Patricia Sands

Author

France

Le quatorze juillet – party time!

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It it’s Friday, it must be France …

Bonne Fête de La Bastille! Bonne Fête Nationale! Happy Bastille Day! 

Every July 14 the storming of the Bastille in Paris in 1789 is celebrated throughout France and around the world by French ex-pats. A fabulous party is guaranteed!

This national holiday commemorates what is recognized as the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a prison and a symbol of the absolute and arbitrary power of Louis the 16th’s Ancient Regime. With this uprising, the people signaled that the king’s power was no longer absolute as they fought for freedom from oppression and the establishment of liberty, equality and fraternity.

The holiday celebrates the birth of the French Republic. In most communities, all kinds of festive events are planned for the day – including parades, dances, feasts – and  a bang-up finish to the evening with the kind of fantastic fireworks the French love!

Bastille Day Fireworks over the Mediterranean
Last summer we were living in Antibes and loved being right in the midst of all the festivities. This year trying not to whine we will be celebrating in Toronto … hmmm, not quite the same!
We’re living a little vicariously this July 14 as our youngest son (26) is in Antibes/Juan Les Pins and somehow we know he’ll be only too happy to party for us!
Bastille Day Fireworks over the Mediterranean
So whip over to your closest French bakery and load up on croissants for breakfast,  practise the words to La Marseillaise and get out the corkscrew to toast the day with some fine vintage French wine. Wherever you celebrate, I wish you a bonne fête!

Nice Jazz Festival 2012

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Excusez-moi, I’m slacking a little today and watching the men’s semi-final tennis matches at Wimbledon. SO good!

And then my DH and I are slipping out to an afternoon movie. After reading all the fabulous posts author Barbara Conelli left on my blog this week and last, she put us in the mood for something Italian. We’re going to see the new Woody Allen movie, To Rome With Love. Va bene!

As a result, this post won’t be too long. Was that a sigh of relief I heard …?

The next four weeks on the Côte D’Azur will be filled with the most fantastic music. S’wonderful, s’marvelous … as the song goes. The Nice Jazz Festival begins this weekend  (July 8 – 12) and, as well as ticketed concerts, there will be music in the air wherever you go. Musicians wander the heart of this beautiful city, playing on street corners and offering free concerts to fortunate passersby. It’s simply great fun!

Click here to see all the details and watch some videos. Enjoy!

Are there jazz festivals where you live? The Toronto Jazz Festival just ended on July 1st and was a huge success once again. Next year I will try to have my act together and talk about it before it is on instead of after the fact. Tell me what happens in your town!  Bon weekend, tout le monde!

P.S.

I had a few photos I took last year during the Nice Jazz Festival but they seem to have vanished from my iPhoto files. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN??? Never mind,  just because I can’t help myself, here are a few random photos of this city I love so very much …

Ten guilty pleasures … in France …

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Bonjour! I’ve been having such a fabulous time at Jess Witkins’s HAPPINESS PROJECT that I simply haven’t been able to leave.

Today she has my Friday “France” post featured on her “Guilty Pleasures” page so click here and take a blog hop over to join us for a little decadent indulgence. After all, it is Friday, so we’ll have the weekend to recover!

Don’t forget to leave a comment at the Happiness Project and your name will be entered to win a free e-copy of The Bridge Club! See you there!

Bon weekend tout le monde!

Please don’t think for a moment that those ten items are my only indulgences in France … far from it …  They’re just the ones that we’re talking about today. IMHO, one can never have too many guilty pleasures … and, seriously, let’s just drop the “guilty“. Care to share some of yours here? Slide down to the comment section below and spill! I can’t wait to hear from you!

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.