Patricia Sands

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Ida Young-Bondi

Treat yourself and others to this …

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Good news! Bonnes nouvelles!

Ida Young-Bondi, the creator of E-French Café and French instructor extraordinaire, has a brilliant new program. Take a look at this:

Click here to link to the rest of the information.

I have just treated two good friends to this who cannot get out much, and they are delighted with the gift. Ida’s photos steal you away to France and you have the image to savour forever. It’s the perfect gift for the Francophile who has everything!

If you follow Ida on Instagram or Periscope or on Facebook, you already know she is an excellent photographer and she knows France doublement à l’envers/inside out and backwards … all the narrow allées, ancient doors and windows, perfect Côte d’Azur vistas and small details that make us swoon.

You know how I feel about sharing photos from France. Imagine receiving one every day from Ida with un petit goût/a little taste of information about it.

For a limited time there is a reduced price for the first few people to sign up. Don’t wait.

Come back in a month or so and tell me how much you are loving this. I already am!

And please share this with your friends. Merci!

eFrenchCafe Website – http://www.eFrenchCafe.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/eFrenchCafe/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/efrenchcafe/

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/efrenchcafe

Periscope – http://www.periscope.tv/efrenchcafe

Let me introduce you …

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It it’s Friday, it must be France …

Bonjour! Another Friday and another opportunity to wax on about  reasons I love to spend time in France. Thanks for stopping by!

Two weeks ago I posted about finally getting to meet the fabulous writer/reviewer Claire McAlpine, while I was in Aix-en-Provence in June.  Her Word By Word blog is one I highly recommend.

Speaking of Aix, here’s one of my favourite window shots, snapped while strolling one day last month with our women’s tour. There’s something about the mix of ancient stonework, fading paint, and that curtain caught in the window … was it closed in a hurry? Why? Who lives there? Hmmm, there just might be a story to write!

Aix-En-Provence

Making my stay in Nice even more fun this year, I also had the opportunity to meet and spend time with another talented writer/blogger, the also fabulous Margo Lestz. 9dbe8910f06cf943a2e8dad887f59d36When Ida Young-Bondi (more about Ida in another post!) organized a special writerly soirée for me one evening in Nice, Margo brought her husband and some friends along and it was a pleasure to meet all of them.

Although she is lucky enough to live in Nice, Margo also travels extensively and often studies as she goes. Talk about a life-long learner! Fortunately for us, she shares her experiences and wealth of information on her blog, The Curious Rambler … another one on my all-time favourite list. Be sure to pop over when you have some time to enjoy her posts!

Along with her always entertaining blog, Margo writes for The Good Life France website, among other venues, and is working on a non-fiction book about Nice. I can’t wait to read that one and will keep you posted when it is published!

Ahhhh … Nice …

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Vieux Port, Nice

Now let’s travel a little west of the Côte d’Azur, to the Var region which is located more or less between the towns of Saint-Raphael and Bandol.  I’ve been a fan of the French Word-A-Day website for years as I constantly attempt to keep building my grasp of the language. Yet again, meet another talented writer/blogger … and photographer … Kristin Espinasse!

UnknownKristin and I have not met in person as of yet, but that rendezvous is high on my list for our next visit to France in 2015. One way or another, we will make it work!

If our timing is right, we might make it to one of their special wine-tasting events at their ‘new-old’ vineyard, Mas de Brun.

We began to correspond after I read her most recent, delightful book of essays and photographs, First French Essais. I’m a big fan of all of her books and you can check them out right here.Unknown-1

If you haven’t dropped by her site, I know you will be glad you did. Say bonjour to her from me!

Kristin shares vignettes of her extraordinary life in France, raising her family as an American ex-pat married to a French vigneron. Learn about the trials and tribulations of this challenging lifestyle!

At the same time, she educates us on the nuances of the French language as it applies to daily life.

We share a passion for photography and I envy her the unlimited source of images from her splendid surroundings.

Oh ye dedicated Francophiles, we can never have our fill of photos from that part of the world. N’est-ce pas?

One town my husband and I love to visit in the Var is Sanary-sur-Mer, pictured below, not far from Bandol. We explored much of that departement during two different home exchanges a few years ago. Put it on your list!

Sanary-sur-Mer

It’s such a pleasure to actually spend real time with people you have known online, whether it is through travel or attending conferences or just good planning! Has this happened to you lately?

WRITING UPDATE … COVER REVEAL FOR “PROMISES TO KEEP” COMING SOON! 

We’re getting there … thanks to a lot of help! Yes, Barb Drozdowich … I mean you! Merci beaucoup!!! As we progress setting up all of my information on this new site, I soon will have links to Claire, Margo, Kristin, Ida, The Good Life France and other favourite France-related websites in the column on the right. Stay tuned and bon weekend tout le monde!

Bonjour, Nice! So good to see you again!

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

And I am thrilled to say that it IS Friday and this IS coming to you directly from beautiful Nice. We arrived here on Sunday after our fabulous two weeks in the Swiss Alps and, as much as we would have been happy to stay in that peaceful setting longer, we are thrilled to be back here in Nice La Belle. It feels like home.

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It’s been a busy week and we have just returned from a little soirée for people to chat with me about writing and publishing, organized by Ida Young-Bondi of E-French Café.  It was so nice to meet everyone, have a great chat and enjoy that spectacular setting on the Med. In particular, it was great fun to meet blogger extraordinaire, Margo Lestz, in person, after getting to know each other online as we both contribute to The Good Life France website. I love that part of belonging to the writing community where we connect and meet with others from all over the planet, online and in person.

I’ve switched my “office” high up in the Alps for one overlooking the Med, and I’m finding it equally inspiring!IMG_2331

Tomorrow my DH and I are going to hop on the train for 20 minutes and go to Antibes (be still my heart) where I will stop by to visit with my friend, Heidi Lee, at her Antibes Book Shop.

There’s never a moment in this part of the world where we have to stop and figure out what to do … the list goes on and on.

A truly delightful surprise this year is spending time in the new park, La Coulée Verte or Promenade du Paillon, which runs from the Promenade des Anglais in the centre of town through Place Massena to  Vieux Nice near Place Garibaldi. The last two years we have been here, an enormous area was under construction and we missed the grand opening by a week last fall. It was worth waiting for!

There’s much to compliment about the people-friendly design of the space and the water feature is outstanding. Each stage of the pattern lasts for too long a time for me to make a video, but I think you will get the picture from these shots. Watching people of all ages delight in this area was so much fun. I can see we’ll be visiting there often when we go for daily walks.

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Doesn’t that look like good fun? Whatever your plans are for the weekend, I wish you a fine one!

Bon weekend, tout le monde!

Love, love, love …

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Happy Valentine’s Day ~ Bonne Saint Valentin!

PSandsPhotos
PSandsPhotos

Enjoy sharing the love with those special someones in your life … today, and every day. How better to sound romantic than to whisper sweet nothings in French? My friend and favourite language instructor, Ida Young-Bondi has all the words you need to know for La Saint Valentin in this love-filled video. Click right here to take a couple of minutes to join her and perfect your accent!

After the hearts and flowers sentiments of today, when we are in France, February in Nice means one thing to me ~ Carnaval! Time to get your party on!

From February 14 to March 4 this year, the streets of Nice will come alive, day and affiche_2014night, with parades of brightly coloured floats, spectacular floral creations, street events with entertainment provided by over 1000 dancers and musicians from all over the world … oh, and blizzards of silly string and confetti!

This year’s featured reigning monarch is the King of Gastronomy.  That can only be very good news!

One of the oldest carnivals in the world; it is said to have pagan beginnings in the thirteenth century.

The word ‘carnival’ apparently comes from carne levare or away with meat. This was the last chance to enjoy all the rich food before Lent when people would fast for forty days. The masks worn at the carnival offered the chance for people to disguise themselves from the forbidden pleasures by the Catholic Church. Needless to say, the philosophy has changed through the centuries!

For all the information you would ever want to know about this joyful celebration, take a few minutes to visit TheGoodLifeFrance where Margo Lestz has the best article on Carnaval de Nice. If you haven’t already done so, bookmark that site to read fabulous posts about life in France!

While I’m on the subject of love, I want to share this with you … honestly, I can’t stop talking about it … and you can imagine the tower of tissues I accumulated watching it play out. Read on …

One of the aspects I love most about the Olympic Games is the sharing of inspiring stories. None of these athletes arrived where they are without hard work, motivation, support and love for their chosen sport.

In Vancouver 2010, Alex Bilodeau won gold for Canada in mogul skiing. This week he accomplished the same feat in fine style in Sochi. He is a superb athlete. More importantly, we also learned in 2010 what a fine person he is and what a loving and exemplary family he has. We were reminded again this week. Please read this, share it and take it to your heart.

Photo from Yahoo Sports
Photo from Yahoo Sports

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