Patricia Sands

Author

Nice

How did I miss this?

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Have you ever lived somewhere for quite a while and then had someone mention a very special place in that town, to which you respond, “Huh? Never heard of it!” And then you feel really quite … well … stupid … uninformed? That was my experience this summer when I first heard about Palais Lascaris in the heart of the vieille ville in Nice.

Not only that, but I realized I had walked right past it many times. I guess I was always  so busy pointing my camera in other directions, I simply missed its rather austere exterior. I’ve since visited several times, often just to sit and absorb the atmosphere that exists almost four hundred years later.

I hope you will do the same the next time you visit Nice. I’ll take you there now, so you’ll know the way. On y va!

First, we’ll stop at the popular Place Rossetti. This small square is surrounded by the typical Italianesque, colourful architecture of the old town with the stunning baroque Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate front and centre. The scene demands you take photos … lots of photos! In fact, it’s hard to stop taking them!

With an atmosphere always full of vibrant conversation and energy … order an espresso, a beer, or an exotic fruit concoction … sit by the fountain and let yourself feel Niçoise … go on, do it!

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… and then succumb to one (or two) of Fenocchio’s mind-boggling choices of ice cream and gelato. I must have taken the first photo very early in the day, because …

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… this second one is a better example of how the crowd normally tends to be. But it’s worth it!

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Amble up Rue Rossetti toward the Colline du Chateau and make a left at Rue Droite (hehe, small chuckle) to #15. I’m telling you the specific address so you don’t walk right by … as others, ahem, have been known to do.

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Et voilà! Here we are! Begun in 1645 by an aristocratic Genoese family, restoration took place in the 1960’s. The second floor contains a collection of historical musical instruments. No photos are allowed there but the detail of the craftsmanship can bring tears to the eyes. Really! Don’t miss that exhibit before you explore the rest of this breathtaking little gem … hidden in plain sight.

There should be a slideshow of Palais Lascaris inserted here in my post. Sometimes it takes a minute to appear … thanks for your patience …

It’s amazing what surprises are out there for us to uncover. Once I recovered from my embarrassment at not knowing about Palais Lascaris, now I share it with everyone … and have been relieved to find a few as astounded to hear about it as I was. What hidden treasures have you discovered in your part of the world?

 

 

Breathe in. Breathe out.

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Bonjour and hi there!

It’s great to be back on the blog! How’s your summer going? IMG_5911

The past 8 weeks have flown by for me. You know how I love to travel … but now it’s time to slow down, get caught up and just breathe for a while  …

It’s also time to get home and hug the grandkids, although I got to hug two of them here in Vienna for a few days and that was very special!

 

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Well, it is Friday … but it’s Vienna for three more days  … (also a lovely place to be … )

… and I’m on my way home from five weeks in France. During that time I was fortunate to co-lead two women’s tours of the south of France that were based upon the locations in The Promise of Provence.

What a pleasure to travel with two groups of interesting, enthusiastic women, along with my friends, author and marketing expert Susan Sommers and Womens Travel Network owner, Debbie Ross! It was magnifique!

Here’s a taste of where we were and what we did.

As you can see, we caught the sunflowers and lavender in bloom! (If the slideshow isn’t appearing right here, you might have to wait just a minute for it to load.)

Merci mille fois to each and every one of you on the tours for helping to make our adventures so memorable!

For more photos and details, just click right here on the Womens Travel Network blog! I’ll even wait while you do!

2015 is going to bring more exciting trips from WTN so stay tuned. It would be great to have you join one!

While I was away, as well as participating in some super giveaways, here are a few other items that kept us busy:

*we completed the new website you are visiting now ~ thanks to the talented tech knowledge of  Barb Drozdowich, who is also an author, book blogger and author consultant . Check out her site too! We hope you like the new look here and look forward to your comments!

*I wrapped up my edits (hopefully …) for Promises To Keep and am waiting for the final return from my editor … we’re edging closer to publication, honest!

*Instagram got stuck on “waiting”, whatever that means, and I wasn’t able to keep posting photos each day … I whined about that! Now I have to figure out how to unstick it.

*Amy Cooper, who handles all sorts of necessary social media for me, kept me afloat and stayed on top of things in her usual brilliantly organized fashion ~ A BIG THANK YOU to her and to everyone who participated in our super successful Goodreads Giveaway, Summer Splash Blog Hop and Book Rhythm Kindle Giveaways. Congratulations to all the winners of excellent books and cool prizes! These are such fun and great opportunities to connect with you!

*I feel so fortunate every single day of my travels to be in such beautiful surroundings and to have the priceless friends and support helping make it all possible … without  me falling down the writer’s rabbit hole! Thank you!

Note-taking, photographing and researching for future writing projects is a big part of these trips. Now to begin planning for 2015 … new book, new travels, and who knows what else! What’s on your agenda?

For some reason there’s no “like” button here, which I always use when I visit blogs and to leave a comment you have to scroll back up to the top of the post and click on the “Leave A Comment” link. Sigh … there’s always something!

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!

The countdown is on …

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If it’s Friday, it must be France…

Excusez-moi! I’ve been a little off the radar on the blog this past week. There’s been a lot going on in my writing world. How’ve you been?

I spent some time processing all the fabulous writing and publishing information generated at the PubSmart Conference, I attended in Charleston SC, April 16, 17, 18. There will be a blog post  about it  soon. Wow, did I learn a lot !PubSmart_logo_290

The conference was also a great opportunity to mingle with and meet so many interesting and energizing people who are committed to sharing information and working together to get better at what we do! It was SO good to  spend some time in person with some of my online “besties”. Making connections with people who motivate and inspire you is such a buzz, isn’t it?  Have you had the same experience lately? I’d love to hear about it!

Next I took a big load off my shoulders when I hit “send” and fired my manuscript off to my editor. With any luck, we will be good to go for a July 1st release and I’m excited! The cover art is in the works as well!

There’s always a moment of what I refer to as “extreme anxiety” when an author sends a new novel off to their trusted advance readers. These are avid readers who have promised to be completely honest and candid in their comments about your new work. Their word is their bond and we trust them implicitly! Their comments are the best way to make our work even better. Here’s the thing, we’ve lived with the story for months or years and we feel good about it and we hope everyone else will too … but … what if they don’t … egos must be set aside. It’s all part of the process … and I love it!

But, zut alors, it’s Friday and I want to be talking about France!ilovefrance

The countdown is on … 31, 30 … in 29 more days my husband and I will be back in Nice, France.  It feels more like going home than going on holiday and we are always thrilled to be there!

Here’s how our first morning will play out:

~ Walk along the Promenade des Anglais, just minutes from our apartment, pausing for a croissant and café au lait at a beach restaurant.

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~ Dip our feet in the Med and plan to come for a swim in the afternoon.

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~ Stop in at the fab daily market in the old town and pick up some cheese, fruits, veggies, and a big bouquet of flowers.

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~ Attempt to limit the number of photographs I take on my first day!

~ Write for an hour or two and then meet friends for lunch. From that point on … who knows?

Bon weekend, tout le monde!

You know I love to spend time in the south of France and write about this breathtaking area on my blog and in my novels. I’ll be researching my next novel as well as spending part of each day writing, and I hope you will enjoy my reports.

Better yet! Come and visit for yourself. For part of June, my friend and fellow author, Susan Sommers and I will be leading a tour of the south of France for women, organized by the Womens Travel Network .  There are two spots open in the first tour from  June 12 to June 22. The second tour from June 25 to July 5, is sold out. Call your BFF, your mom, your sister, or just come on your own as you will find great company in our group of travellers. I know at this point it would be a spur of the moment decision, but those are often the best kind!

Have you been to the south of France? If so, please tell us your favourite spots to visit! Any questions? Fire away! I’ll be happy to find the answers for you.

And, by the way, this is another home exchange for us. I keep saying what an affordable and friendly way this is to travel. Try it! You’ll like it!

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