Patricia Sands

Author

The Promise of Provence

Fresh, juicy, local …

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

I’m still in Atlanta, Georgia, at the RWA National Conference with about 2000 other writers, editors, and agents. It’s not quite as good as being in France but it is definitely an unforgettable experience in itself. The workshops, discussions, keynotes, and pitch sessions have been informative and empowering. The networking has been inspiring and filled with unforgettable moments and a multitude of new friendships. To add to this, the “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing session the other afternoon, raised over $53,000 to donate to various literacy programs in the U.S.

Meeting some of my “WANA sistas” in person after two years of connecting through the internet (after bonding in Kristen Lamb’s online blogging course in 2011), has put the finishing touch on this exceptional week.

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However, while I am physically in Atlanta, there’s a part of me that is very much settled in Provence this weekend, thanks to the talented Julie Mautner and her brilliant website, The Provence Post. It’s been one of my favourite sites to visit for several years and to find my new novel, The Promise of Provence, featured there right now is such a thrill! If you have a moment, please stop by and join in her giveaway. Click right here and see what the buzz is all about! Leave a comment on Julie’s website and be entered to win a free book. I can’t wait to see who wins!

Bon weekend, tout le monde! What are your plans?

Provence-PSandsPhotos
Provence-PSandsPhotos

 

 

Come to France with us next June!

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Eze Village-PSandsPhotos
Eze Village-PSandsPhotos

When I wrote The Promise of Provence, it never occurred to me that an opportunity like this trip would arise. I’m a writer. I love what I do and my greatest reward is hearing from readers. As you know from this blog, I also love to travel. To combine these two loves in my life is beyond exhilarating, so please excuse me if my excitement is showing!

51fxI-husZL._AA160_Susan Sommers is a fellow author and my partner in our Sommers & Sands speaking engagements. She is also my very good friend.  A non-fiction writer, her latest book is Power Source for Women:Proven Fitness Tools, Strategies and Success Stories. If you are looking for realistic ways to get yourself in shape, it’s the book for you.

Women’s stories comprise the common element in our writing. Sharing these stories is what inspires and motivates us. That’s why we had no hesitation in joining forces with Debbie Ross and her fabulous Women’s Travel Network. Debbie and her enthusiastic, knowledgable, team of tour leaders love to help women make their travel dreams come true. They listen to where their clients would like to travel and then plan the trip of a lifetime to that destination.

She knew she had clients who wanted to visit Provence and the Côte d’Azur.

She knows how much time I have spent in that part of the world and how I love to share it with friends.

Say no more!

I’ve been thrilled to hear from women who said they are coming because they read my novel. How much fun is that? Check with your BFFs, your daughters, your mothers, your sisters or simply come on your own. It’s going to be magnifique!

11 days, 14 women, memories to last forever!

In a last-minute telephone conversation with Debbie last night, she let me know this new information. Woohoo!

June 12 to June 22, 2014    Only a few spots available!
2nd Tour Added!  June 25 – July 05, 2014

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French Riviera  & Provence
June 12 – June 22, 2014
LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE
Only 5 spots left!
Greetings!

Join novelist Patricia Sands and visit the charming towns depicted in her newest novel The Promise of Provence.
Patricia writes about Katherine’s experiences in Provence and her eagerness to feel renewed by her surroundings: endless rows of lavender and fields of sunflowers flow in golden waves among vineyards and olive groves overlooked by ancient hilltop villages.

Our tour co-leader, Susan Sommers, is a “Fitness over 45” Motivational Speaker and Strategist, two-time Marathoner (at 61 & 63), and co-author of Power Source for Women.
During your daily outings in Provence, Susan will show you how easy it is to take 10,000 steps while enjoying exquisite scenery.
It’s the picture perfect place to become passionate about fitness.

Enjoy the cultural, historic and natural heritage of Nice & Provence during our visits of Eze, Monaco, Les Baux, St Remy, Arles and Avignon to name a few. Take a stroll through the local market brimming with spices, fruits, veggies and local wares. Visit one of the best-preserved Roman ampitheatres “Les Arenes” where bullfights still carry on the tradition. Learn the secrets of French Provencial cuisine during a hands on cooking class.  Taste fine wines, indulge in gourmet meals, and relax in the warmth of the Provencial sunshine.
  
This unique tour is limited to 16 travellers.  

French Riviera & Provence


Itinerary:
Day 01: Depart Toronto or other gateway
Day 02: Arrive in Nice
Day 03: Eze, Monaco
Day 04: Nice
Day 05: St Paul de Vence, Grasse
Day 06: Avignon
Day 07: Cooking class
Day 08: Les Baux, St Remy
Day 09: Arles
Day 10: The Luberon, Roussilon, Bonnieux
Day 11: Depart to Toronto or other city.

 

What’s included:

  • Nice, 4 nights at Hotel Beau Rivage or similar
  • Provence, 5 nights at Hotel Novotel Avignon Centre or similar
  • Transportation throughout by private mini coach
  • Breakfast daily
  • 8 dinners with wine
  • Services of an English speaking guide
  • Services of a WTN Escort throughout
  • Hotel taxes and service charges
  • Wine tasting and Olive Mill visit
  • Perfume making class, Aromatherapy workshop
  • Cooking class in Avignon
  • Visit of Aix en Provence
  • Guided visits of St Paul de Vence, Grasse, Avignon, Les Baux, St Remy, Arles, Luberon towns- Roussilon and Bonnieux
  • Entrance fees to all sites visited
Are you travelling alone?
Don’t worry, we will match you with a roommate.
Single rooms are available if preferred.
Additional cost $1425 CA
Nice
Lavendar fields of Provence
France narrow streetsProvence shopping
Enjoy, art, culture, gastronomy and shopping on this wonderful tour of Nice & Provence.

June 12 to June 22, 2014
Price: CAD $3750 per person, double occupancy

Click here for tour itinerary:

Hurry, space will be sold out soon.Call Now to reserve your spot!Contact:
Womens Travel Network
Phone: 905-771-8338
Toll free 1-888-419-0118
Email: info@womenstravelnetwork.ca

Check out photos from past trips to France. 

Click here!

Join us on Facebook.

A visit to The French Village Diaries

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Courtesy of The French Village Diaries
Courtesy of The French Village Diaries

Yesterday I hung out with Jacqui at her French Village Diaries website where she posts great bits about cycling in her beautiful area of Poitou-Charentes, delicious recipes and other interesting vignettes about life in France. She also reviews books that have a French theme.

Did you see what she had to say about my new novel? Click here if you missed it. Her giveaway is still on so it’s not too late join in!

If you haven’t visited her blog yet, I highly recommend you do.

Here’s the chat we had!

Friday, July 5, 2013

France et Moi with author Patricia Sands

Courtesy of The French Village Diaries
Courtesy of The French Village Diaries
Welcome to ‘France et Moi’ where this week, continuing on from my Book Worm Wednesday review of The Promise of Provence I am talking to author Patricia Sands about what France means to her, as part of her virtual book tour. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway to win a Kindle ebook copy of this book. Just email FrenchVillageDiaries@gmail.com with The Promise of Provence as the email subject by Wednesday 10th July when my Dad will pick the winner from the hat during our final aperos of their holiday.
FVD: Firstly, I think France is a special place and it is famed for many things including its cheese, wine and diverse holiday locations plus, dare I say it, strikes and dog poo littered streets. What do you think makes France so very unique and ‘French’?
Patricia: Where to begin? There are so many special aspects to this beautiful country and culture! What constantly takes my breath away is how centuries of history surround me wherever I go. Obviously we see it in the architecture of towns and villages but also in the traditions, religious and otherwise, that continue to be celebrated, in songs that are sung, stories that are told, in the markets and even in the games of boules/petanques that continue to be a focus in the town squares. I love that!
2) What is your fondest memory of time spent in France?
Patricia: Ha! Every visit is memorable but in 2011 my husband and I lived in Antibes for five months, just on the edge of the old town. We seldom needed a car as we could walk everywhere or hop on the coastal train just up the street. My heart is still there!
3) Your second novel The Promise of Provence is set in Provence so would this be your favourite holiday location in France?
Patricia: I do love the pastoral countryside of Provence but truly my first choice is the Côte d’Azur, Antibes in particular. The Mediterranean adds another dimension to life there. Having a beautiful beach just a few minutes’ walk away or taking a boat cruise along the coast are lovely options to have on a hot summer day.
4) When did your love for France start?
Patricia: After university, I spent a year backpacking around Europe with friends and working from time to time. I was 21 years old and fell madly in love with France. I lived in Quebec for a few years as a child so already had a slight grasp of the language, which helped. I was simply captivated by the beauty everywhere we went and amazed that one country could offer so much variety from one departement to the next. I have been fortunate to return many times throughout my life. Forty-five years later that love has only grown!
5) How does France inspire your writing?
Patricia: I know I see France through the eyes of a romantic, as my French friends constantly tell me, but I see beauty everywhere including the crumbling ruins, peeling paint and uneven cobblestones. I’m also a photographer and the photo ops are endless. I love all the old doors and ancient keyholes! It all galvanizes me to sit down and write. When I was writing in Antibes for five months, as I sat at my computer I looked out over the harbor, across the Baie des Anges to Nice and the Alps beyond. That view with the spectacular changing light was more inspiring than I can describe.
6) Imagine you are sitting outside a French café at 10.00am on a sunny morning watching the world go by, what do you order from the waiter?
Patricia: Un cappuccino, de l’eau, un croissant, s’il vous plait.
7) What is your favourite thing to buy in a Boulangerie/Patisserie?
Patricia: a.m. – Pain aux raisins   p.m. – Tarte aux citron meringuée.
8) France has many different cheeses, a silly question, but which French cheese are you? A hard and mature Tome, a soft, fresh and lively goat cheese, the creamy and rich Camembert or maybe the salty and serious Roquefort?
Patricia: I guess at this point in life I would have to be an ‘entre deux’ Cantal that has aged a little longer! Its strength and taste increase with age and I like to think that way about life.
9) Can you describe your perfect French apero for us the drink, the nibbles, the location and the company?
Patricia: Bien sur! Pastis (Ricard) served with lightly salted peanuts on a terrace in a shaded square of a town or village, with my husband and other friends, chatting and laughing as we watch the late afternoon activity or local boules contests.
10) Do you have any plans to visit France again soon?
Patricia: I am counting the days to September 12 when we will spend a month in Nice. I am going to have a book launch party at the English Book Shop in Antibes and am excited beyond words about that! Come and join us! (FVD: now wouldn’t that be lovely, having read your book, I need to visit Antibes!) In 2014 we hope to spend an extended time in France once again and will work it around the 10-day women’s tour I will be leading in June.
11) Do you have any current projects you would like to tell my readers about?
Patricia: I have had many readers ask when my next novel will be out so I am motivated to make progress on that. The story is simmering now and will be partly set in the south of France once again. There is just so much to write about!
Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about France and you.
Patricia: It was great fun! Thanks for asking!
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You can find Patricia on her blog, website, Facebook,Facebook page, Twitter and Goodreads.
It is such a buzz talking about places we love to visit. Where is your favourite spot and what makes it that? You know I love to hear your stories … I’m waiting …

 

Le tour de France and My tour de France

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Okay, I  know it isn’t Friday, which is the day to celebrate France on my blog but I have a few France-related matters I want to share.

First, in case you didn’t know … but really, how could you not … you DO follow le tour don’t you? Even without Lance … and we won’t go there right now …

The 100th Tour de France began last Saturday and currentlymap_home the riders are passing through my favourite part of France. They were in Nice today and will be heading along the coast, past Antibes and up into the hills near Grasse, heading for Marseilles in this next stage.

FRIDAY UPDATE- My friend, Claire McAlpine, told me about the day the Tour passed through Aix. All the children had the day off school so they would not miss the excitement. I like that!

Today, the ride is from Montpelier to Albi.

Click here to go to the official site for videos and all the information you could possible want on this extraordinary sport. (I’m not mentioning the skin tight cycling outfits … but … if for no other reason …)

And now I want to mention MY tour de France. The fabulous Emma at Words And Peace now organizes excellent FRANCE BOOK TOURS that allow authors to share their work through the fine bloggers she contacts, according to the genre.

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If you have time, please go to her site or any of the sites below to join in the tour, try for a giveaway, or just say hello to me. The main purpose of these tours is to allow author’s to reach new readership by being featured on different blogs. It’s a wonderful way to get in touch with readers and I want every blogger involved to know how much their involvement and support is appreciated. Book bloggers rock! Merci!

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE
Monday, July 1
Giveaway at Vvb32 Reads

Tuesday, July 2
Review + Giveaway at Chocolate & Croissants

Wednesday, July 3
Review + Giveaway at The French Village Diaries
Interview + Giveaway at An Accidental Blog

Thursday, July 4
Review at The Most Happy Reader

Friday, July 5
Interview at The French Village Diaries

Saturday, July 6
Excerpt posted by Helena Fairfax

Sunday, July 7
Review at Walkie Talkie Book Club

Monday, July 8
Review at Vvb32 Reads
Review + Giveaway at Words And Peace

Tuesday, July 9
Review at Faith Hope & Cherrytea
Giveaway at Walkie Talkie Book Club

Wednesday, July 10
Review at Impressions In Ink
Review + Giveaway at Queen Of All She Reads
Review + Giveaway at The Redlady’s Reading Room

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Patricia will be co-leading an 11-day tour of 14 women
to Nice and the countryside of Provence in June 2014.
Come join in the magic!
http://womenstravelnetwork.ca/promenade-en-provence/

I’m dashing out now to go watch our 5-year-old grandson’s (The Adorable Jack) soccer game! If any of these links aren’t live right now, I will fix them later tonight. First things first, right? 

What are your priorities these days? Is your plate overflowing or do you have everything under control? How do you find the balance?