Monday, September 9, 2019

MY FRENCH GIFT TO YOU


Two of our kiddos just returned from an amazing journey that began in Barcelona and ended in Paris,  with a leisurely road trip up through Provence in between. They are now basking in the giddy afterglow, pouring over photos, telling stories, trying out recipes, etc. I remember that period well, after we did our Viking River Cruise through Provence. Paris was gorgeous, but Provence? Well, it was so much more than a bunch of famous landmarks to have your photo taken in front of. It's about a certain way of living -- the way we were hoping to live here in the Texas Hill Country, and our reason for choosing this as our forever home.




After that trip I was even more obsessed with that way of life, and may have gone a bit bonkers in my efforts to hold onto that glow. I read books set in Provence, bought French cookbooks, poured over all the photos we took and wrote blog posts about it all.




Even the pages in my art journals around that time were all about Provence!

Then, just as the afterglow was beginning to fade, I discovered a blog called My French Corner. It's not specifically about Provence, but it is about the French way of life -- about how they eat and shop and cook, what they think about exercise and skin care and clothes, how they decorate and celebrate, etc. It's actually written by an American teacher whose sister married a Frenchman and went to live there permanently. The teacher then began spending her summers there and fell madly in love with the French way of life. When she had shared all that she had learned, she stopped writing the blog. But, it is still out there, just waiting for you to stumble upon it as I did, start from the very beginning and work your way through to the end.




 
 Bon Voyage!