Month: February 2014

And yet *sigh* there were practical issues. Practicality, you are starting to get on my nerves, that is all I am going to say on the matter. I am warning you.

For despite the fact that there is plenty of room, including a nifty mezzanine that could have been my yoga loft, there isn’t the space that we need. I have mentioned before that we have certain pieces that are non-negotiables: our gallery printer, Remi’s equipment, the monastery table. But we couldn’t even figure how to get our sofas in through the tiny, anciently carved windows and doors. I have a feeling that the people that lived here before us must have a very zen futony lifestyle, mais alas, that is not us. A shame because I think that we just might have fallen for this otherwise. A bonus from the experience? The owner and his Sister are so charming that I am sure that we will invite them over for drinks once we do finally find a new place to live.

In the worst case scenarios, I don’t even take photos. And that is saying something as I am usually an obsessive clicker as Remi and I can both see the possibilities in just about anywhere.

This smallish house has a lovely facade and a giant garage with a spacious back room that could be transformed into an office leading to a small outdoor area. French doors, stone walls, wooden beams…promising right?

But then you walk upstairs and see…this. A renovation that has sucked the bone-marrow out of the house’s history. Not an ounce remained and worse…

…this is the bathroom. Enough said.

We had difficulties arranging a visit with the charming young owner of this large and sunny home to rent for a very reasonable price.

It turns out that one of the reasons why is that she is still in the midst of the renovating process, especially for the top floor.

She asked us to use our imaginations to picture what it would be like in a few months time and we assured her that wasn’t a problem, certainly as there are such lovely features as sublime stone throughout…

…save for where it has been painted over…such as poppy red and hot pink…in the same room. Every single room would have to be scraped down, treated or repainted. As we have been through that already, we were pretty sure that we were going to pass…

…and then the toilet, floating randomly in the middle of the bathroom made the decision clear.

Visits like this can be a wee bit depressing. 

Luckily, there exists the stuff that dreams are made on. Such as this Orangerie in Nimes, just ever so slightly out of our price range at 3300€ per month. Remi found the ad for this yesterday and it knocked us both utterly speechless. It is amazing to know that such places still exist. Wouldn’t you agree?

Oh my, that makes my heart jump every time that I look at it. A fairy tale world if ever there was one.

But perhaps you would prefer the garden apartment of a private mansion at 1900€ per month?

It even has something resembling a ballroom opening out onto the lawns…

Here are a few more links. I do hope that these work as they are on a very frenchy website (just click on the photos but do let me know if it is a no go, please) to whet your appetite for some of the fun things available:

Apartment in building “bourgeois” for 1200€ per month

Bastide to rent in Aix-en-Provence, 1600€ per month

Mas in the heart of the Alpilles, 1500€ per month 

Which one would you choose? 

*Edit: I should stress that these are all out of our price range and for dreaming purposes only.*

Oh, how are we possibly on the verge of March? Tell me, how? So while I am a month early, with all of this rain then shine going on out my window, I can’t help but share a favorite tune.

to listen:

Thank you for being here and have a lovely weekend everyone!

While the immortal William Shakespeare may have written, “The eyes are the window to your soul,” I beg to differ. For while we can hide within even the most direct of glances, the voice doesn’t lie. This is something that I have been thinking about in recent conversations with my friend Vickie, who is dipping into the realm of author’s reading their work (her book is coming out on June 1, so more of that anon). 

Where does your voice live in your body? Is it something that you give much thought to? As a former theatre actress, I most certainly have in my day, for it is the most expressive tool in our art. And yet, my voice has changed enormously since moving to France. It took me a few years to realize it, actually. I would only drop back into that deep alto on visits home to the States. The rest of the time my pitch was nearly an octave higher as I questioningly tested words and verb tenses. Gone was that reassuring flow. And it stayed that way for many years as I learned and struggled and stumbled with a very difficult language. And today? Well, I suppose that my voice has settled with time and the confidence that comes with age into somewhere in-between. It seems like there is a lot of the in-between in my life these days and that too I have to assume, to be more sure (for when are we ever 100% certain of anything) and listen keenly to another voice, my inner one.

All the better to see you with, my dear.

As for artistic voices? To live a creative life is fascinating and challenging with many colors that blend seamlessly into one another. It takes enormous courage to put yourself out there over and over again, sometimes only to be repeatedly dealt the brutal blow of rejection. But such a life is not chosen, it chooses you. This is why I have such enormous respect for those who endure. I was incredibly inspired by an article on Flavorwire featuring “10 creative women over 80 you should know.” I thought that you might be too. 

You can find it: http://flavorwire.com/441781/10-creative-women-over-80-you-should-know/view-all/

We have been peeking into secret gardens adorned with mysterious staircases that climb heavenwards blindly…

…while wondering what the view might be from above to below.

We have cat-scratched at patinas…

…and followed light’s traces from east to west, or is it north to south? To see where her elegant tresses fall…

…and where they remain pulled up chignon tight. 

For what we have realized, is that it is less about falling in love with one particular house…

…but more about the “how” of where we will live next.

We both feel a rousing need for quiet…

…and a speck of order.

Something that Arles with its casual abandon may no longer give us.

And so we are roaming, returning to villages like St. Hilaire d’Ozilhan…

…looking with eyes and hearts wide open until we are sure of what is next.

Have a lovely weekend everyone…

It was a Sunday and we all knew it and needed it. Remi and I had picked up our hard-working friends Marc and Bettina in Nimes and then headed up through the winding hills to Uzès. Uzès, how I love thee! Ben knows. He loves it too. But it is in Winter when I prefer it as the town, one of the most beautiful in the South of France, is positively empty. 

Ah, save for at Terroirs, where we grabbed the last outdoor table on the terrace. The gentlemen gave the ladies the view on the Place aux Herbes and backs against the (very much needed) space heaters. We did our best to settle in the dogs and then it was time to consider with anticipation how to give ourselves over to a similarly floppy relaxed abandon.

We puzzled and bantered over the simple yet tempting menu with the charming waiter who leaned on our table and wished that he could join us for a glass of the very nice local wine that he had just poured into our ready glasses. Decisions were made, then changed until promises of shared bites were offered.

I was tired, coming off of a week of not sleeping well. But one of the many aspects of being with our long-time friends is that they take us as we are. There is no need to put on a show or to pretend to be other. So I felt free to be quiet. 

The conversation burbled on around me like little musical notes dancing off the staff. I let my eyes do the talking, taking little snapshots of the view from our table, my camera resting otherwise in my lap. Our food arrived just as my stomach was starting to rumble and I enjoyed my delicious gratin du jour, the cheese bubbling over smoky eggplant to warm me up from the inside so that I no longer needed the polar fleece blanket placed with consideration on the arm of my chair.

We all knew our good fortune at being able to eat outside in February and so we stayed. A second bottle of wine was ordered as it was sold à la ficelle, literally by the string so that you paid only for the level of how much you drank. Because honestly, we just wanted to linger, to pull the moment like the sweet taffy it was.

We were amongst the very last to leave (that was our table at far left) and certainly no one rushed us to go. How quiet the Place was now. Full of Winter.

All the better to take a post-dining stroll, an institution in France.

And when that perambulation happens to be in Uzes…

…well, your eyes will feast as well as your belly has.

Sunday, sweet Sunday…

…I always find a home in you.

Terroirs Restaurant

5 Place aux Herbes

30700 Uzès

Tel. : 04 66 03 41 90

http://www.terroirs-uzes.com/le-restaurant.html

I have something really fun to share with you. As of today, you can walk into any French post office and buy a stamp portraying a bust of Julius Caesar that was made from a photograph taken by my love, Remi Benali.  

There are one million of these stamps available for sale!

For any stamp collectors out there, you may not be surprised to learn that only the stamps bought on the first day of their publication are marked with a special seal, which gives them extra worth. This morning, 500 people lined up at the Musée départemental Arles Antique, which is home to the bust, in order to have the special seal.

As always, I am exceptionally proud of Remi. When we stopped by this evening to buy our stamps, he was not only congratulated but was also asked to autograph the set by many savvy collectors! To see more of his archaeological work (of which I will have news in the months to come), please click here.

And so for my sweetheart on this Valentine’s Day weekend, one of his favorite tunes:

And speaking of this very sweet holiday, I was delighted to have been asked by my friend D.A. Wolf at Daily Plate of Crazy to participate in her series on Food and Love. What I wrote, as with the piece that I wrote for my Mom, comes from the heart. 

To read “Love in the terroir” please click here.

Keep sending out the Love for everyday is Valentine’s Day!

The mystery of the in-between…

… an hour when one doesn’t know whether they are coming or going…

…whether it is the end…

…or just the beginning.

And then we choose, we choose together, to continue on.

Although the light is fading…

…making the path uncertain…

…we trust in our internal guide…

…and the bedrock solid shoulders of loved ones…

…to steer us straight into the new beyond.

One can linger in such moments…

…the dreaming and pondering can be delicious…

…or one can buckle down, dig in and do.

In the twilight, everything seems possible. Details grow, becoming crisp.

And then the moon and stars appear…

…as reassuring as old friends.

In the beautiful village of Gordes in the heart of the Luberon…

…I walked the high-wire through the gloaming…

…until I crossed into the deep true of night.

Step by step, without looking back…

…and dazzled by believing’s shining light.

This post was written as a little Happy Birthday sonata for a lovely woman who writes under the nom de plume of Vickie Lester at one of my very favorite blogs, Beguiling Hollywood. Vickie has been hard at work on her novel, It’s in his kiss, which takes place in, “A camera-ready world of fantasy fulfilled, artifice and bone-deep glamour.” Now, doesn’t that grab your interest? It should. Each chapter that I have read had my heart racing, leaving me hungry for the next. For you see, Ms. Lester is not only a brilliant writer but the real deal who writes about Hollywood, it’s wonders and foibles, from the deep insider point of view. And some of the scandalous tidbits? Well, they very well might be a slightly disguised truth, which we all know is stranger than fiction. 

But not so long ago, after the final edit had been sealed and the book cover designed, Vickie discovered that the publishing team that she had been working so hard with had been dissolved. Just like that, quicker than a sunset. Can you imagine? Years of work. So what to do? In the in-between, we have to make a choice. And rather than lie down on the floor and sob for a few weeks – which is frankly, what I would have done most likely – she kept going. Yes, just like a heroine in one of those old movies that we love and that Vickie knows like the back of her hand (her knowledge of Hollywood, old and new, is positively encyclopedic). And so now, she is bravely stepping forward into the world of self-publishing, a high-wire if there ever was one. She is surrounded and supported by all who know her because she is that kind of woman. So when our mutual friend George Kaplan asked if I would participate in a virtual birthday celebration for Vickie, I said, “Oui” in a heartbeat. 

Now, let’s get this party started:

I believe in you Vickie and you truly inspire me. May this year ahead be as great of an adventure as I feel it will be for you, I am sure of it…

Happy Birthday!

To read another tribute to Vickie, please see the very moving testimony on the power of friendship, beautifully written (as always) by Lanier at Scents Memory: here.

For The Perfumed Dandy’s tribute, please click here.

To read Beguiling Hollywood, please click here.

And to learn more about “It’s in his kiss” and to listen the the lead character’s soundtrack, please click here.

As our house-hunting deadline accelerates rapidly, I am spending more time everyday on the internet, looking at ads with all of the intensity of a witch trying to conjure a magic potion. All of the truly interesting properties – either to rent or to buy – disappear like lightning. And yet, there was one that lingered that I just couldn’t ignore, I wanted to go see it. An appointment was made.

We arrived in a neighborhood that we knew nothing of – very unusual as Arles is not that big and I cover a lot of ground on my walks with the dogs – to find what by all appearances is a traditional Provençal farmhouse in the middle of town with a very large courtyard in front and an attached garage.

Now, to say that the…decor…in the courtyard is…unusual…is an understatement. Wait, did you already take your glasses off? Please put them back on and step inside.

To the left of the entry, is a very large living room with French doors leading to the courtyard. It was filled with light but as the owner was there, I had trouble photographing it so this photo is borrowed from the charming real estate agent. Underneath the crêpi on the walls is gorgeous stone waiting to be revealed.

A fire was roaring in the poêle à bois that had been newly installed and a good thing too as it is the only source of heat for the house!

Ah, just a tad rustic. Such as the pipe descending by the front door…

But there is a charming staircase and again, all of that pretty stone so close and yet so far…

…not to mention very interesting 1930’s ceramic tiles and a sleeping pupper on the entry floor.

Remi was fascinated by the stone surrounds on the doorways, dating from the 18th century, most likely.

Ok, are you ready? Hold your breath and dive in…

…to the kitchen! Ta-dah! Oh, I so wish that I could see the look on your face right now. 

But here is the kicker. The kitchen has enormous potential.

It is far bigger than I could capture and would be just gorgeous once the stone is uncovered and say, oh something wacky like cabinets were installed. 

Back in the hallway, a door that looks as though it is from the beginning of time opens on to…

…a long thin storage space that runs the entire length of la maison, one that has been divided and redivided many times – more of that in a bit.

The roof of the space could be easily replaced with glass to make a lovely veranda.

Up the twisting stairs and you arrive to see…

…Not one but two toilets! hehehe Oh, I am enjoying this. For the house originally was shared between two families that agreed to share the staircase! I told you there was history in Arles…

To the right, is the first bedroom…

…filled with light and larger than it looks.

We don’t need to mention the bathroom.

And to the right is a positively huge room…

…that had been cut in two with a partition (the position of the bed is different in the second photo)…

…in order to create a bathroom and dressing area.

Underneath the linoleum lies lovely tomettes tiles, just waiting to breathe again.

And downstairs off the kitchen is a big garage that looks onto the courtyard. That iron door could be replaced by a glass and steel frame to make this Remi’s office.

See? Here is the angle of the house showing the garage. But what is that you ask?

The possible veranda as seen from above. I’m sorry I can’t hear you. You are asking…what is that just beyond?

Oh, that would be…the train tracks. 

Dun, dun, dun, duuun. Yep, they are right there. Several trains passed while we were visiting the house and oddly, it wasn’t that loud at all. But of course, it would mean the house is unsellable and explains why it has been on the market for nine months.

Now. Here is the question – and I ask you to be polite in your answers please – can you see the potential that Remi and I saw? Because we really did. Or maybe you would have to have lived in Provence as long as we have in order to know. Because it is there. The agent is determined to keep trying until she finds just the right people to bring it back to life. 

That won’t be us but we would have been sorely tempted if it weren’t for the proximity to Choochoo Land. It was a fascinating little trip back in time. I hope that you enjoyed it. 

We are ramping up the visits. We saw an absolutely stunning rental last week that is sadly, too small (we have non-negotiable things to consider with Remi’s equipment and the printer for the gallery). And we have two visits today, one for a rental, another for sale. Yes, I will keep you posted. 

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

…we brought Kipling home to live with us.

We met him at the local ASPCA. He had been abandoned and was shaking scared.

And yet, he immediately seemed to set his hopes on us.

We saw at that first meeting that he could get along with Ben and that maybe he would be a good fit in our family.

To read Kipling’s story in my initial post, please click here. 

He was in pretty rough shape when he came to live with us.

His recovery was long but he had Ben, ever the gentleman, to look out for him.

Once he was healed, we started to understand who Kipling truly is. I remember taking the above photo so clearly, it was the first moment that we let him roam off leash in the Alpilles and how he transformed!

For in the country, he is another dog entirely…

…confident, at ease…

…fearless (too much so at times – immediately after the above photo was taken, he ran down the steep ravine that he was looking into until he fell, hurt his paw and dragged himself into a river to heal. Remi had to go down to help bring him back up)…

…and always ready to explore (also at times too much – for while we have trained him to come when we call, he has still given us a few scares and we have to keep a strong eye on him).

His speed and agility are truly amazing and beautiful to behold. 

Each characteristic is a clue as to what his life was before.

We know that he was beaten but that he was allowed to sleep on the bed. That he rode shotgun in the car. That he isn’t afraid of the hottest sun, that he loves the water but not the sea. 

Physically, he has changed as well. Although the fur that was shaved off his belly has not grown back, he is now at a proper weight. His eyes, which were closed slits when he arrived chez nous, are now open and bright.

Kipling is incredibly loyal. 

I believe that he is starting to really get it that we won’t abandon him. While he is incredibly sweet with us at home, I have to admit that he is not always an easy dog in public. Since he has regained his strength, he has become more aggressive against cats, other dogs (of all shapes, sizes and ages) and even towards people if he thinks that I need protecting. That is a job that he takes very seriously and he does very well. Two weeks ago, while Remi was out of town, three men broke into the front hall of our building. Kipling heard them, started barking furiously and scared them away! Good boy, Kip. In the above photo, he is looking for son maitre who is far in the distance. He sat frozen like that until Remi returned. “That dog would follow you to the ends of the earth,” I often say. And he would.

Just as Ben claimed the Napoleon III chaise-longue as a puppy, Kipling immediately decided that the red leather couch near my desk would be “his”. Please excuse the inelegant pose but to see him so relaxed and undefended does my heart good. While he still has a tendency to follow me around from room to room, he has made progress with abandonment issues too. Now, when Remi and I leave the puppers behind when heading out the door, he no longer howls with worry but understands when we tell him, “We will come back.”

But what about Kipling and Ben together?

That too is a work in progress. After a smooth beginning and even some cuddly moments, they have pulled apart. They get along fine but are not the best buddies that I would have hoped them to be. At least not yet. Kipling is only beginning to learn how to play. He doesn’t have a clue what to do with toys and finally learned how to romp with another dog thanks to Ganache, the down-right goofy Rottweiler that lives at La Buissonade. Ben does try but Kipling hesitates. I think that if we are able to move to the country and each dog has more space, this will work itself out. They like each other, I know.

For there are moments, as in this photo taken the other day, that suggest they might be getting closer. Kipling’s arrival was also a challenge for Ben, who was very used to being the king of the roost. While we have continually assured him and showered him with love, he did pull away from Remi and I as well for some months. That too seems to finally be shifting back into a happier exchange as Ben understands that Kipling is here now and that we care for them both, enormously.

Limbo lies heavily on my shoulders. While some can see it as the pause before change, I find myself dancing awkwardly, offbeat and caught up in waiting. When asked, “What is your biggest challenge?”, well, I know that my response is relative and a shape-shifter depending on where one is at in a certain point in life. But for right now, if I am being honest, I would have to answer, “Trusting.” So much has been up in the air these past few months, so many glittering balls suspended, yet to tumble down. They will. And I am definitely aware that uncertainty is a part of many of our daily lives. Best then to try and make peace with this parenthesis. When I am present enough, I can decide to root myself in searching for beauty, my balm…

Day in, day out.

Ben reminds me to keep it simple.

Remi reassures me with a quick kiss in passing.

My Sister reminds me to take good care of myself and I know that there is strength to be found in helping others.

(Buy U2’s excellent song “Invisible” on itunes or donate to the Bank of America’s pledge for RED’s fight against AIDS.

or

Take The Valentine’s Day Romantic survey to help BabyHeart: http://womensvoicesforchange.org/80609.htm – thanks Tish!)

And when in limbo, what better a time to ask yourself the important questions.

“Do you have Love for Humankind?” I do and in that I trust. The rest will work itself out.

To listen and watch:

Today’s post is my contribution to the By Invitation Only party. Once a month, a group of bloggers from around the world, write on a specific theme. This month’s theme is “What is your Biggest Challenge?” To discover the other posts, please click here.