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Girlfriendology

Ten guilty pleasures … in France …

June 15, 2012 by Patricia Sands Leave a Comment

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!

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Filed Under: Blog, France, If it is France... Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards - Finalist, Antibes, Choopy's, France, French Riviera, Girlfriendology, Indie Reader Discovery Awards Finalist 2012, Jess Witkins, living in the south of France, Patricia Sands, The Bridge Club, the Happiness Project, the power of friendship

Spend a few minutes in Aix-En-Provence…

March 23, 2012 by Patricia Sands Leave a Comment

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Today I’m fantasizing about the beautiful, historical centre of Aix-En-Provence, since the main character in my new novel is hanging out there at the moment. I’m curious to see what’s going to play out there for her so can’t stay on the blog too long …

That’s one of the surprises of writing … you just never know for sure exactly what’s coming next!

I’ve been to Aix a few times and just want to say this. Even though it may not look terribly appealing from your first approach in the post-war urban areas, the heart of this town is a treasure trove of things architectural, cultural and … ah, oui … gastronomique! Plan your day and you won’t be disappointed.

Known for its water source since Roman times (Aquae Sextiae), Aix is also an important cultural, educational and political town. The capital of Provence, it also is home to the Faculties of Law and Letters of the University of Aix-Marseille.

Water is at the heart of the town and its history, channelled and distributed since antiquity and supplied by a wealth of underground springs. Fountains abound along beautiful, tree-lined Cours Mirabeau, where shops, restaurants and frequent visits by sidewalk artists make it easy to while away an afternoon. One of our favourite paintings was purchased from such an artist and I’m easily distracted by it right now as I sit across from it.

Cours Mirabeau

Paul Cezanne is the most famous son of Aix. Born there in 1839, he spent much of his life in Aix and the surrounding countryside, for a time working in a studio just off the Cours Mirabeau. A contemporary of Pissaro, Monet, and Renoir, few today are not familiar with his prolific work heralding his beloved Provence, which often featured Mont Sainte Victoire.

Mont Sainte Victoire – one of those “on the go” shots from the car!

Today there are footsteps imprinted in the sidewalks of the town which you can follow to Cezanne’s favourite haunts. When we were there in 2006 a wonderful retrospective exhibition, “Cezanne En Provence”  honouring the 100th anniversary of his passing, was being held. This is one of the posters displayed which I loved! It was hanging in the window of a wine shop.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a brief look at Aix. If you are planning to visit the area, it’s well worth a stop. Here’s the link to the wonderful Festival D’Aix-En-Provence in July. Order your tickets early for the renowned music festival as they tend to sell out quickly.

Two weeks ago I shared a poster in French and most of you e-mailed me with perfect translations. Bravo!

Forget your past, whether simple or complicated, and participate in  your present so your future will be better than perfect.

(As well as being an inspirational saying, it’s actually a poster used in teaching some of the tenses in French grammar.)

 

Gotta get back to work! I had so much more to share, my friends, particularly about a wonderful blogger I have gotten to know who lives in Aix. You’re going to want to know her too! I’ll save that for next week and see you here then. Bon weekend!

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Filed Under: Blog, France, If it is France..., Photo blogs Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, Aix-En-Provence, Cezanne, Cours Mirabeau, follow your dreams, ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year Finalist, France, friendship, Girlfriendology, lifelong friendship, living in the south of France, Patricia Sands, Provence, The Bridge Club, the power of friendship, the value of laughter, writing

The party’s at Bridgette’s …

March 22, 2012 by Patricia Sands 12 Comments

Okay, a few weeks ago I promised I was only going to post on my blog twice a week and since then I’ve broken that promise several times. I’m sorry … I’m a big believer in promises so this does not make me feel good. With your permission I’ll retract that promise and simply say I’ll TRY not to blog more than twice a week. I know how busy y’all are and you don’t need me popping up in your mailbox every day.

It’s just that there’s SO much great stuff to talk about!

Like this, for example – Today I’m hanging out over at Bridgette Booth’s blog again and we would love it if you would pop in and see what’s going on. We’re still recovering from the brunch she slaved over  threw together for us yesterday. That lady knows how to deliver a party – sharpies, paper plates and jalapeno kolaches – all served up with that special brand of Texan hospitality! We did have more than a few laughs!

Bridgette is one of my fabulous WANA sisters from Kristen Lamb’s Blogging For Your Author Brand course last summer. On the surface she seems kind of shy but underneath that quiet exterior is a real firecracker and a fine human being whose writing simply breathes energy.

In spite of the fact she is busy working on her own manuscript and homeschooling her children, Bridgette – avid reader that she is – pulled The Bridge Club off her TBR pile and decided we needed to chat. She always finds time for her friends and we’re glad she does. Come on over … click right here … there may even be a few of those delicious kolaches left!

 

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Filed Under: Blog, News Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, Bridgette Booth, follow your dreams, ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year Finalist, friendship, Girlfriendology, honesty between friends, Kristen Lamb, Patricia Sands, The Bridge Club, the power of friendship, the value of laughter, Women, writing

Int’l Women’s Day – the beat goes on

March 9, 2012 by Patricia Sands Leave a Comment

If it’s Friday, it must be France

Bonjour! Before we talk France I want to let you know I’m at the energizing hive of activity, Girlfriendology.com, today. We’re continuing the blogtalk about … what else (?!?) … women, connections and inspiring girls. If you’re taking a break around 1:30 EST, Debba and I would love to have you join us on her blogtalk radio. Just click on this link to take you there.

And now back to France to see what was going on there this week.

Did you know the word “mademoiselle” (the French equivalent of “miss”) will now be removed from all government forms? (The New York Times had reported the word was now “banned”, which is not quite accurate.) Two powerful French feminist groups have mounted a strong advocacy campaign for some time for this move and someone has finally listened.

The issue is that “mademoiselle” clearly denotes the marital status of a woman, as opposed to “madame”, but men are always referred to as “monsieur” whether single or married. Women are either mademoiselles or madames for official and business purposes depending on their marital situation.

This distinction no longer exists in a number of Western countries. Germany banned the word Fraulein from official use in 1972. For many decades English-speaking countries have offered women the option of the neutral Ms, although Miss does still appear in many instances. No such alternative was offered in France, quite possibly because many young French people widely shun marriage these days and simply don’t consider it an issue.

A little history – mademoiselle comes from demoiselle, which used to be a title of nobility in pre-revolutionary France. The  link to marital status occurred during the Napoleonic era.

In another good step, France has given final approval to legislation requiring corporations to reserve at least 40% of the board positions for women. Read more here.

For all of the celebrating and recognition of the great strides towards equality achieved by women through the past 101 years since the first IWD, there is still a long way to go. This article from the Guardian gives an overview of struggles around the world, including La Belle France, faced by women today.

Copyright Petar Pismestrovic HDK

Here’s a thought for today that fits right in. Can you translate? If not, tune in next Friday. Bon weekend, tout le monde!

Did you do anything special to mark International Women’s Day this week? I had coffee with a friend yesterday who was going to a potluck dinner in support of a women’s charity in Guatemala. Each guest was requested to bring a story, photo or poem about a woman in their community they wished to celebrate. Love it! Women do “get it”.

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Filed Under: Blog, France, If it is France..., Social issues Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, Cote D'Azur, equallity, follow your dreams, ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year Finalist, France, Girlfriendology, International Women's Day, lifelong friendship, living in the south of France, Patricia Sands, The Bridge Club, writing

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