Month: July 2012

A lot of that has to do with Wijnand, of course. He is incredibly charming and well-spoken on so many subjects that at one point I turned to him and asked “is there anything that doesn’t interest you?” He is aware that people might be shy or nervous about letting a stranger into their homes and has that magical quality of immediately putting someone at ease. It was a delight listening to his rapid fire political and economic discussions with Remi that took place until long into the night and watching him capture the essence of the Saturday market the next morning. He is never intrusive and was respectful of our schedules and space. As he was recovering from an injury, we were in ready agreement that he stay with us for an extra night, for in truth, while we were providing a roof and dinner, he was giving us just as much if not more in return, including performing a few songs on his guitar.

I have written quite effusively on this blog about the positive and real impact I feel from the contacts that I have made here and Wijnand is literally walking proof of that. It is just that he is taking it to a global level. He is an incredibly inspiring person that embodies the idea that we can make our dreams into reality and even if we don’t know what the future holds, we just need to keep going, one step at a time…

Friends, Wijnand is heading East towards Salon-de-Provence on his way towards Rome and then Jerusalem before his swing towards Cairo in time for MasterPeace’s International Day of Peace in September 2014. An approximate list of the cities that he will be travelling to can be found here. Would any of you be willing to host him on his journey or do you know anyone that might? And if that doesn’t interest you (and he does not put pressure on folks), would you be willing to mention this on either Twitter or Facebook? You can find his links below and his email is tw*********@gm***.com.

Wijnand’s project is Ben-approved! 

Wijnand Boon:

Check out my website
www.twalkwithme.eu

Follow me on Twitter
@TwalkWithMe

Join me on Facebook
Twalk with me

Twalk with me for MasterPeace
www.masterpeace.org



Help me share my story and complete my mission:

One day of walking costs about five euro’s, but you already make my day with a cup of coffee a month. You can support my mission by donating to 3156.17.918. I thank you for your support!

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We all like to have our wonder worlds to dip our toes into now again, more refreshing than any summer slip of a pool. Just as the emptier the belly, the bigger the imagined feast, so it is perfect timing to get lost in a dream.

Utterly hidden in the elbow of a hill is a chapel built one thousand years ago. It is on a true no where land, far from the glamourous corners of Provence, up a track so difficult to trace that each time we visit, we drive past it blindly a few times before saying with a sigh “there.”

We climb up slowly, stepping over spent bullets on this terrain de chasse or hunting grounds. As it is not the season, Ben can bounce ahead doing his bunny best to beat us, with his nose low and sniffing.

So would you like to hear our little bit of wishing? Of the drop a coin in the fountain kind? 

We love the idea of reclaiming the chapel and making it into a home. We would clear the blocked out arches and replace the random rocks with steel-framed glass doors or add an extension, une véranda in which the modern conveniences could be housed.

There is plenty of room inside to build a sleeping loft above the nave, to lay out carpets and stack up books.

It would be a wonderful place to be quiet, to be forgotten.

Ever the explorer, Remi can run on the fumes of discovery. I need more substantial fare and happily we had stopped off at a roadside bakery for our improvised picnic.

Backs resting against the solid stone, we let our minds stop doing the talking and walking.

Quiet and happiness amidst the cigales singing.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! 

Here we go, in no particular order:

1) Dash at the French Sampler. Some of you might remember what a fabulous time we had when we met up in Aix. She is brilliant and has an encyclopedia noggin’ of all that is fabulous. Unfortunately, she has been on a bit of a hiatus. I am secretly hoping that this little reminder will give her the boost in the derrière to start up again because she is missed!

2) Jane and Lance Hattat of Hattat. Similarly, when the Hattats go on holiday for too long, general panic starts to ensue on the blogosphere. They have the most loyal readership I have seen anywhere and a glance at their current post–which somehow makes a visit from the Queen of Norway while they were in residence at the mind-bogglingly beautiful Villa Massei seem just the most normal thing in the world–will quickly convince you why.

3) Jeanne at Collage of Life. That she was literally blogging from the airport before boarding the airplane before her moving to Vietnam on Sunday says it all. Her generosity of spirit knows no bounds nor does her creativity. She takes an open world-view on life and I will eagerly be looking forward to her discovery of her new home. 

4) Helen Tilston of Helen Tilston Painter. In her current post, she magically weaves working with beeswax, the phenomenal symmetry of the Fibonacci numbers with a poetry reading by Yeats himself. Not to mention that she is kindness personified.

5) Tabitha at Bourbon & pearls. Because, no one and I mean no one makes me laugh as hard and as regularly as Tabs. Even when her Scottishness leaves me wondering what on Earth she is talking about, I still can’t help it. Besides, she can weave a Madame Bovary reference into a post about hemlines without seeming the least bit twee.

6) Aidan at Conjugating Irregular Verbs. She is no-fuss about her writing, is Texan-sized positive, a fellow expat in the South of France and has an adorable Golden who may or may not be Ben’s long-lost girlfriend. What is not to like?

7) Jennifer of Gustia and The Auntie Times. Although she spends most of the year in Monaco, we won’t hold it against her, especially as she is delightfully frank in her writings about her everyday life and does a lot of good through a baking charity that she established soon after arriving from Canada. She is similarly unpretentious in being a “Vegetarian Gourmet” who takes her readers along to some of the world’s finest addresses for veggiemania.

8) Ella of Tales from the chambre de bonne. Girlfriend is brutally honest. She moved to Paris, was engaged, got her heart broken and yet has turned her life around and made it work. Or is trying. She is a work in progress but makes no bones about it which is great because aren’t we all?

9) Mimi at Manger. A recent find, Mimi has immediately charmed me not only with her life–she is beautiful, as are her kids and her husband’s photography is a stunning update on Dutch Master stills–but she has a prescient knack for offering up a recipe for the precise thing that you want to be eating. Delightful.

10) Elizabeth Minchilli at Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome. Elizabeth is an incredibly accomplished author of books that make you whimper such as “Italian Rustic” not to mention being a regular contributor to basically every single design magazine that you have coveted for the past twenty years. She has also written two food apps (for Florence and Rome) and is now giving specialized food tours (sign me up for the cocktail workshop please). But her blog. I receive it usually just about time for the apéro and sit down with a glass of wine because it is always something to be savoured slowly. Grazie.

For those of you that choose to accept your little bit of hello, you are simply asked to make a mention of the person that nominated you (aka this little redhead) and then pass on the award to ten others and let them know. It seems as if the embarrassing rule of answering ten questions about yourself has recently been shuffled down the deck–hallelujah! But I will follow in Natalie’s footsteps and add magnanimously that if there is anything that you really want to know, just ask.

One last little note, today I am guest-posting over at Tish Jett’s blog, A femme d’un certain age about some wonderful and ecological rose-scented products by the company Tadé Pays de Levant. Voice le lien:

http://afemmeduncertainage.blogspot.fr/2012/07/au-nom-de-la-rose.html

I raise my pastis to you in gratitude for staying with me for so long!

Sometimes we need a bit of time in the shadows in order to better see the light all around us.

I’ll admit to being a bit in the doldrums since my Sister left. I always am when family leaves after a visit.  Not only that ease of connection that I have already waxed rhapsodically about but also the promise of unforgotten memory (certainly for me who struggles with memory problems) that is luxury and love and home all rolled into one. Fortunately, I have a wonderful family here in Remi and Ben to understand such sadness, such missing without mistaking it for anything else.

And so I had my blinders on for a few days. Those of thought that cover all else. A moment of me not me. And yet, you guessed it, me nonetheless.

Swinging on a cello song for too long until…

…with a blink, a subtle shift from an outline to taking it all in again, like a big breath.

And how fortunate I am to live in Provence where the light will chase after you relentlessly until you love it back, like you should!

But it is not the only source. Sometimes even little gestures work wonders. My honey buying me flowers today. Not to mention such lovely folks on the internet that know how to do a person good. 

My friend Natalie gave me a little surprise yesterday, yet another blog award! Natalie always inspires me with the precision of her eye on Jewel yet to find. Isn’t that the best name for a blog? And yes, she is very talented for searching out the beauty in both surprising places (as in her recent series on glass) and illuminating aspects of the well-known (such as her exceptional series on Guadi’s Barcelona architecture). She is also incredibly generous in all of her well-thought out comments here, as many of you already know. Merci, Natalie!

And so on to the glamour of the day, Natalie awarded Lost in Arles the Sunshine Blog Award, one for  bloggers “who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.” Now, that made me smile for I get so much that is positive from all of you! 

Having excellent taste (ah-hem), Natalie chose so many of my fellow blog friends that I would have passed this award on to that I will need a moment to make my list. And so next week! We have good friends on the way to spend the afternoon with us followed by a yummy dinner and a movie party on the Rhone tomorrow. Looks like the sun is shining brightly again on this part of the world!

Wishing you all a wonderful, wonderful weekend…

…one followed by a plat of tender beef filets and cumin-spiced potatoes served with a divine garlic cream sauce for dipping. As I only have beef only a few times per year (after nearly twenty years of being allergic to all the crazy business that has been added to so much American beef), I want it to be perfect and yes, voila. This is comfort food folks, done well and so what more do you need for a relaxed afternoon? But I will be back for their more complex autumn/winter menu most certainly…

My Sister was absolutely delighted with her more reasonable and seasonable Planche Fraicheur–consider it a summer Best Of including gazpacho, jambon sec, more goat cheese plus a salad and crostini–at 18€ with a glass of wine included. She appreciated the quality of all of that was served as well as the dose of freshness on a hot summer day.

I never like to feel closed in on a terrace and in Arles our Place du Forum can be a bit of a circus with so much bustle and push. Not so at L’Oustaloun with a wide open view of the church with its random ringing bell, the swish of the plane trees and the sweet mist from the neighbouring fountain. Now, if you don’t feel the Provençal charm in such an environment, I am not sure where you will…

This lunch was took place on the last day of my Sister’s visit and what a fine experience it was. As I mentioned in the previous post, L’Oustaloun also has charming rooms at very reasonable prices. For anyone looking to truly immerse themselves in the experience of an authentic, albeit elegant Provençal village, look no further than this lovely address. 

L’Oustaloun

place de L’Église

13520 Maussane-Les-Alpilles

Tel.: +33 (0)4 90 54 45 57

www.loustaloun.com

Bon appétit!