Patricia Sands

Author

Antibes

For your reading pleasure …

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

If you are dreaming of spending time here …

Vieux Port,Nice-PSandPhotos
Vieux Port,Nice-PSandPhotos

Or  here …

Gourdon-PSandsPhotos
Gourdon-PSandsPhotos

Or here …

Monte Carlo-PSandsPhotos
Monte Carlo-PSandsPhotos

Or here …

VillefrancheSurMer-PSandsPhotos
VillefrancheSurMer-PSandsPhotos

There’s nothing like a good read to whet your appetite even more:

SUGGESTED READING LIST FOR SOUTH OF FRANCE TRIP ~ Here are some of my favourites 

The Man Who Planted Trees         Jean Giono

A Year In Provence                           Peter Mayle (and any other of his long list

of books set in Provence)

The French Riviera: A Literary Guide for Travellers                           Ted Jones

Grasse-PSandsPhotos
Grasse-PSandsPhotos

La Séduction: How The French Play

The Game of Life                                 Elaine Sciolino

My Life in France                                 Julia Child, Alex Prud’Homme

Jean De Florette                                    Marcel Pagnol

Manon Of The Springs                        Marcel Pagnol

Tender Is The Night                                 F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Ladies Paradise                              Emile Zola

Loser Takes All (short story)               Graham Greene

Antibes-PSandsPhotos
Antibes-PSandsPhotos

Chocolat                                                             Joanne Harris

Seduction: A Novel of Suspense        M.J. Rose

Taking Root in Provence

Anne-Marie Simons

Words In a French Life                                  Kristin Espinasse

The Olive Farm      Carol Drinkwater

Click this Amazon link for a list of Provence Cote d’Azur tour books

Classics                                                                                             

Madame Bovary                    Gustave Flaubert

Antibes-PSandsPhotos
Antibes-PSandsPhotos

A Tale of Two Cities               Charles Dickens

Candide                                      Voltaire

Any books written by Victor Hugo

I’ve got more but let’s start with these.

What books about France have you read that we need to know about? Tell me any other titles you would like to see on this list and I will add them faster than you can say “baguette”! Thanks! Merci!

Tour update: Our first women’s tour to the south of France with the Womens Travel Network sold out in a flash so a second has been added from  June 25 to July 5, 2014. Call your BFF and make a plan!  Click here for all the deets! 

France-PSandsPhotos
France-PSandsPhotos

A visit to The French Village Diaries

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Courtesy of The French Village Diaries
Courtesy of The French Village Diaries

Yesterday I hung out with Jacqui at her French Village Diaries website where she posts great bits about cycling in her beautiful area of Poitou-Charentes, delicious recipes and other interesting vignettes about life in France. She also reviews books that have a French theme.

Did you see what she had to say about my new novel? Click here if you missed it. Her giveaway is still on so it’s not too late join in!

If you haven’t visited her blog yet, I highly recommend you do.

Here’s the chat we had!

Friday, July 5, 2013

France et Moi with author Patricia Sands

Courtesy of The French Village Diaries
Courtesy of The French Village Diaries
Welcome to ‘France et Moi’ where this week, continuing on from my Book Worm Wednesday review of The Promise of Provence I am talking to author Patricia Sands about what France means to her, as part of her virtual book tour. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway to win a Kindle ebook copy of this book. Just email FrenchVillageDiaries@gmail.com with The Promise of Provence as the email subject by Wednesday 10th July when my Dad will pick the winner from the hat during our final aperos of their holiday.
FVD: Firstly, I think France is a special place and it is famed for many things including its cheese, wine and diverse holiday locations plus, dare I say it, strikes and dog poo littered streets. What do you think makes France so very unique and ‘French’?
Patricia: Where to begin? There are so many special aspects to this beautiful country and culture! What constantly takes my breath away is how centuries of history surround me wherever I go. Obviously we see it in the architecture of towns and villages but also in the traditions, religious and otherwise, that continue to be celebrated, in songs that are sung, stories that are told, in the markets and even in the games of boules/petanques that continue to be a focus in the town squares. I love that!
2) What is your fondest memory of time spent in France?
Patricia: Ha! Every visit is memorable but in 2011 my husband and I lived in Antibes for five months, just on the edge of the old town. We seldom needed a car as we could walk everywhere or hop on the coastal train just up the street. My heart is still there!
3) Your second novel The Promise of Provence is set in Provence so would this be your favourite holiday location in France?
Patricia: I do love the pastoral countryside of Provence but truly my first choice is the Côte d’Azur, Antibes in particular. The Mediterranean adds another dimension to life there. Having a beautiful beach just a few minutes’ walk away or taking a boat cruise along the coast are lovely options to have on a hot summer day.
4) When did your love for France start?
Patricia: After university, I spent a year backpacking around Europe with friends and working from time to time. I was 21 years old and fell madly in love with France. I lived in Quebec for a few years as a child so already had a slight grasp of the language, which helped. I was simply captivated by the beauty everywhere we went and amazed that one country could offer so much variety from one departement to the next. I have been fortunate to return many times throughout my life. Forty-five years later that love has only grown!
5) How does France inspire your writing?
Patricia: I know I see France through the eyes of a romantic, as my French friends constantly tell me, but I see beauty everywhere including the crumbling ruins, peeling paint and uneven cobblestones. I’m also a photographer and the photo ops are endless. I love all the old doors and ancient keyholes! It all galvanizes me to sit down and write. When I was writing in Antibes for five months, as I sat at my computer I looked out over the harbor, across the Baie des Anges to Nice and the Alps beyond. That view with the spectacular changing light was more inspiring than I can describe.
6) Imagine you are sitting outside a French café at 10.00am on a sunny morning watching the world go by, what do you order from the waiter?
Patricia: Un cappuccino, de l’eau, un croissant, s’il vous plait.
7) What is your favourite thing to buy in a Boulangerie/Patisserie?
Patricia: a.m. – Pain aux raisins   p.m. – Tarte aux citron meringuée.
8) France has many different cheeses, a silly question, but which French cheese are you? A hard and mature Tome, a soft, fresh and lively goat cheese, the creamy and rich Camembert or maybe the salty and serious Roquefort?
Patricia: I guess at this point in life I would have to be an ‘entre deux’ Cantal that has aged a little longer! Its strength and taste increase with age and I like to think that way about life.
9) Can you describe your perfect French apero for us the drink, the nibbles, the location and the company?
Patricia: Bien sur! Pastis (Ricard) served with lightly salted peanuts on a terrace in a shaded square of a town or village, with my husband and other friends, chatting and laughing as we watch the late afternoon activity or local boules contests.
10) Do you have any plans to visit France again soon?
Patricia: I am counting the days to September 12 when we will spend a month in Nice. I am going to have a book launch party at the English Book Shop in Antibes and am excited beyond words about that! Come and join us! (FVD: now wouldn’t that be lovely, having read your book, I need to visit Antibes!) In 2014 we hope to spend an extended time in France once again and will work it around the 10-day women’s tour I will be leading in June.
11) Do you have any current projects you would like to tell my readers about?
Patricia: I have had many readers ask when my next novel will be out so I am motivated to make progress on that. The story is simmering now and will be partly set in the south of France once again. There is just so much to write about!
Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about France and you.
Patricia: It was great fun! Thanks for asking!
Promise of Provence Banner
You can find Patricia on her blog, website, Facebook,Facebook page, Twitter and Goodreads.
It is such a buzz talking about places we love to visit. Where is your favourite spot and what makes it that? You know I love to hear your stories … I’m waiting …

 

Travel theme: Beaches

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I love the photo challenges … getting lost in memories …

The travel theme this week at Ailsa’s Where’s My Backpack is beaches and she has some enticing shots on her page. There was no question in my mind as to which beach I was going to invite you. Our favourite, bar none: Plage de La Gravette in … need I say … Antibes, France.

Plage de La Gravette-PSandsPhotos
Plage de La Gravette-PSandsPhotos

Even on a crowded day in August like this, it was a treat to be there, floating in the Mediterranean. Those boats in the background are privately owned by one person. One very wealthy person. Seriously.

Plage de La Gravette-PSandsPhotos
Plage de La Gravette-PSandsPhotos

We liked laying claim to our little patch of beach and staking our umbrella.

It’s not lined with swaying palm trees. There aren’t endless miles of golden sands.  In fact, although sand has been brought in to cover the pebble shore, as soon as you get to the water the flat rocks (galets) begin again which prevent any sort of graceful entrance or exit – at least on my part.

We kept meaning to buy beach shoes but never got around to it so I simply stumbled in and out each time.

les galets -PSandsPhotos
les galets -PSandsPhotos

The sand beaches begin immediately on the west side of Antibes and continue through Juan Les Pins and Cannes and all along the coast into the Var region … I still have to look up why that is …

This beach ‘restaurant’ is not exactly a gourmand’s delight … never mind, the baguette sandwiches are delicieux.

LeSnack-PSandsPhotos
LeSnack-PSandsPhotos

This little gem is tucked into an incredibly picturesque protected cove overlooked by the 500-year-old castle that houses the Picasso Museum and the remains of the original centuries-old ramparts. The atmosphere is fantastique. Only a ten-minute walk from where we were living, it was a siren call to us on the sultry summer days …

Plage de La Gravette-PSandsPhotos
Plage de La Gravette-PSandsPhotos

Oo-la-laaaa …

Where is your favourite beach? Do you like to swim or simply find a cool spot and soak in the atmosphere? Sunscreen and umbrellas are part of the drill these days but a day at the beach is still one of my favourite summer pastimes … especially when it’s in the south of France.

Romance and Cupcakes

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Last Friday I had the immense pleasure of keeping company withDSCN0821-300x232 the talented and oh-so-sociable writers who host the Romance and Beyond blog.  Sherry Isaac, Sharon Clare and Carole St.-Laurent are women with a zest for life and a talent for writing stories that go straight to our hearts.

They invited me to write about how I became so obsessed … er … how I first discovered the romance of France. Magnifique! As you can imagine, they only had to ask once!

Here’s a little taste – un petit goût!

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Antibes-Be still my heart!
Antibes-Be still my heart!

First of all, full disclosure: I love France. I love everything about France. I need to state that right up front. To me, everything about that country oozes romance. When I am in France my senses are embraced and caressed by the romance in the scenery, the architecture, the food, the wine, the sea, the language. I’m a fool for love there and I can’t help myself. If you didn’t know this about me before, you do now.

It all goes way, way back.

For the rest of my guest post, please click here to be transported into an enticing world of romance.

To make your visit there even more pleasurable, I’m serving up some scrumptious virtual strawberry cupcakes. Be careful though, they are addictive!

Choopy's famous, very own, strawberry cupcake
Choopy’s famous, very own, strawberry cupcake

from Choopy’s, my favourite coffee shop in Antibes. Bon appetit!

Choopy's Cupcake and Coffee Shop, Antibes
Choopy’s Cupcake and Coffee Shop, Antibes

Is there a special place in the world that defines romance for you? Is it far afield or in your own back yard?

Thank you to all the readers who clicked here and sent me their e-mail address to be entered in the giveaway of  my new novel, The Promise of Provence.Release date-early April 2013 I can’t tell you how satisfying it was to see how many of you are already looking forward to reading it! The draw will be held on March 31 so there is still time for everyone to enter. We are chugging along to a publication date in the first week of April.