Patricia Sands

Author

Cote D'Azur

World Oceans Day … oops, I forgot to click publish!

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I was caught up in a wonderful graduation day yesterday (Friday) for the daughter of dear friends. She received combined MBA/Law degrees plus an award for top marks in both. It was indeed a day to celebrate! Beginning with a beautiful ceremony at Convocation Hall, in the magnificent grounds of the University of Toronto, we lunched while awards were presented, then rushed home to shower, change and drive back downtown to the terrace of The Fifth for dinner and party-time!

In fact I was having such a great time celebrating, I forgot to move this post out of draft by hitting “Publish”. So here we are … a day late. But, never mind, let’s celebrate World Oceans Day every day and do our part as best we can.

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

The Mediterranean is a sea. A beautiful, historical body of water that has a unique magical aura. In fact, connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltor, the Med (as it is affectionately known) is defined as a sea because it is mainly surrounded by land.

June 8th is World Oceans Day so please click this link take a minute to visit their website. I should have been talking about this weeks ago but, to be honest, in my state of *finish the MS total self-absorption*, I wasn’t aware of it.

In fact, it was my friend Tele Aadsen’s blog that gave me the reminder. As well as a writer, she fishes commercially in Alaska and no one in my world  is in a better  position to speak on this topic than Tele. She also has a video in this post that she shot as five whales accompanied them on one of their outings. If you haven’t already visited her blog, do it now. You’ll be very glad you did.

Tele also introduces us to Roz Savage whose memoir, Rowing The Atlantic, describes her 500 days at sea in a 23-foot rowboat. CAN YOU IMAGINE? I am always fascinated by individuals who take up such challenges and can’t wait to read about it.

Fellow writer/blogger Nancy J. Nicholson and her husband live on their sailboat and are cruising the Caribbean at the moment. Needless to say, they have a strong commitment to doing all they can to support the ongoing work of preserving our oceans. You can find her here.

In Toronto, we live on Lake Ontario and last weekend saw the annual lakeside clean-up by everyone who cares to give a day and help take care of the lake shore. An annual event, the turnout is always impressive – rain or shine!

Late afternoon view from our balcony in Toronto

Last summer we lived in Antibes on the shore of the Mediterranean for almost five months. Living with that awesome view of the Med and the hills and mountains beyond was a very special experience, we’ll never forget.

The view from our terrace in Antibes.

We never tired of the view or of spending as much time as we possibly could hiking the coastal trails, enjoying the catch of the day, or doing beach-time. Here are a few of my favourite Med shots.

Hiking the Cap D’Antibes
Secluded cove – hiking Cap D’Antibes
Overlooking St.-Jean-Cap-Ferrat from Eze Village
Sailing class in Antibes
The Med – driving through the hills of Corsica
Breathtaking Corsican landscape
Corsica – Marine Preserve – can it get any more blue than this?
Plage Beau Rivage – our favourite beach in Nice
A calanque near Marseille
Calanques – between Marseille and Cassis
Overlooking Cassis from La Route Des Cretes
Sanary-Sur-Mer
Sanary-Sur-Mer – fishing boats
Plage Des Graniers – St. Tropez
A gem – Plage Mala, Cap D’Ail

Okay, okay … I’ll stop. I had a great time sorting through my photos for those and could go on and on …

How far do you live from the sea or an ocean or any body of water? Let’s make a commitment to do all we can to conserve and protect our rivers, lakes and oceans today and every day.

A slightly different slant today …

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Lucky me! Author and well-known choc-o-holic, work-o-holic, mom-o-holic, Stephanie Keyes invited me to be part of her fabulous Spring Author Series and I’m over there talking about … yes, what else … France! Well, she asked me about vacations and travel so what was I to do?

Please pop over and visit with us there and while you are at it you might want to read the posts of the terrific group of writers that have participated. They are an interesting and most entertaining party bunch  collection!

Stephanie is going to fly to England to be a featured speaker at the amazing literary day, A SUMMER AUDIENCE, planned and being hosted by the LoveAHappyEnding.com crew in Tetbury on June 16th. If you are in the UK, try your best to attend. I’ll be there in spirit!

I know this may be starting to sound repetitive and boring but I am making headway to the final page of my WIP. I can see the outline of the words “T H E  E N D” in the glow of the light at the end of the tunnel … yoohooo … I’m coming …

I don’t remember the ending of The Bridge Club taking me this long but with good ol’ selective memory I’ve no doubt banished those thoughts, if that was the case.

For your viewing pleasure …

Rue Obscure, Villefranche-Sur-Met

The bar in La Colombe D’Or, St. Paul de Vence
Hmmm – wonder if our budget could handle this!

Bon Weekend tout le monde!

La Grande Nomade …

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Yes … I’m still hard at the WIP … so since I can’t get away from it, I thought I would bring you into the story with me for a moment. Oh come on! No eye rolls! It’s just for a moment …

By way of introduction – This sculpture was installed at the end of the ramparts in Antibes in 2007. It was taken into a private collection at one point and the outcry was so loud when it was gone that it was replaced. We overlooked it from our terrace last summer. Magic … day or night … just magic …

The setting for this scene in my story is at night. Of course in the WIP there are no photos … only the images created by my own letters …

Patricia Sands Photography

At the end of the ramparts, they stepped inside the white stainless steel sculpture that faced the sea and dominated the harbor of Port Vauban. Lit from the bottom in the unfolding darkness, there was a sense of a shimmering diaphanous embrace.

“I’ve been mesmerized by this from my terrace,” Katherine murmured. “It’s as if  he’s a guardian …  almost like a mirage from a distance.”

“This part of the ramparts is Bastion Saint-Jaume. Originally constructed in the 1700’s, it was blown up by the Germans when they retreated in 1944 and rebuilt according to the original plans,” Nick said, ever the historian.

Photo by http://www.casa-infos.fr/node/54

“It’s so unusual …  almost magical … ” Katherine studied the outline of a person squatting, arms around knees, constructed entirely of letters.

 “La Grande Nomade … but tourists refer to it as the Man of Letters … for obvious reasons,” Nick continued. “Oddly, the Spanish sculptor’s name is Jaume Plensa …”

 Katherine smiled at the coincidence.

Nick’s voice softened, reflecting the intimacy he craved. “His philosophy behind the work is that letters are like bricks. They help us to construct our thoughts. I read an interview where he expressed his feeling that our skin is permanently and invisibly tattooed with the text of our life experiences and then someone comes along … a friend, a lover … who is able to decipher these tattoos.”

 Biting her lip, Kat looked out over the calm sea. “The text of this year of my life would call for quite the tattoo.”

Photo by http://yaellecaplan.blogspot.ca/2011/08/la-grande-nomade.html
Patricia Sands Photography

Are you able to get a good enough sense of La Grande Nomade from these photos? What do you think of Plensa’s philosophy about letters?

It’s a long weekend in Canada and the weather is beautiful in Toronto – Victoria Day on Monday or, as it’s ‘fondly’ referred to up here “May two-four”. I’m taking tomorrow off from writing. Woohoo!  We’re going to Mosport with some of our children and grandchildren to watch our son, Sasha, compete in his auto racing division. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I wish you all a Bon Weekend!

How sweet is this?

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

May 1st is celebrated in many different ways around the world. France has a particularly sweet custom and my friend,  book reviewer and blogger Claire McAlpine, wrote a lovely post about that very topic. I’m happy to share it with you today.

Au mois de mai, fais ce qu’il te plait.

In the month of May do what your heart fancies.

Provencal proverb

So today I feel like sharing a little bit of French culture with you, the 1st of May is a public holiday in France for the Fête du Travail and the day you will find people offering Le Muguet (Lily of the Valley) to their friends, neighbours and acquaintances, a tradition that began during the Renaissance in 1561, when Charles IX offered them to his subjects as a symbol of porte-bonheur or good luck.

Now associated with the Fête du Travail on 1 May, anyone can sell the flower on the street without requiring a licence or permission. Today I walked into the centre-ville and came across many people who are spending their day, sharing the magic of Le Muguet with the public.

The first year I came to live in France, I learned of the tradition when my next door neighbour knocked on the door and presented me with this delightful flower, explaining its significance.

Six months into adapting to this life, language and culture, it was a welcome gesture and reminded me how important it is to reach out to others, even if they appear to be coping, we can all do with a little ‘porte-bonheur’ from time to time.

Claire was a special guest on my blog a few weeks ago. If you haven’t had time to visit her wonderful Word By Word  blog, I hope you find the time soon. You’ll be glad you did!

Isn’t that a lovely custom? Lily Of The Valley is one of my favourite flowers and something I eagerly anticipated discovering in bloom in my garden when I lived in the country. I would pick a sizeable bouquet and deeply inhale the intoxicating perfume. It was such a harbinger of spring!

This year I spent May 1st, like every other day right now (except for Tuesday when I golfed  – YES! I took a day off and it was heaven!)  at the computer madly attempting to get closer to the end of my WIP … I’m SO close I can almost touch it. How did you spend the day? Does your community celebrate in any special way?