France is famous for its flowers because of its rich royal history, its booming perfume industry in Grasse in Southern France, and its deep cultural love for nature. It’s like the French perfected the love of flowers, as they did with wine, and for centuries at that. Flowers are a major part of French art, fashion, and daily life, and it’s noticeable, or at least it is for me. Everywhere my eyes landed around Nîmes, Monoblet, Uzes, and little towns in Provence, they were met

This post may be similar to others I wrote a few weeks ago. However, this time I was able to reflect on and process what I experienced just a little more deeply. I am grateful beyond measure. “ Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men (and I’m adding women) and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. ” –

Hubby Bill and I have had the time of our lives over the last 39 years of marriage. We’ve managed through the good times and not so good times, a testament to our commitment to each other. When we said our I do’s on June 13, 1987, on a sunny and brilliant day in Cleveland, Ohio, we never knew where life would take us. No one does. But, we had fortitude, zeal, and a will to keep our love alive as best we could no matter what. Those vows were not lost on us. Over the last few w

We are finally here at the retreat for writers in the beautiful Cevennes, about an hour north of Nîmes. All writers from the US, France, and The Netherlands arrived yesterday late afternoon, just in time for aperitifs on one of the many cobblestone decks of this private home built in the 16th century. The Cevennes is a peaceful haven of small villages and hamlets nestled amoung wild forests, rivers, farmer’s markets and wineries. It’s really a hidden secret here in the South

It’s T-1 day until Bill and I head to the Cevennes for a Retreat for Writers. The folks we have been hanging out with in Nîmes the past week (and the past few days with Bill in town) are going too. We will all meet up with about a dozen more folks, most coming in from the USA and Spain tomorrow afternoon. The days are flying by, and I am happy to report that I am taking advantage of the light, the glorious light, from a little after 6 am to 9:15 pm. No wonder why all those im