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Patricia Sands

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Ailsa's Where's My Backpack

Travel theme: Game ~ Photo challenge

January 30, 2017 by Patricia Sands 6 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve joined in one of these photo challenges.

Boules or pétanque is a game played in the smallest villages right through to the grandest cities in France. It’s a storied part of the culture and a standard of daily routines. Click on the links above for more details … and there are plenty!

Observing, pondering, commenting … it’s all part of the game!

Mastering the technique!

A game in the Place du Jeu de Boules, the famous pétanque pitch in Saint-Paul de Vence and apéros at the Café de la Place (below) are timeless traditions. The under-stated sculpture honours the game and those who play. You can organize a lesson there if you visit.

Have you played or watched a game? Do you call it bocce, boules, or pétanque?  Here’s some Provençal history about the game.

It’s always so much fun to see the variety of participating entries in the photo challenge, click on this link and enjoy! I find it’s a great way to take a relaxing break from … whatever, and I hope you do too.

Are you on Instagram? I am and would love to connect with you. You can find me there @patricialsands  and I look forward to following you. 

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Filed Under: Blog, France, Photo blogs, Uncategorized Tagged With: Ailsa's Where's My Backpack, game, Patricia Sands, photo challenge, photography, travel challenge, where's my backpack

Travel Theme: Distance

August 30, 2013 by Patricia Sands 21 Comments

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

As you know, photography and France are two of my favourite blogging topics and occasionally I have the opportunity to combine them. Like today!

“Distance” is the theme on Ailsa’s Where’s My Backpack  and this photo is one I took on an early May morning when my husband and I were on our way to the Nice airport to pick up visitors. The air was cool and crisp, offering us perfect visibility past the iconic Marina Baie Des Anges condos, over the city of Nice, across the lower hills of l’arriére pays and up to the summits of the Alpes-Maritimes that run into Italy.

Biot/Route de mer-PSandsPhotos
Biot/Route de mer-PSandsPhotos

Next is a morning sunrise shot with the overnight ferry from Corsica in the distance covering the last few kilometres to Nice .  I would pause to to take in this scene most mornings as I worked on my first draft of The Promise of Provence. Before I began writing I seldom saw a sunrise!

Antibes sunrise-PSandsPhotos
Antibes sunrise-PSandsPhotos

And then this classic shot taken from the castle ruins at the top of the Jardin Exotique in the perched village of Eze, which shows the beauty of the distance one sees along the Côte d’Azur. This same shot can probably be found in millions of photo albums around the world, taken by every tourist who has visited there. I smiled when I saw it on my friend, Susie Lindau’s blog after her recent trip overseas. (If you haven’t stopped by to wish Susie well with her recent surgery, now is the time!)  I know I’ve shown this photo to you before so thanks for indulging me one more time!

From Eze-PSandsPhotos
From Eze-PSandsPhotos

Part of the fun of these photo challenges, is visiting other blogs to see what has been posted. Here are couple of my favourites this week:

http://esengasvoice.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/travel-theme-distance/comment-page-1/#comment-9151

http://travel-monkey.me/2013/08/30/ailsas-travel-theme-distance/

http://vosperdruiter.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/distance-ailsas-weekly-travel-theme/comment-page-1/#comment-3795

You never know from where in the world the photos will be. It’s always a trip and so much fun!

And that, dear friends, is my segue to letting you know … speaking of trips … that The Promise of Provence is featured on the Travel Novels website this week. Click right here to stop by and have a look, leave a word, or share. Merci beaucoup!

If you have some favourite photos that would fit in with the “distance” theme, why not post them and join the challenge. The more the merrier!

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Filed Under: Blog, France, If it is France..., Photo blogs Tagged With: Ailsa's Where's My Backpack, Antibes, distance, Eze, France, Nice, Patricia Sands, Susie LIndau, The Promise of Provence, travel theme

Travel Theme: Sweet

July 30, 2013 by Patricia Sands 20 Comments

July has been busy! As a true Leo, I’ve loved every minute of all the action, sharing the good news, releases, reviews of other authors and friends as well as my own France Book Tour.

My special writing group, Her Books, pulled our resources together and published a FREE Book Club Picks sampler that features excerpts from some of our newest novels. If your book club is looking for suggestions, you can sample some of the work here first.

Then there was the fabulous RWA National Conference in Atlanta (see the effervescent Tameri Etherton’s equally fabulous post about it – she has photos!), followed by my own birthday celebrations last week ~ time with my family was the best gift of all!

Now it’s time to slow down, catch my breath and get comfy in my cosy writing den as my next book begins to take shape.

One thing that always grounds me is the good karma that wraps around me as I relive memories flipping through my photo albums. Today I’m responding to Ailsa’s Where’s My Backpack Travel Theme “Sweet”.

The sweet window of my favourite patisserie in Antibes ~

Antibes-PSandsPhotos
Antibes-PSandsPhotos

A sweet local young cat adopted us for a week in a hilltop village in Italy ~

Gingolo/Sermonetta-PSandsPhotos
Gingolo/Sermonetta-PSandsPhotos

The sweetest thing of all … grandchildren …

The Adorables-PSandsPhotos
The Adorables-PSandsPhotos

To see more photos about “sweet”, pop on over to Ailsa’s blog. Just click here.

Here are a couple of my favourite sites with this theme: Ese’s Voice , Picture Perfect Memories For Life,

ShootnGo,  The Urge to Wander,  My Sardinian Life

What are some of the sweetest things in your life?

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Filed Under: Blog, News Tagged With: Ailsa's Where's My Backpack, France, grandchildren, Italy, Patricia Sands, photo challenge, postaday, sweet, travel theme

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