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Patricia Sands

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Contests

12 Days of Christmas ~ the gifts keep coming

December 26, 2014 by Patricia Sands

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

To continue in the spirit of giving, I’m sharing this Twelve Days Of Christmas post from The Good Life France.  The giveaways began on December 25th. Bonne chance!

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Christmas is a time for sharing and we’ve got lots to share with you during the twelve days of Christmas…

Just click here The Good Life France home page every day to find out what we’re sharing and how to enter the contest as we’re giving away a total of 17 prizes. We’ll post them every day on Facebook for you to join in the fun.

On the first day of Christmas: We’re giving away a pair of French bird boxes! Beautifully rustic, these pretty little bird boxes made by Vivara will look lovely in any garden…

On the second day of Christmas: We’re giving away 5 pairs of tickets to The France Show in London. It’s on a first come, first served basis so be sure to visit their website tout de suite and pop in the code we’ll give you…

On the third day of Christmas: You could win a copy of Vanessa Couchman’s book The House at Zaronza, based on the true story of an 1890′s love affair between a village girl and the schoolmaster. Like their real-life counterparts, the fictional Maria and Raphael  in Vanessa’s novel communicate through  letters. Vanessa chose to set her story in the early 1900′s using WWI as a dramatic backdrop to the events in her characters’ lives (read our full review and interview).

On the fourth day of Christmas: We’re giving away a copy of Mad about Macarons, the fabulous and colourful book by Jill Colonna in Paris that teaches you how to make the little sweet delicate cakes like a professional – but at home… (Read our review and interview with Jill)…

On the fifth day of Christmas: We’re giving away a copy of Death Never Sleeps and Death Logs In by E J Simon. Fast paced thrillers set in global locations including St Tropez and Paris where we caught up with the author recently (read our interview and review here)…

On the sixth day of Christmas: You could win a signed copy of Samantha Brick’s book Head Over Heels, her story of coping with disaster in her personal life and finding love in rural France (read our review and interview with Sam)….

On the seventh day of Christmas: We’re giving away a copy of The Whole Fromage by Kath Lisson. A brilliant book about cheese and its French history. Full of fun anecdotes and witty observations… (read our review andinterview with Kath)…

On the eighth day of Christmas: We’re giving away a copy of Patricia Sands’ book  The Promise of Provence…. A story of love lost, a new life and a chance of happiness, taking in beautiful Provence, Paris and more ~ a lovely and uplifting novel (read our review and interview with Patricia)…

On the ninth day of Christmas: You could win a copy of Lucy Wadham’s The Secret Life of France. Funny, witty and telling you about real life in real France by a brilliant writer with an insider’s view (read our review and interview with Lucy)…

On the tenth day of Christmas: We’re giving away a signed copy of The Sea Garden by Deborah Lawrenson, a haunting story set on an island in the south of France, it is beautifully written and will have you dreaming of the sights and scents of Provence… (read our review and interview with Deborah)…

On the 11th day of Christmas:  We’re giving away a copy of Fete to Remember by Julia Stagg.  Julia’s Fogas Chronicles stories from the Ariège-Pyrenees in the south of France are hugely popular and with good reason. This is the third in the series but is easy to read as a stand-alone book. A tale of love and life in rural France – and quite delicious (read our review and interview with Julia here)…

On the 12th day of Christmas: You can win a copy of Daughter of Catalonia by Jane Mackenzie. The story of Madeleine, a young woman of Catalan heritage forced as a child to leave occupied France with her mother and brother while her Spanish-born father stayed on to (fatally) fight in the Resistance. She returns in 1958 for a voyage of self-discovery. A story of passion and beautifully descriptive… (read our review and interview with Jane)…

Pass around this virtual plate of shortbread cookies (baked with assistance from The Adorables) while you plan your strategy for these yummy giveaways! These cookies were baked from the recipe I shared with you in my last newsletter. Did you try it?

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Filed Under: Blog, Contests, France, If it is France..., News, Writing Tagged With: books, giveaways, Janine Marsh, shortbread cookies, The Good Life France, The Promise of Provence, Twelve Days of Christmas

Gifts for everyone!

December 19, 2014 by Patricia Sands

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Félicitations! Kimberly V, you are the winner 41J9slR82iL._AA160_of a copy of Margo Lestz’s new release French Holidays and Traditions (Curious Histories Book 1).

There’s so much information in the book about how the French celebrate all year round, I know you will love it! Margo will be in touch with you to confirm the details.

Visitors won’t spend much time here on my page today. Instead, I’m giving you some super links that will keep you entertained for as long as you like.

First, I’m proposing you slip on over to my very favourite THE GOOD LIFE FRANCE where you can begin your reading pleasure with CHRISTMAS IN PARIS FROM YOUR ARMCHAIR! A nice pot of tea, a double expresso, or a glass of your favourite wine might be just the thing to go with this. Turn up some festive tunes, make yourself comfortable, put your feet up and let yourself be transported. Of course, as we know with TGLF, there’s no end to the enticing articles and photographs. I like to think of it as the gift that keeps on giving!

To set the mood, here are a couple of photos a friend sent me from Paris at Christmas two years ago.

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Next, you won’t want to miss this clever French Food Alphabet Advent Calendar series 15.IMG_9116Jacqueline Brown has going on The French Village Diaries.

For each day of Advent she is posting about different aspects of French regional specialities or her own favourites, including some great recipes.

Jacqui includes all sorts of interesting details and … you may be hearing it first right here, right now … I predict a book will come out of these posts! I sure hope so!

Last but not least,  a terrific new website about all things provençal can be found by clicking over to Perfectly Provence. They have some wonderful articles about Christmas in Provence. Don’t miss the excerpt from Taking Root in Provence, a wonderful book I often speak about here, written by Ann-Marie Simons.

Now this has nothing to do with the holidays but, also on Perfectly Provence … ta daaaa … they’ve posted an article about some of my experiences in France and how my love affair with Provence began! I hope you don’t mind me sharing it with you. There are all sorts of other good articles and I’ve already made Ginger & Nutmeg’s website a favourite of mine!

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Are you getting caught up in the spirit of the season? My warmest wishes to those who are celebrating Hanukkah this week.

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Filed Under: Author Promotion, Blog, Contests, France, General Travel, If it is France..., Writing Tagged With: Christmas, French Holidays and Traditions, French Village Diaries, Ginger & Nutmeg, Hanukkah, Jacqueline Brown, Margo Lestz, Paris, Patricia Sands, Perfectly Provence, The Good Life France, The Promise of Provence

Who’s the winner?

November 7, 2014 by Patricia Sands

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

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Félicitations, Bernadette Ryan!  Yay! You are the winner of Wolfsangel by Liza Perrat from the giveaway we talked about here two weeks ago.

Bernadette, I know you are going to feel this story is as gripping as I found it! Please email me your contact information and Liza Perrat will get in touch with you. Thanks to everyone else who joined in the fun and, with ebooks so reasonably priced, you might want to pop online and pick up your own copy.

And … yes, Bernadette … you were absolutely correct when you identified the photo in question as Place de la Mairie in beautiful Roussillon! You know your Provence!

I love that village and so did the women on our Womens Travel Network tours last summer. We will be spending a day there again on our 2015 tour. Who’s coming with us? I’ve written a short post about the tours in the latest edition of my favourite website The Good Life France. Click right here to see it.

If you entered the other giveaway of Wolfsangel that was in my newsletter, you’ve still got a chance!  I hope to send the letter off by the end of next week and want to thank Liza for donating two copies of her novel. It’s such a pleasure to give away books!

LA TOUSSAINT – On November 1, this bank holiday was observed throughout France.

All Saints Day, Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead ~ A special day to remember the deceased, this holiday is recognized in many countries around the world. The roots of the celebration of Hallowe’en began with this holiday, but that’s another story.

Today we’re talking about chrysanthemums ~ les chrysanthèmes in France.canstockphoto11193499 The appearance of these bright blooms in Canada is one of the signals that autumn is on the way. We love to plant them in our gardens and fill our patio planters with them as the summer annuals begin to fade away. Often we bring them as hostess gifts at this time of year. Please don’t do this in France because these blooms are known as the flower of the dead. Their symbolism is very special.

 

Markets are full of these colourful plants and roadside stands trade the melons of summer for pots of les chrysanthèmes, which families leave in cemeteries to honour the deceased. I’m not certain how the tradition began but these fall-blooming flowers were first left on the graves of World War One soldiers and the tradition  has continued. Cemeteries throughout the country flow with colour for weeks after this special day.

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The traditional flower of la Toussaint. Do you plant ‘mums’ in your garden or put pots of them on your patios in autumn? I do! 

Let’s all say bienvenue and welcome back to my friend Margo Lestz, who lives in Nice. She’s been traveling for a few months and is back posting on her blog, The Curious Rambler. Her site has been given a brand new makeover and looks fantastique! Her posts are always informative and entertaining … pop over and visit!

 

Bon weekend tout le monde!

 

Filed Under: Blog, Contests, France, General Travel, If it is France... Tagged With: All Saints Day, chrysanthemums, France, la Toussaint, Margo Lestz, Patricia Sands

SUMMER SPLASH BLOG HOP~WINNERS TBA SHORTLY

June 12, 2014 by Patricia Sands

blog-hop

HI EVERYONE! THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE FABULOUS RESPONSE TO THIS LATEST BLOG HOP! YOU KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE BEACH … ER, PARK!

NOW THAT THE HOP IS OVER, I’LL PRINT THE NAME OF THE MAIN PRIZE WINNER AS SOON AS I HEAR IT FROM THE ORGANIZER and WILL ANNOUNCE MY PRIZE WINNER LATER TODAY TOO.

MERCI MILLE FOIS  FOR MAKING THIS SO MUCH FUN ~ I’VE JUST GOT TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET ALL THE  SAND OUT OF HERE!

Plage de La Gravette~PSandsPhotos
Plage de La Gravette~PSandsPhotos

 

I’M IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE FOR FIVE WEEKS NOW, DOING RESEARCH, PATIENTLY WAITING FOR EDITS TO COME BACK ON MY NEXT BOOK, AND LEADING  TWO WOMEN’S TOUR GROUPS ON A 10-DAY TRIP BASED ON THE PROMISE OF PROVENCE (4 DAYS IN NICE AND 6 IN THE COUNTRYSIDE OF PROVENCE) ~ There’s a link in the right column if you would like to know more or want to join us in 2015!

THE SEQUEL TO THE PROMISE OF PROVENCE WILL BE OUT THIS SUMMER! STAY TUNED!

THE PROMISE OF PROVENCE ~ click here for over 100 reviews

FINALIST ~ WOMEN’S LIT/2013 USA BEST BOOKS AWARDS

FINALIST ~ LITERARY FICTION/2014 NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS

NICE,FRANCE~PSANDSPHOTOS
NICE,FRANCE~PSANDSPHOTOS

 

Filed Under: Blog, Contests Tagged With: bloghop, books, Kindle Paperwhite, prizes, Summer Splash Blog Hop

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