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Zaz

A busy week in the Blogosphere

January 13, 2012 by Patricia Sands Leave a Comment

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Here we are again! I swear these weeks keep getting shorter … or perhaps it was just all the time it took me this week to figure out TRIBERR.COM. Thank you Jenny Hansen for the instructions on your blog this week  including that unbelievably helpful video (which I watched about 358 times). Big hugs of gratitude to Wana711 blogging buddies Natalie Hartford and Jillian Dodd whose never-ending patience kept me sticking to it. Now that I’m in the site I don’t know what took me so long … oh, maybe it’s because I’m seriously tech challenged …

Anyway, to get fired up and back to writing I played a little of one of my favourite French singers, Zaz. You may have seen this during the summer when I first discovered her … if so, enjoy encore une fois! She’s energizing!

Here are a couple of the other reasons it was a busy week (which prevented me from spending all my spare ~ha!~ time daydreaming about France).  But wait, first I’ll just sneak in one photo to give you Francophiles something to think about until next week. This is one of my most favourite views, looking over Eze Sur Mer and St. Jean Cap Ferrat from the hilltop village of Eze. I took this shot from the castle ruin above the village. You climb up through the most amazing Jardin Exotique that was created by hand after WW2 – one stone at a time, there’s no other way! The view is worth the climb, n’est-ce pas?

Okay, where was I? Oh right, this busy week …although I have been trying to stay focused and diligent with my WIP schedule, there’s always something just way too tempting to refuse.

I was delighted to be invited to help the fabulous Marcia Richards celebrate her One Year Blogbirthday with chocolate cake, balloons and the hilarious Jess Wilkins. Hop on over to her Sexy, Smart, From The Heart website and take a look at what she forced  asked us to send her … it’s so much easier to write about others than it is ourselves. But what a party we had!

Next I channeled myself across the ocean to the U.K.. to spend some time with medium and clairvoyant Richard Holmes on his uplifting Bloggin’ With Rich site.  It was a pleasure to recount a cool memory of a rather spiritual encounter that my real Bridge Club experienced as a result of an unplanned stop one morning on a beach on Vancouver Island. You’ll find yourself in another world when you stop in at Rich’s blog. Astral traveling anyone?

Oh, and Myndi Shafer? Your Leave A Caption post on Saturday had me laughing out loud all day. The captions are priceless!

This world of writing and blogging offers incredible opportunities to come in contact with the most diverse, fascinating, amazingly ordinary people who connect and share their thoughts and experiences in unpredictable and surprising ways. Creative, humorous, thoughtful, helpful, challenging, hilarious, touching, authentic people. A community. Don’t you just feel like breaking out into a chorus of We Are Family? What a ride!

And now back to work or novel #2 will never get completed.

How do you feel about the community in which you live or work or just spend most of your time? Don’t forget to take a few moments every day to let people you value know just that!

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Filed Under: Author Promotion, Blog Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, Eze, ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year Finalist, France, Jenny Hansen, Jess Wilkins, Jillian Dodd, lifelong friendship, Marcia Richards, Myndi Shafer, Natalie Hartford, Patricia Sands, Richard Holmes, The Bridge Club, the power of friendship, triberr, writing, Zaz

Actually it’s Saturday and it’s Toronto …

October 1, 2011 by Patricia Sands Leave a Comment

If It’s Friday, It Must Be France … 

Sorry I’m late with this … yesterday was a little busy …

Although our idyll in France is over and we returned to Toronto yesterday, I’m going to continue posting about the south of France for a while longer. I receive a lot of e-mails about these posts with great questions and I’m happy to keep sharing information and my photos. People seem to prefer sending e-mails to leaving comments and that’s just fine with me. I’ll get back to you either way … avec plaisir!

All summer in France we intended to go and see the Woody Allen movie “Midnight In Paris” at one of the English movie theatres in Nice. Somehow we never got around to it. It seemed kind of fitting then, as I settled into my seat for the flight to Toronto from France yesterday that this was one of my movie choices. I loved it!

First of all, the camera caresses Paris throughout the film and truly gives you a sense of being there. Secondly, the main character writes screenplays and is an aspiring novelist. Hmm, a lot to which I could relate. I had no idea of any other details although I had read in the Nice-Matin (my morning French lesson newspaper) that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the wife of the President of France, had a small role. They seemed quite proud of that.

The fact that other artists and writers factored into the story in such an interesting way was a completely delightful surprise. This isn’t a film for adventure seekers or a chick flick. Funny and charming, it’s a romantic comedy – a love story about a city and a culture as  much as about some people who have very different views of what is important in life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atLg2wQQxvU

That takes care of the movie part of this post. Now for the music. A French friend told me about a popular singer here called Zaz and I was SO glad she did! I’ve been playing her music on my morning walks all summer. This song is my favourite and I was amazed to find a video showing english lyrics. It’s fun and energizing and  a great motivator in the morning!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stbR3z-Cz68

Now that we’ve looked at some recent entertainment from France, here’s the beloved Edith Piaf to take us back to the past.

Next Friday, this blog will be visiting the beautiful town of Arles. I hope you will be along! Is there some place in the south of France you would like to know more about? I’m always happy to share information, photos or answer any questions you may have.

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Filed Under: Blog, France, If it is France... Tagged With: 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist, Edith Piaf, ForeWord 2010 Book Of The Year Finalist, French Riviera, living in the south of France, Midnight In Paris, Patricia Sands, The Bridge Club, the power of friendship, Zaz

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