Culinary and Wine Adventures

Sun, Snow and Healing Waters High in the Pyrenees at Cauterets

  Look toward the Light when the shadows of life pull you down.  Offer gratitude for your blessings and the breath of life.  Bathe others in kindness and love and seek joy wherever you may find it. I am grateful I finally made it to Cauterets, a picturesque jewel of a ski village graced with …

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Christmas Trip To Amazing Naples

Since holidays are always difficult, especially Christmas, after the death of my son, I chose a pre-get-a-way trip for some distraction, colour, and upbeat energy to soften my grief.      Naples was just what I was looking for! A big plus was that I left a sub-freezing Paris, down to -5 C.,  covered up …

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Bubbling Waters of Baden Baden

I started writing this post in February and then felt uncomfortable publishing it after the war in Ukraine broke out as I wanted to address that first.  So here it is, my trip and reflections on grief. Very sadly this war continues adding thousands of others who will have to learn to live with their …

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Back to The Beach at Saint Malo

I have a beach obsession.  Call it a call of the ocean perhaps. A need to feel and see the sea.  To be right next to it.  Especially falling asleep to the sounds of waves. The call is primordial and the connotations are spiritual.  The fluidity, expansiveness, currents and continuity remind me of God, as …

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My Fabulous Birthday Dinner At Pantagruel

As I saw the sun rising over the rooftops, I greeted my birthday with much gratitude.  Another year to behold that would offer seeds of hope and joys to be gathered and shared. Birthdays are more of a challenge to me since I lost my son and with this year, I felt additional rays of …

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My Mini Abbey Retreat By The Sea Near Saint Malo, Part One

After the strict confinement in Paris finally was relaxed to some degree, I found myself craving to flee to the sea.   Oceans for me offer the most healing and revitalizing energy available from mother earth! I first thought of Biarritz in the southern part of coastal France near the Basque country and the border of …

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Austrian Alpine Spas, Klimt And Viennese Cafés

I have been away on my annual February grief getaway.  This time I chose to explore some Austrian Alpine spas sandwiched between a few days in Vienna. Getaway is a misnomer in so far as there is no getting away from grief.  Yet, travel does offer somewhat an alternative distraction of sorts, not avoidance by …

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Mysterious Calling Back To Rocamadour

My longings to return to Rocamadour took on a rather sudden mysterious calling again about  7 days ago.  Out of the blue,  I decided to go back to Rocamadour for another procession of Notre Dame de Rocamadour, this time to celebrate her nativity on September the 8th, which is a major feast day for Catholics …

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A Perfectly Stupendous Birthday Surprise

Little did I know that my birthday was going to be a mind-blowing surprise!  I literally had zero idea, absolutely not even a tiny hint!   I was totally taken off guard and astonished! All I knew was that I had made plans to attend noon Mass,  take in something beautiful to see and then get …

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My Croatian Food And Wine Adventures

[instagram-feed]Wherever I travel,  food and culinary traditions always capture my interest as one of the most important and enjoyable things to seek out.  Croatia may not be a sought after culinary destination, such as France, but there are some wonderful foods and terrific wines to enjoy! You would think that any country with 1,200 islands …

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Bitter Oranges, Cannoli And Tears

I realise that bitter oranges, cannoli and tears have no particular association with each other, nor with anyone else but myself. But blogging is writing down in many ways what’s on my mind, so voila, here it is. I have made no secret that February and March are difficult months for me.  Grief slumps or sometimes valleys …

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Saint Maurice, Superb Artisanal Sausages, And A Sublime Red Wine

I realise that saints, sausages and red wines don’t go together, but they just happened to have been my new travel discoveries and delights from my latest trip through the French Jura mountains and the upper Rhone valley of Switzerland. Each one was certainly meritorious  in their own right, and anyways I always seek spiritual  …

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