Postcards from Europe, #5

NOTE: Mademoiselle was in Paris on Friday night, November 13, 2015, but was unharmed and is safe. She had planned to visit Versailles the next day with her friends, but instead the group traveled back to the south of France, and they are safe.

Up until Friday, I had received 12 postcards from her, and I will continue posting the series as planned. Vive la France!

This painting is L’attente (Margot) by Picasso, and is at the Musée Picasso in Barcelona.

Shortly after I received this one, I asked Mademoiselle about her trip to Barcelona, and whether she’d go back, since it’s so close–just a short train ride away. She shrugged (I imagine) and said, probably not; she has more places to see before she comes home in December. When I spent a year in Montpellier, I went to Barcelona three times. I found it fascinating and lovely. Read what she says below; it’s exactly what I and my friends did, too. I felt the same way when I got back “home” to France.

“Barcelona, Spain

Bonjour!

Just got back from our trip to Barcelona! It was beyond fun. We ate tapas, paella, and drank so much sangria. The Museo Picasso was fantastic, we walked along La Rambla, drank coffee, saw the cathedral and the Sagrada Familia, figured out how to navigate the metro, and probably walked close to 20 miles for the entire weekend. Yet, I was enormously happy to be back in France, where at least I can speak the language!

Stay tuned,

Love,

Mademoiselle

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November 16, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #4

Carcassonne is not too far from Montpellier, and I do wonder what it looks like now compared to a few decades ago, when I visited it with my group of study-abroad students from UNC. I remember that we had a picnic and did not eat at a restaurant, but we did drink wine. I also recall that my fear of heights kicked in as we toured it.

While Mademoiselle was touring Carcassonne, I was appearing at the Decatur Book Festival. She’s been such a great cheerleader for me this fall, as I go here and there to book signings and festival/writers’ conference panels! Something I never dreamed I’d ever do the day I spent in Carcassonne.

“Bonjour!

On Sunday we visited Carcassonne, a medieval fortress that has been completely restored and maintained in its original state. For lunch we went to this fantastic restaurant where we had cassoulet, a specialty of the Languedoc region, and plenty of wine (of course). After, we toured the castle and the cathedral and visited all of the touristy shops! So glad you had fun at the Decatur Book Festival!

Love,

Mademoiselle

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November 13, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #3

This carte postale is hands down my favorite one so far. Nîmes is a town right next to Montpellier, and when I was the age of Mademoiselle, my coloc (roommate, and apartment mate) and I visited it one day toward the end of our year in France. However (and don’t tell Mademoiselle this), to get there, we “fait du stop” (hitch-hiked). But that’s another story.

We saw the Arena (L’Arène) too, but we didn’t get to tour it. I’m sure we looked in the guidebook before we went, but we didn’t see as much as Mademoiselle and her friends saw. Wish we had!

“Bonjour!

We went on our first solo trip to Nîmes for the day, “une ville avec un accent,” and saw almost all of the sights on the other side of the card! La Tour Magne, Le Temple de Diane, La Maison Carrée, L’Arène, Le Jardin de la Fontaine, and the Cathédrale St-Castor. Nîmes is a beautiful small town with fantastic Roman architecture (apparently it was the largest city in Gaul/France during the Roman Empire). We did not get to see the Pont du Gard (bottom right) but it was such a fun trip! Hope all is well!

Love,

Mademoiselle

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November 10, 2015 0

Pizza and a Movie: A Royal Affair

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Anchovies
Poblano Peppers
Spinach

Movie:

A Royal Affair*

*You’ll notice the movie this time wasn’t one currently out in the theaters. That’s because my husband and I had planned to go see The Martian (and still do), but because it was playing at 7:00 – a bit early for us, after going down to the Corner Pizza first – we decided to go home instead, and watch A Royal Affair on Netflix.

I had seen it before, one time when he was out of town, but I love movies about any kind of royalty (and the affair part makes it juicy). Both my husband and I like foreign films, and since our daughter (who’s studying in France) recently visited Copenhagen (and saw the Amalienborg Palace), we thought it would be interesting.

It was.

The movie came out in 2012, and it’s based on a true story. The actress who portrays Caroline Mathilde, Alicia Vikander, starred in Man from Uncle (U.N.C.L.E.) this year, and she did a great job. Turns out, royalty has problems, too.

The pizza we chose was three shades of green (sort of). At my insistance, my husband picked all the toppings, and these are what he chose.

I guess he was in a salty, spicy, and healthy mood.

November 9, 2015 0

List Post: novembre 2015

After a very busy October, it’s time for vacances (vacation)!

Soon I’ll be visiting a dear friend (and my college roommate in France), who lives in Sarasota, Florida. I hear it’s still very warm there…
Shortly after, Thanksgiving will be here. My son who lives in New York will be home for the holiday!
Book news: I’ve begun writing Book 5, another suspense novel set in Atlanta. This time, I already have a great title.
Two more trips are coming up in December, but in between, I’ll be writing.

November 7, 2015

Postcards from Europe, #2

With the exception of Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Carcassonne, France, all of Mademoiselle’s many travel destinations so far have been different from mine when I spent a year abroad in France. Her first excursion was to Collioure.

Mademoiselle and I have similar tastes in art, and she is much more knowledgeable than me about history. And we both adore the beach!

Quelle jolie carte postale, n’est-ce pas?

“Bonjour!

This is from our excursion to Collioure, a medieval port town that’s known for its art scene. Apparently painters like Picasso and Matisse lived there at one point and painted the scenery. Also visited the castle that was once controlled by the Visigoths, the Spanish, and the Huguenots at some point or other, and then laid on the beach (far right).

Love you,

Mademoiselle

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November 6, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #1

My daughter (I’ll call her Mademoiselle, but if you’ve read ALL THE ABOVE, you know her name), is a junior in college, and is spending this semester studying in the south of France. She’s living in the same city I did (Montpellier), when I did the same (as a student at the same university*) for a year. Like me, she’s somewhat of a chronicler, and since August, she’s been sending me postcards (cartes postales) via la poste (snail mail).

Just as I’ve been doing with “Pizza and a Movie” posts, and as I’m starting to do with “Wine with Wendy on Wednesdays,” I’m going to do a series of posts sharing her postcards sent from Europe. Notice that she uses the French way for dates (day/month/year):

Voici la première carte postale:

“Bonjour à tous!

Today I visited the Château de Flaugergues, a small summer home built in 1696 by a member of the French Royal Court! Today it has sprawling gardens and the family that lives there makes wine (the rosé is the best) and it’s only 15 minutes away by train! I hope everything is good at home and I love you all!

Love,

Mademoiselle

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Of course, she’s been in touch with me and her father by telephone, text, email, and even the odd photo on snapchat or instagram. But her postcards seem more special, and they kind of link her time in France with mine.

*The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

November 4, 2015 1

Wine with Wendy on Wednesday: numéro deux

My friend Wendy and I met yesterday at another French bistro, F & B Atlanta, and had a glass of wine with our lunch.

We talked about art and writing, and about our past and upcoming trips. I had some news to share about my next book, the one she just read, pre-publication, as my beta-reader. She’s working on a new painting, and next month, to celebrate her birthday, she’s going on a week-long vacation on a Caribbean island.

It was so much fun to catch up, and I love hearing about Wendy’s (sometimes crazy) adventures. We both raised a houseful of kids (well, she’s still raising hers), and although I’ve known her for several years, yesterday was the first time I realized that the age span of her five children is the same as that of my four: 9 years (technically, for my group, it’s 8 years and 9 months).

My children are older than hers, and none of our kids know each other. They mostly went to different schools, and Wendy and I met not through them but via mutual friends. We connected over our own endeavors, not through our kids’ lives and activities. We talked about that fact yesterday, and about how nice and even refreshing it is to share stories about what we’re doing in our own lives right now.

Wendy had found some problems in my (title still to be revealed) next book, and gave me her take on the book and her opinion about that title–I had changed it from the working title I used most of last year, while I was writing it. I’ve settled on the new title, and I was so grateful to my friend for giving me her valuable feedback, so that I could give the story a final polish.

When we meet again, she’ll be back from her trip, rested and relaxed, and I’ll be looking forward to going on mine. Meantime, I’m going to Nashville, where I’ll be a panelist at the 2015 Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference. *

Which is going to be a fun adventure!

* This week and next, there won’t be a “Pizza and a Movie” post 😦 because this Friday, my husband is taking me out to dinner for my birthday, and the next Friday, I’ll be in Nashville.

October 22, 2015 0

Pizza and a Movie: Sicario

Before I get to this week’s Pizza and a Movie, I have some changes in my schedule for October:

I’ll be at the Book and Art Fair in Griffin GA today, Oct 17, only;
I won’t be at FoxTale Book Shoppe on Oct 21;
I’ll appear and sign books at the Marietta Queen of Hearts Antiques & Interiors on Sat Oct 24 from 11 -2;
I’ll be a Panelist at the Killer Nashville International Writers Conference in Nashville.
My Panel is called “Women of Mystery: Female Sleuths” and will be on Sat Oct 30 at 12:30.

Now, for this weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Bacon
Mushrooms
1/2 Jalapeños, 1/2 Pineapple

Movie:

Sicario

This film was a clever, well done story of revenge. I don’t always go for movies like this, but it was engaging and suspenseful. I love Emily Blunt, too, who, last I read, is married to John Krasinski, who was “Jim” in The Office on TV. (And I love Jim, and John, who has the same birthday I do, by the way, which is coming up shortly…)

Now for the pizza. My husband wanted jalapeños on half of it, and so, instead of extra cheese on mine, I went with pineapple. That made it a bit difficult to choose the other two toppings, but after a short conference while Bill was pouring my husband’s beer (he already had my wine ready), we agreed on the bacon and mushrooms.

We sat outside because it was beautiful, and talked about a variety of things: work, home, plans, and our recent trip to Raleigh for Bouchercon 2015. He’s not going with me Nashville later this month, but I loved having him with me last weekend in North Carolina. After we left the conference, we drove over to Durham where I stopped in the Duke Hospital Gift Shop and left a signed copy of ALL THE ABOVE for the book buyer.

Then we made the short journey to Chapel Hill to see where our daughter, a UNC student who’s studying in France right now, plans to live next semester. Then we went back to Durham where some friends who’ve just moved there had invited us to stay the night. After watching the Falcons win, the four of us went to a French restaurant nearby.

So far, it’s been a great “birthday month!”

October 17, 2015 0