25  2017 .lastpass
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Nov 13  2016 .local
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   5141581 Oct  3  2015 Los del Rio - Macarena (DJ Dero Latin Piano Remix)-QqoBwPstEPk.mp3
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary     44708 Oct 20  2014 lsb-core_4.1+Debian13+nmu1_amd64.deb
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary     20330 Oct 20  2014 lsb-invalid-mta_4.1+Debian13+nmu1_all.deb
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary     19968 Oct 20  2014 lsb-security_4.1+Debian13+nmu1_amd64.deb
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Nov 18  2016 .macromedia
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary       254 Sep  3  2017 Mama's Guesthouse & Restaurant.desktop
drwxrwxr-x  3 gary gary      4096 Nov 14 21:32 .masterpdfeditor
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary  10525544 Sep  8  2017 master-pdf-editor.deb
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   4173132 Oct 29 01:02 MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This-otCpCn0l4Wo.mp3
drwxrwxr-x  3 gary gary      4096 Jan 16  2018 media
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3187725 Dec 10 13:31 Meek Mill - Going Bad feat. Drake [Official Audio]-T3lKEb0Cs94.mp3
drwxrwxr-x  2 gary gary      4096 May  6  2017 Movies
drwx------  5 gary gary      4096 Nov 18  2017 .mozilla
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary    186033 Mar  9  2017 mozilla.pdf
drwxrwxr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Nov  4 07:11 mpd-configure
drwxr-xr-x  8 gary gary      4096 Nov  7 23:30 Music
drwxrwxr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Nov  1 00:30 .nano
drwxrwxr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Mar 20 14:16 .opencpn
drwxr-x---  6 gary gary      4096 May 10  2017 .openshot
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Nov  1 01:25 openvpn-ca
-rwxrwxr-x  1 gary gary     36406 Nov  1 19:11 openvpn-install.sh
drwxrwxr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Jul 27  2017 .oracle_jre_usage
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary 244043475 Jan 11 13:11 Our annual Kingston drone montage is here!  We made this for you fellow Kings...-543481986168357.mp4
drwxr-xr-x  4 gary gary      4096 Mar 21 12:16 .pcloud
drwxr-xr-x  7 gary gary      4096 Nov  1 06:31 pCloudDrive
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3590511 Mar 19 10:39 Pink Panda   Love It Like That feat  Nyanda (Extended Mix) By Michael Sharre-juawBq4gdkQ.mp3
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Nov 18  2016 .pki
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   2667261 Oct 27 23:20 P!nk & Willow Sage Hart (P!nk’s Daughter) - A Million Dreams_A Million Dreams (Reprise)-V1weVGUmNTA.mp3
-rw-r--r--  1 gary gary       655 Nov 13  2016 .profile
drwxrwxr-x  3 gary gary      4096 Mar 15  2017 projects
drwxr-xr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Nov 13  2016 Public
drwx------  2 gary gary      4096 Jul 29  2017 .putty
drwxrwxr-x  8 gary gary      4096 Feb 17 10:53 .qgis2
drwxr-xr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Dec  3 21:40 Recordings
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary      1088 Feb 14  2017 Release.key
drwx------  2 gary gary      4096 Nov 19 00:26 .remmina
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary      1516 Sep  9  2017 .ripperXrc
-rw-------  1 gary gary      1024 Nov  1 00:48 .rnd
drwxr-xr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Nov  2 08:07 .rpmdb
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary   3863109 Oct 28 19:07 RUN-DMC, Jason Nevins - It's Like That (Video)-TLGWQfK-6DY.mp3
drwxrwxr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Nov  4 04:48 sambashare
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Nov 19  2016 .sane
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary        98 Apr  7  2017 .scdl.cfg
drwx------  6 gary gary      4096 Dec 10  2017 .Skype
drwxr-xr-x  8 gary gary      4096 Dec  2 19:48 snap
drwxr-xr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Sep 13  2017 sophos-av
drwx------  2 gary gary      4096 Nov 22  2017 .ssh
-rw-r--r--  1 gary gary         0 Nov 14  2016 .sudo_as_admin_successful
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary  46848618 Oct  5 17:50 teamviewer_i386.deb
drwxr-xr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Nov 13  2016 Templates
drwxrwxrwx  4 gary gary      4096 Jan  6  2016 Thai
drwx------  3 gary gary      4096 Nov 21  2016 .thumbnails
drwx------  6 gary gary      4096 Oct 18 08:41 .thunderbird
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary       242 May 16  2017 to_do_list_apr2017
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary  29950518 Aug  2  2018 'Touch' composed by Mattia Cupelli-ks8UqM0MLTY.mp4
drwxrwxr-x 16 gary gary      4096 May 30  2017 TV
drwxrwxr-x  3 gary gary      4096 May  9  2018 usr
drwxrwxr-x  4 gary gary      4096 Feb  3 19:45 .ViberPC
drwxr-xr-x  3 gary gary      4096 Nov 27 03:13 Videos
-rwxrwxr-x  1 gary gary       114 Jan 14  2018 vpnbook
drwxrwxr-x  2 gary gary      4096 Jan 14  2018 VPNBook
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary        28 Jan 14  2018 vpnkill
-rw-r--r--  1 gary gary       168 Mar 16 09:19 .wget-hsts
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary  31180312 Aug  1  2017 whatsapp.deb
drwxrwxr-x  3 gary gary      4096 Nov 21  2016 Windows Programs
drwxrwxr-x  4 gary gary      4096 Mar 11 21:24 .wine
-rw-------  1 gary gary       216 Mar 21 14:22 .Xauthority
-rw-rw-r--  1 gary gary       131 Feb  4 07:28 .xinputrc
-rw-------  1 gary gary        82 Mar 21 14:22 .xsession-errors
-rw-------  1 gary gary      1256 Mar 21 14:14 .xsession-errors.old

/home/gary/.dropbox-dist:
total 20
-rwxr-xr-x 1 gary gary   101 Mar 20 02:34 dropboxd
drwxr-xr-x 6 gary gary 12288 Mar 20 02:34 dropbox-lnx.x86_64-69.4.102
-rw-r--r-- 1 gary gary     8 Mar 20 02:34 VERSION

$ cat ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs
# This file is written by xdg-user-dirs-update
# If you want to change or add directories, just edit the line you're
# interested in. All local changes will be retained on the next run
# Format is XDG_xxx_DIR="$HOME/yyy", where yyy is a shell-escaped
# homedir-relative path, or XDG_xxx_DIR="/yyy", where /yyy is an
# absolute path. No other format is supported.
# 
XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/Desktop"
XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/Downloads"
XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR="$HOME/Templates"
XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR="$HOME/Public"
XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/Documents"
XDG_MUSIC_DIR="$HOME/Music"
XDG_PICTURES_DIR="$HOME/"
XDG_VIDEOS_DIR="$HOME/Videos"