Patricia Sands

Author

The Promise of Provence

Starry, starry nights … thank you, Vincent and Don!

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Fridays are definitely coming around faster than ever! Enjoy this one!

arles

Last month I spent a few days in the fabulous town of Arles (don’t pronounce that ‘s’, please)  in the Bouches-du-Rhône  departement and was reminded of all it has to offer. If you haven’t been there, you might want to add it to your travel wish list.

This was one of the towns we visited on the Womens Travel Network tours I led this summer and it was a highlight for everyone. Have I mentioned how much fun we had? Click on that last link to see photos from the tour and a lot of smiling faces.

It’s impossible to visit Arles without talking about Vincent Van Gogh, 300px-Van_Gogh_-_Terrasse_des_Cafés_an_der_Place_du_Forum_in_Arles_am_Abend1who spent a very brief but productive … and chaotic … time in that town and the surrounding area.

Stopping in at the yellow-walled Café Van Gogh in Le Café La Nuit in the Place du Forum is a must for every visitor. Touristy as it is, it’s impossible to deny the feeling of the history that played out in this square where Van Gogh painted Café Terrace At Night.

As you can see, we did!

Café du Nuit, Arles

Café du Nuit, Arles -WNT tour 1

A few years ago, after spending some time in Arles, I discovered this video. I watch it often and have this song in one of the soundtracks I play when I write.

Take a few minutes to watch and listen. I think you will be glad you did.

 

I’m going to share some more photos from Arles in a later post. There’s so much to talk about!

Arles, France - The Arena

Have you visited this beautiful UNESCO heritage town and do you have  particular memory from there? Share it with us, please. It’s always interesting to hear other experiences.

With this song of McLean’s in mind, I recently wrote a post about music and writing for the BestSellingReads website. I almost always have tunes playing while I write. Do you do the same when you are working, exercising or whatever occupies your time? Any favourites? 

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 …

Nice

… 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?

 

 

The bare essentials …

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

This was my parting photo of Nice La Belle as we took off last week …  and just the incentive I need to begin planning our 2015 arrival.

Au revoir, Nice … à la prochaine!
Au revoir, Nice … à la prochaine!

Part of the satisfaction of spending time in France every year is connecting in person with online friends. For the next few weeks I’ll introduce you to a few.IMG_5398

I first wrote about Claire McAlpine in a post over two years ago. Claire is a writer and a fine book reviewer of high literary standards. Her blog, Word By Word, is one I never miss. You can always be certain of discovering a new title to add to your TBR list and count on reviews that are a pleasure to read as much for her own articulate style as for the story itself. Click here to go to her site. 

Not only did we get to spend time together, but Claire also agreed to do an Aromatherapy Presentation for the two tour groups I co-led in June for the Womens Travel Network. Along with her writing persona, Claire is also a licensed aromatherapist whose holistic massage practise is highly regarded. Her Flairesse website contains more details and if you are fortunate to live in the Aix-en-Provence area, you are in reach of her services.

She is one talented woman!

During her presentation, Claire introduced the group to 12 essential oils, their properties and benefits. Later, each of the women made a decision about which essential oils would most benefit her and then mixed a few drops with a carrier oil to create her own personalized blend. Once the mixing began, so did the laughter and banter as only women can do.

Since we were visiting lavender fields later in the week, we were well primed by Claire on the all round benefits that plant offers. My primary essential oil is laurel which Claire assured me was the perfect choice for a writer as it “stimulates inspiration and creative boldness”.  I’ll let you know how well it works!

Thanks again, Claire, for two entertaining and informative afternoons! See you online and next year in Aix or Nice or both!

Have you ever had the opportunity to work with essential oils and mix your own blend. Which oils did you choose? After just a few days, several of the women in our groups were exclaiming they were noticing positive responses to the oils they were using. I’m going to dab some on right now and see how boldly creative I can get as I work on my edits. Um … yes … still …!

Bon weekend tout le monde!

 

 

 

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!