• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Patricia Sands

Author

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
    • Can I visit your Book Club on Zoom?
  • Books
    • The Bridge Club
    • Love in Provence Series
      • The Promise of Provence
      • About Promises to Keep
      • I Promise You This
    • Drawing Lessons
    • Les Villa des Viollettes series
      • The First Noël at the Villa des Violettes
      • A Season of Surprises at the Villa des Violettes
      • Lavender, Loss & Love at the Villa des Violettes
    • The Secrets We Hide
  • Travel
    • Photography, France & d’Ailleurs
  • Instagram
  • If it’s Friday, it must be France…
  • Contact me

The bare essentials …

July 18, 2014 by Patricia Sands 1 Comment

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

This was my parting photo of Nice La Belle as we took off last week …  and just the incentive I need to begin planning our 2015 arrival.

Au revoir, Nice … à la prochaine!
Au revoir, Nice … à la prochaine!

Part of the satisfaction of spending time in France every year is connecting in person with online friends. For the next few weeks I’ll introduce you to a few.IMG_5398

I first wrote about Claire McAlpine in a post over two years ago. Claire is a writer and a fine book reviewer of high literary standards. Her blog, Word By Word, is one I never miss. You can always be certain of discovering a new title to add to your TBR list and count on reviews that are a pleasure to read as much for her own articulate style as for the story itself. Click here to go to her site. 

Not only did we get to spend time together, but Claire also agreed to do an Aromatherapy Presentation for the two tour groups I co-led in June for the Womens Travel Network. Along with her writing persona, Claire is also a licensed aromatherapist whose holistic massage practise is highly regarded. Her Flairesse website contains more details and if you are fortunate to live in the Aix-en-Provence area, you are in reach of her services.

She is one talented woman!

During her presentation, Claire introduced the group to 12 essential oils, their properties and benefits. Later, each of the women made a decision about which essential oils would most benefit her and then mixed a few drops with a carrier oil to create her own personalized blend. Once the mixing began, so did the laughter and banter as only women can do.

IMG_4183
IMG_6002
IMG_5409 - Version 2
IMG_5416
IMG_5422
IMG_6130

Since we were visiting lavender fields later in the week, we were well primed by Claire on the all round benefits that plant offers. My primary essential oil is laurel which Claire assured me was the perfect choice for a writer as it “stimulates inspiration and creative boldness”.  I’ll let you know how well it works!

Thanks again, Claire, for two entertaining and informative afternoons! See you online and next year in Aix or Nice or both!

Have you ever had the opportunity to work with essential oils and mix your own blend. Which oils did you choose? After just a few days, several of the women in our groups were exclaiming they were noticing positive responses to the oils they were using. I’m going to dab some on right now and see how boldly creative I can get as I work on my edits. Um … yes … still …!

Bon weekend tout le monde!

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • More
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • Email

Related

Filed Under: Blog, France, If it is France..., News, Writing Tagged With: Aix-En-Provence, aromatherapy, book reviews, Claire McAlpine, essential oils, lavender, Patricia Sands, The Promise of Provence, Womens Travel Network, Word By Word

About Patricia Sands

Family, writing and travel are my passions ... okay, and chocolate ... and I'm seldom without a camera. I write women's fiction and keep in touch with readers by a monthly newsletter that also has giveaways and contests. Come and join us by signing up on the right. See you there!

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Let me introduce you … says:
    August 1, 2014 at 2:01 am

    […] weeks ago I posted about finally getting to meet the fabulous writer/reviewer Claire McAlpine, while I was in Aix-en-Provence in June.  Her Word By Word blog is one I highly […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Join Me Here!

RSS
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Tweet
YouTube
Pinterest
Pinterest
fb-share-icon
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Share
Instagram

Follow Me on BookBub

Follow Me on BookBub

Follow me on Amazon

Follow me on Amazon

Available from Amazon!

Available from Amazon!

Available Now!

Available Now!

Available from Amazon

Available from Amazon

Join me and 9 of your favourite women’s fiction authors

Join me and 9 of your favourite women’s fiction authors

The Good Life France Magazine

The Good Life France Magazine

Categories

Archives

Footer

Copyright Disclaimer

© 2020 by Patricia Sands. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided a link back to this page and proper attribution is given to me as the original author. All photographs on this site are copyright of Patricia Sands

Follow Me!

RSS
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Tweet
YouTube
Pinterest
Pinterest
fb-share-icon
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Share
Instagram
  • Privacy Policy

FTC DISCLOSURE

The Federal Trade Commission requires that I disclose any relationship I have between a product manufacturer or service provider when I write about a product or service. I may receive a small commission for purchases made via affiliate links on this site such as Amazon. The above does not affect my opinion of those products and services. I am committed to sharing the work of other authors with my friends and readers.

Copyright © 2023 By Patricia Sands · Theme created and maintained by Bakerview Consulting