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Whistler

Pétanque? Paul Shore explains in UNCORKED!

November 21, 2017 by Patricia Sands 5 Comments

It’s a pleasure to have a visit today from Canadian author, Paul Shore, who currently lives in one of my most favourite places on the planet (apart from the south of France, of course) … the magnificent mountain community of Whistler, British Columbia.

Paul has written a delightful memoir, Uncorked,  about the year he spent in France living in Saint-Paul de Vence ~ another stunningly beautiful venue.  He did not realize his good fortune when he first discovered he was going to live in this ancient hilltop village. But the affection he gradually developed for his temporary home is obvious as his tale unfolds.

The charm of Saint-Paul is widely known and it is a popular stop (to say the least) during tourist season, with its close proximity to the Côte d’Azur. However, when visiting during quieter times, one understands immediately the lure that drew so many famous people to stay here (Chagall, Miro, Bracque, Picasso, Yves Montand and Simone Signoret ~ to name just a few.)

Saint-Paul de Vence is also the home of the iconic restaurant and inn, La Colombe d’Or. Its history is well worth reading and informs more about the charm of the area.

But today our story is all about Paul and pétanque.

He’s explained a bit about his book in our brief interview here.

PSands ~ How did you come to live in the village of Saint-Paul de Vence?

PShore ~ I was assigned by the software startup company I was working for to relocate to the Nice area because our largest business partner, Texas Instruments, was based there.  I told the relocation agency, who had been hired to find me a place to live, that I wanted to live in a small village, rather than living directly in Nice.  The first apartment they showed me that wasn’t a run-down mess was in Saint-Paul, and I jumped at it because the town was quaint and I needed to find a place to quickly, so that I could get on with my work. Little did I know what an amazing place I was about to live in, or that Marc Chagall had lived there for much of his life.

PSands ~ Why did you want to play pétanque?

PShore ~ I love games that involve coordination and strategy and, just by watching, it was clear that pétanque required both. I also was having a hard time making friends and breaking in to French culture, and I thought that if I could learn this game that might change.

PSands ~ How did you meet Hubert and get him to teach you pétanque?

PShore ~ Hubert was a neighbor, who ran the town’s website, so we connected easily over our common interest in technology. Getting him to teach me pétanque was difficult though. At first he didn’t want to teach me because I was a foreigner. After a lot of persistence (and nagging) on my part, he finally agreed to teach me… in the dark of night, when nobody would see.

 

PSands ~What is your fondest memory of your year in France?

PShore ~ After having been accepted as a good player, who deeply understood the game and its importance, I was surprised one day to be invited into the private member’s club that no tourist ever is allowed to set foot in.  I was then presented with a permanent membership card that I still cherish to this day.  With this little card I was welcomed into the local pétanque fraternity, with a kiss on both cheeks, by one of the respected older female players, who I had always looked up to.  I will never forget the emotional moment that deep honor was bestowed on me!

PSands ~ You write with a wonderful wry wit and yet you manage to always show respect for French culture.  How do you maintain that balance?

PShore ~ I make frequent use of self-deprecating humor to tell anecdotes that find humor in my missteps rather than needing to poke fun at locals.  And when I do happen to poke fun at a local or at a local tradition, I make it clear that I am fond of the very quirk that I am targeting.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog, Paul. It’s an absolute pleasure to get to know you and share your work here.

Buy UNCORKED by clicking here.

Paul Shore is an award-winning author and technology industry veteran, who has worked around the globe. His second book, “Uncorked”, is an Amazon Best Seller, a Whistler Independent Book Award Winner, and a Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist.

Learn more on Paul’s Amazon Author Page, Facebook and his website www.pshore.com.

Note to readers ~ The game of pétanque is played every day in every city, town, village, hamlet throughout France. Everything you ever wanted to know about the game of pétanque, or boules, is explained in great detail in Paul’s book. He leaves no nuance left unturned! For the first time, I actually understood the game after reading Paul’s book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Blog, France, Social issues, Uncategorized, Writing Tagged With: Patricia Sands, Paul Shore, pétanque, Uncorked, Whistler, writing

Sarah Burke – In Memoriam

January 20, 2012 by Patricia Sands 20 Comments

Today’s post is dedicated to Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke, a young woman who exemplified everything that is good. She was as outstanding a person as she was an athlete and a tremendous role model for young athletes. Injured in a serious training accident in Utah on January 10th, sadly she succumbed to her injuries today.  She will be missed but never forgotten.

Sarah Burke of Whistler, Canada poses with her gold medal after winning the Women’s Skiing Superpipe at Winter X Games 13 on Buttermilk Mountain on January 23, 2009 in Aspen, Colorado.  (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Sarah’s ever-present smile, along with her amazing talent and fierce determination to have women’s freestyle skiing accepted as an Olympic sport, is well-known to those who have followed her career.  It was exhilarating to watch her ski and compete.

The best-known athlete in her sport, she will be remembered for the legacy she left for women in freestyle skiing. She set the standard for skiing in the superpipe, a sister sport to the more popular snowboarding brand that has turned Shaun White, Hannah Teter and others into stars.

A winner of several Winter X Games gold medals, she also won the 2005 world championships, was the first woman to land a 1080-degree spin (three full rotations) in competition and won the 2007 ESPY award as Best Female Action Sports Athlete. This winter Burke won four gold medals in superpipe at the Winter X Games and an additional gold in the event at the Winter X Games Europe, having swept both competitions.

Her determined lobbying with Olympic officials and fine representation of the sport were major contributing factors for women’s freeskiing (superpipe and slopestyle) acceptance in the Games. She was a gold medal favourite for the sport when it debuts at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Born in Barrie, she grew up in Midland, Ontario, a small community north of Toronto, and has spent the last few years in the Whistler, BC area. In 2010, she married another freestyle skier, Rory Bushfield, and they were headliners in a documentary film project on the Ski Channel called ‘Winter.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089155/Freestyle-ski-star-Sarah-Burke-dies-injuries-days-half-pipe-crash.html#ixzz1jy46Vnda

‘Sarah, in many ways, defines the sport,’ Peter Judge, the CEO of Canada’s freestyle team, said before her death. ‘She’s been involved since the very, very early days as one of the first people to bring skis into the pipe. She’s also been very dedicated in trying to define her sport but not define herself by winning. For her, it’s been about making herself the best she can be rather than comparing herself to other people.’

“Sarah was a person who I think in many ways was larger than life and lived life to the fullest. She was a phenomenal representative of her sport and of young people, and of sport in general, and her participation in what she chose to do transcended that sport and went into a larger realm …” said Judge.

She was, Judge said, as committed to the grass roots of the sport – giving clinics to youngsters and working with up-and-coming competitors – as performing at the top levels.

‘She was a great, positive person for the whole team, the whole sport,’ said David Mirota, the Canadian team’s high performance director. ‘She enlightens the room, and she’s great.’

For information on donations:  http://www.giveforward.com/sarahburke.   “Her accomplishments on skis continue to inspire girls everywhere to believe in themselves and follow their hearts. Her passing is not a cause to pack up our skis, but rather a reason to step-in and ski for Sarah and the dreams that inspired her star to shine.”

Every once in a while someone comes along who makes a big difference in their own special way. Sarah Burke was one. She was 29. Gone too soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvhPWD_iHAo

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Filed Under: Blog, Social issues Tagged With: 2014 Olympics, Canadian, halfpipe skiing, Sarah Burke, skiing, slopestyle, Whistler, women's freestyle

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