I’m dashing out the door to meet with my editor but want to say an enormous
THANK YOU
to all the readers and supporters who responded to The Bridge Club as Book Of The Day yesterday on eReaderNews.
The Bridge Club shot up to #4 on Amazon’s Movers and Shakers/Digital Text! Woohoo! Thanks a million, everyone!
If it’s Friday, it must be France …
Mon Dieu, what a day I’ve had! There’s malware in my Hotmail apparently sending messages to everyone in my address book that I’m in distress in Greece and need money! It took a few hours of phone calls to Microsoft for them to figure out why I couldn’t access my Hotmail account. Now I will have to wait another 24 to 48 hours before I can get back in. If you happen to receive one of those messages rest assured I’m not in Greece! You know me, I’d rather be in France!
We were up north visiting friends at their beautiful cottage for three days this week and without internet service. I’m now paying the price with overflowing blog and social media matters to take care of.
So I’m taking the easy way out this week and reposting this piece from last year about one of my favourite places in Antibes and the delightful young couple who make it happen. If you are anywhere in the neighbourhood, drop in to see Vincent and Julie!
HERE IT IS:
I love success stories, don’t you? The reason I’m a little late posting this is because I took a few hours this evening to watch the movie The Help with my DH. As well as being an important and well-told story, author Kathryn Stockett’s backstory about writing The Help is one everyone should hear. It’s a true success story.
She received 60 rejections over a five-year period before one brave agent with an eye for a good story saw the truth in it. Click here to read it from my archives, in case you missed it. She’s hilarious and her personal journey is inspiring to all of us who believe in our writing.
Okay, I’m getting off topic … as I do … this post is about France and it’s about success. It’s about a young couple I met in Antibes whose story also inspired me.
Meet Julie and Victor, the owners of Choopy’s, who are natives of nearby Nice and about as sincere and delightful a young couple as you could ever hope to meet. This warm and welcoming shop is in the old town of Antibes, through a short archway off Rue de La République.
I have to admit I’m not a true coffee drinker, unlike my DH who is an espresso afficionado.
I am … full confession here … a faux-coffee drinker. I need chocolate in it . Give me a Café Mocha or a Moccacino and I’m in heaven. I appreciate how seriously the French take their café and I know it’s kind of bad manners to even think of having anything but a café (i.e. espresso) or a café crème so I had been pretending for several weeks that I was cool with that (plus a LOT of sugar). But I wasn’t.
So … Choopy’s was new and had a cosmopolitan ambiance AND they had free wifi – bonus! I wandered in one day to see if possibly they might have one of these North American 
aberrations on their menu. They didn’t. “Pas de problème!” said Victor with his wonderful smile. “Explain what it is and I’ll make you one.” I did and he did. Magnifique!
Julie, a beautiful and engaging young woman, is a graduate of a prestigious 5-year culinary program. Vincent has a degree in business and finance. Soon after graduation they began working. It took no time for Julie to realize she wanted to be in contact with people and Vincent knew he preferred baking cakes to crunching numbers. Their quest began to figure out just what it was they could do to make this happen.
Like so many other young people, they packed up and had an adventure working and traveling in Australia and Bali. All the while they were on the lookout for something that might be a sign as to what sort of business they should open. It didn’t take long for the sign to appear and surprisingly it was in the shape of … CUPCAKES! 
It seemed as if every coffee shop in Australia also served cupcakes. Mon Dieu! Qu’est-ce que c’est? Who had heard of cupcakes in France? Not many. You can find more types of pastries in France than practically anywhere else in the world … but not cupcakes!
Visiting cupcake bakeries in Australia before they left, they were convinced that this was their future. A bit of research back home indicated only one bakery in Paris was making cupcakes. Amazing. I mean, seriously, who doesn’t enjoy a good cupcake … or two? 
Julie has become a cupcake goddess
and every kind I sampled through the summer was über-delicieux!
Along with the ever-changing selection of cupcakes there are several other equally delicious choices to accompany your coffee. 
Victor’s banana bread with it’s mouth-watering crunchy topping has already established it’s own reputation.
Lunches and Sunday brunches are also served with all ingredients fresh from the daily market. Get there early as the space fills up quickly. The word has spread and this bright, hard-working and absolutely delightful young couple are seeing their business become a most successful venture.
It was always a pleasure to stop in and see how busy they were. Their energy and commitment to their business is evident in everything they do. Customer service is their focus
and after just a few months it was obvious they were becoming a very important part of the charming old town in Antibes. Never too busy for a smile and a friendly exchange, make sure you stop by the next time you are in the neighbourhood!
The strawberry cupcakes are to die for … but then, so are the chocolate … and … um, well, the Cupcakes De Noël are out now too. Just try them all!
And ask them how they decided upon the name of their shop … very cute …
Here’s their Facebook link. Stop in and “like” them – they deserve it. Merci beaucoup!
What are some success stories that have inspired you? Have you ever done your homework, taken a big breath and begun something completely new and different in your life? Would you do it again?
Apart from my love of writing and hearing from readers, I thrive on the connections that are constantly occurring in this literary world. Through social media, conferences, writing groups, there are always new and interesting people to get to know … and, of course, everyone has a story.
The fabulous Christine Hart is visiting with me here today. She’s a Date Coach! Whoops, no pushing now! Please line up in an orderly fashion if you have a question or two you would like to run by her about a relationship in your life.
– a book dedicated to helping women connect with the power of their femininity. Find out more about this book and others by Christine by clicking here.PS – Your choice of career is unique and intriguing. How did it come about?
CH – It really was a natural evolution. It began with getting a degree in Communication Studies and then shortly after, I owned a casting facility for film and television. What I loved most about my job was talking with the actors about their love lives. Then I heard about this concept of speed-dating and it hadn’t really come to Canada yet. I decided to start a business in Calgary and it was very successful. I was always giving dating advice based on the books I was reading and the conversations I was having with my guests. I did a lot of work (and still do) as a Dating Expert on television and then heard there was a career description of a “Dating Coach”. Realizing I was actually doing that but not charging, I formed YourDateCoach in 2007 and have worked full time in that capacity ever since.
PS – You’ve branched out in several directions with a television show and a published book as well as working individually and in workshops with clients. Whew! You are a busy lady. Would you mind elaborating on those different aspects of your work?
CH – Yes, the one-to-one coaching is the largest part of my business and from that several wonderful opportunities have come my way. I am often hired to speak to groups of women or co-ed groups. My extensive training with PAX Programs gives me a unique set of skills where I can advise anyone at any point in their dating life whether they’ve been in a relationship for 10 years or just getting themselves out there. My book came from a workshop I taught on helping women connect with their femininity. I felt that many women saw femininity as being a weakness and didn’t know how to connect with that side of themselves. Since their work required them to be masculine, they wanted to learn to be more feminine in their interactions with men.
PS – What brings you the greatest satisfaction in your career?
CH – I love it when I get a call or email from a client saying, “I just don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t found you”. I have helped hundreds of women and men get better results in their interactions with the opposite sex. I love clearing up misconceptions and helping people relate on a whole new level they didn’t know existed prior to working with me.
PS – When you take time off from this business, what do you like to do? Travel, sports, theatre?
CH – I’m an experiential traveler and love visiting new places all over the world. I love riding my bike and going to hot yoga classes. As a hobby, I sing jazz. I have an EP that I am beginning to market. www.christinehartmusic.com and I’ve sung all over North America and in Central Mexico.
PS – Moving forward with your career, do you see any major changes in the future to what you are doing?
CH – My business is transitioning to being mainly online and via phone. I am building programs and products to further help my clients. I believe that you are best able to help your clients when you yourself, are living an authentic lifestyle that keeps you very happy. Having more of an online business allows me to travel more.
PS – Is there one particular generic piece of advice that you might offer to everyone as a basic guideline in handling relationships?
CH – Men are not versions of women. They are the opposite of women in many ways. What I mean by that is sometimes we look at men and think “Gosh, I would never do that or think that way, what the heck is his problem?!” Both men and women can create an opportunity to gain a lot more peace in their lives through understanding the WHY behind each other’s behaviors. It can be both fascinating (really!) and healing at the same time.
Christine, thanks so much for stopping by! It’s always great fun to chat with you. When I start to work on the revisions for my upcoming new novel (the editor has promised he will have it to me soon), I may have to send a couple of the characters to you for counselling!
For all of you dear readers who want to know more about Christine, here’s a link to her newsletter that’s always bursting with great information and helpful tips!
If it’s Friday, it must be France …
Well it’s actually a little bit of France, Spain and Italy today.
Do you like to take photos? I’ve been snapping away since I excitedly unwrapped … alright, I know that was a very, very long time ago but I’m positive I was extremely excited to get it … a Kodak Brownie Camera on my 6th birthday. Much to the dismay of my long-suffering family, I’ve just never stopped! If you want to know what my kids were doing on any given day when they were youngsters, I’m positive I’ve got a photo … okay … lots of them.
I loved working as a portrait photographer for several years but, apart from torturing snapping my family, travel photography is my passion. The possibilities are endless, aren’t they? I’m always fascinated when I meet people who just don’t bother to take pictures and several friends of mine are in that category. It’s just not their ‘thang’. How about you?
Years ago, photography could get complicated with the constant changing of lenses and understanding settings, etc. Today, I often see fabulous photos that have simply been taken with an iPhone! And the beat goes on …
I’m supposed to tag five people to join the contest, but I’ll leave that up to you. The instructions are simple: just enter five photos that represent the colours I show below. If you’re interested, it’s a great contest that has been underway for a while and entries have to be in by August 29th. You still have time! Here’s the website to check out the Capture The Colour Photoblogging Travel Competition .
For the fun of it, here are the entries I chose.
RED
WHITE
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
