France French Life Paris Tours: Clay Jenkinson France Palais Royal Paris radio interview The Jefferson Hour Thomas Jefferson tours to France Travel Fun
by maribeth
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The Thomas Jefferson Hour in Paris
The Palais Royal Gardens
Palais Royal
Clay Jenkinson as Thomas Jefferson
Mon dieu! My heart is still singing from a whirlwind trip I took to France this past week. I enjoyed six joyous days in Paris and two in the country, in Normandy and Versailles. My spirit remains light with all the love, culture and beauty I soaked up during my stay. I traveled with a dear friend for the marriage of my goddaughter and we had a marvelous time. I will be writing more about impressions, tips and recommendations from that trip within the upcoming month. I’m also posting beaucoup de fabulous photos on social media, so go ahead and follow me on Facebook (and also FB for A Tour of the Heart), Instagram and Twitter for images of an insider’s experience in France. (Remember that I lived in Paris eleven years, so this trip was largely about connecting with old friends.) La bonne cuisine française, wine, French savoir faire and the amelioration of Franco-American relations (translation: lots of talking in French, English and Franglais) dominated the program. C’était merveilleux!
You can transport yourself there in this evening’s Travel Fun, my talk show on travel at 6:30pm MST. I taped an interview with Clay Jenkinson, scholar, writer, historical interpreter and creator of The Thomas Jefferson Hour, a podcast and award-winning NPR program, that features the third president of the United States just before I left Telluride. Mr. Jenkinson portrays Jefferson, a man of the Enlightenment, and answers questions about current affairs with all the intelligence and elegance of this renowned statesman.
Monsieur Jefferson embraced France with great passion and verve, which is why I found it appropriate that I have a conversation with both Clay Jenkinson and Thomas Jefferson about this great man’s time in France.
Tune into KOTO.org at 6:30pm MST tonight to hear the interview I conducted just before I headed to Paris.
Clay Jenkinson
Best of all: You can actually travel to France this fall with Monsieur Jefferson AKA Clay Jenkinson on a trip that takes you to Paris, the Loire Valley, Bordeaux, Dordogne, Provence and Burgundy, un voyage that highlights many of Jefferson’s favorite sites, including vineyards that please American wine aficionados more so than ever centuries later. (Jefferson was surely one of the first big importers of French wine in America.)
There’s also a Canal du Midi add on to this trip, which is currently sold out yet I feel that Clay will be offering it again. Be sure to peruse the program of other trips that Thomas Jefferson, or rather Clay Jenkinson, will be leading this year, too. If they are anything like Jefferson, expect lots of excellent food, drink, conversation, history and culture in incredibly scenic places.
I hope you like my selection of Paris photos that accompany this post. I took them at the Palais Royal gardens. Even though these buildings and gardens date back to the seventeenth century, I imagined Thomas Jefferson strolling here during his time in the French capital toward the latter part of the 1700s. Don’t you?
Les Jardins du Palais Royal
Note that I will try to post this interview here soon as a podcast.
Europe France French Life: France grief loss love Notre Dame Paris resilience
by maribeth
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On Notre Dame, Loss and Love
Notre Dame de Paris
Up Close
Closer
So much has been said, written and felt about the devastating fire that ripped through Notre de Dame de Paris three weeks ago that I’m not sure there’s room to add more. Yet like the loss of a loved one, it is healing to process the pain throughout the weeks, months and years beyond the initial shock. As with death, this tragic event will always leave a hole in our hearts, since many of us did suffer a huge sense of loss, particularly on the emotional front.
For me, it brought up so much on so many levels. Le choque, or the shock, of this magnificent Gothic cathedral catching on fire was what first hit me. Utter disbelief that quickly gave way to a flood of tears. The unthinkable had happened. I remembered staring at her magnificent flying buttresses at length on a homework assignment for my Architecture de Paris course when I did my junior year abroad in Paris. Those old stones had already lived well for centuries; there was no reason to think that they would not endure centuries more. And then when I settled into living in Paris for another ten years, Notre Dame was a constant–as much as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysées, the rabbit warren streets of the Latin Quarter, the cafés of the Left Bank and so many other parts of the French capital that are quintessentially Parisian.
France French Life Paris Romance & Relationships: French Life Paris Paris attacks Relationships
by maribeth
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Paris Attacks Hit Home
View from My House in Telluride, Colorado
It’s sparkling white here in Telluride, Colorado. We’ve been graced with bright blue skies after a major storm dumped about three feet of snow on our already snowy mountains. Normally my heart would be singing with the excitement that comes with the start of each ski season. But despite the glorious scene that lays before me, I feel cobbled together with a jumble of emotions I’m doing my best to manage.
I did some work with hospice about twenty years ago and learned in the training that each loss brings up a past loss. I suppose by the end of our lives our hearts are filled with an accumulation of losses. A grim thought, but hopefully we find out along the way how to balance our complexities of emotions. But still, there are times when the bottom seems to fall out of our hearts.
This has been one of those times for me. The horrific events in Paris of just one week ago have touched so many of us. They’ve triggered thoughts of 9/11and other PTSD moments, big and small. They’ve made us weep for a beautiful city loved by many whether we’ve traveled there or not. They’ve made us feel the ultimate violation of enjoying a sense of safety in the most civilized parts of the world. They’ve made us feel like one. We are one, we are one with Paris, one with France, one with the whole world.
In a city of over two and a quarter million inhabitants, I wanted to make sure that everyone I knew there was safe last Friday night. On ne sais jamais. It’s bad enough that this horrible violence was happening but I prayed that all my loved ones and contacts from having had a close connection with the City of Light for almost four decades were safe.
And then it came. The news that my ex-husband, Stéphane de Bourgies, had lost his wife, Véronique Geoffroy de Bourgies, in the attack on the little bistrot, La Belle Equipe, rue de Charonne. I felt shattered. Vraiment boulversé. No, no, please God, don’t let it be true. I had been checking Steph’s Facebook page all night for news and finally the unimaginable was posted. I had already written on Véronique’s timeline that I was thinking about her and her family and hoping everyone was safe. Oh God, please let this be a mistake.
France French Life Paris Travel Writing & Books: A Tour of the Heart beautiful images Champs-Elysées France Out and About in Paris Paris Paris finish Tour de France travel information
by maribeth
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Out and About in Paris Showcases the City of Light and More
Happy Bastille Day from Out and About in Paris
Happy Bastille Day everyone! It’s France’s National Holiday and a good day for us Francophiles to raise our glass to the French and all that we love about France and Paris.
The Tour de France Arriving in the French Capital
There are two days–both in July–when you want to be on the Champs-Elysées in Paris: today, July 14 and the last day of the Tour de France bike race which typically occurs the third Sunday in July. On both these occasions, you can witness magnificent displays of color and might on one of the world’s most beautiful avenues in one of the world’s most magnificent cities. The parade has already passed by today, but mark your calendar for Sunday, July 26 when the Tour zooms into Paree.
Dining in France According to Out and About in Paris
Ah Paree
How do you keep up with what’s happening in and around Paris? Where do you find your daily dose of alluring images of this top travel destination? The website/blog Out and About in Paris is your answer to this and beaucoup plus! In addition to reading their blog posts, plug yourself into their social media and you’ll be gloriously showered with all that you know and love about the City of Light. The oh-so dynamic and très internationale Mary Kay Bosshart is the driving force behind all that is Out and About in Paris. Honestly, I don’t know how she keeps up with her reporting and postings but she does with great enthusiasm and panache.
French Life Shopping: charming online shopping Mother's Day gift ideas
by maribeth
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Mother’s Day Gift Ideas-2015
Lovely Lily of the Valley
It’s almost May 1st, or May Day, a holiday widely celebrated in Europe. My favorite part of this fête nationale in France is the muguet, or lily of the valley, that delicate flower with droplets of blooms that resemble little white wedding bells. You can enjoy its fresh, redolent scent in Diorissimo, a signature fragrance of the House of Dior. Christian Dior’s favorite flower was, in fact, le muguet, one of the most beloved symbols of happiness in France. On le premier mai en France, most everything is closed, but you can still find all kinds of bouquets of muguet sold throughout–from street corners to flower shops.
Telluride Truffle Mother’s Day Gift Box
Telluride Truffle Spring Gift Box
Ruth’s Toffee
Pink Champagne from Henri’s Reserve
Voilà there’s one terrific gift idea for the lovely lady in your life for this Mother’s Day. Read about many more at my Online Shopping page. Many of the online boutiques I feature actually showcase European goods or goods of such fine quality that they could pass for European made. Telluride Truffle and Ruth’s Toffee are such examples and indeed the quality of their products rivals some of the delectable treats I’ve sampled from France’s top chocolatiers. What mom wouldn’t be thrilled to receive some sweets from these two Colorado-based confectioners! Pay close attention to the instructions on my Online Shopping page to receive a 10% discount on online orders from these two purveyors and all others highlighted on that page (and below).
Nothing says holiday like bubbly, especially when it’s champagne. Send mom a beautiful bottle of champagne rosé from Henri’s Reserve to celebrate her. I promise she’ll be tickled pink.
Art & Culture Colorado Denver French Life Restaurants: Bistro Vendôme Brilliant Cartier Cartier Exhibition Denver Denver Art Museum French restaurants Denver Le Central
by maribeth
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Showcasing Cartier at the Denver Art Museum
Tempting Tiara from the Cartier Show at the Denver Art Museum
It’s been snowing like crazy here in Colorado these past ten days. We had a couple of bluebird days in the middle of two huge storms, which made our sparkling blanket of snow diamonds shine all the more brilliantly.
But let me tell you about the other kind of diamonds–the real ones, prized stones whose glistening facets have held people in rapt attention for centuries. These stones become even more magnificent when they have been placed into exquisite settings by world renowned jewelers such as Cartier. You’ll see an avalanche of them as well as emeralds, rubies, sapphires, onyx, turquoise and other precious and semi precious stones that have been crafted into fabulous jewelry and objets at Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century at the Denver Art Museum (DAM), a world-exclusive exhibition open–now for extended hours–through March 17th.
Colorado France French Life Paris Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: Charlie Hebdo French Girl in Seattle Paris teaching skiing Telluride Ski Resort
by maribeth
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Wishing You the Best for 2015
Skiing is Fun
How are you, dear reader?
I wish you good health, love and joy in this new year. It might seem like these well wishes are coming a little late, but strike it up to the French in me. In France, it’s tout à fait acceptable to extend new year’s wishes–both verbally and in writing–through January 31. I love how most everyone you encounter in France echoes choruses of “bonne année, bonne santé” throughout the whole month of January. I’m sure that this year those wishes are even more sincere.
After a super busy holiday season teaching skiing day after day at the Telluride Ski Resort during an extremely cold period of time, I finally collapsed from a mega head cold and sheer exhaustion (perhaps partly brought on by my big move the first part of December). I spent a whole week on the couch, one marked by the tragedy of the events that unfolded in Paris. So very sad. Like so many, my heart ached for all involved and for my beloved France. I checked in with my friends in Paris to express my love and support, many of whom attended the demonstration that was held a week ago today. Vive la France! Vive Franco-American friendship and may the French forgive us for the faux pas of not sending proper representation on their important day of solidarité.
Food & Wine France French Life Paris Travel: Belgian Friends Belgian Friendship Cassandra Moonen Clarins Entertaining France French Friends French Friendship French Life Stéphane de Bourgies Victoria Wolff Wolff & Descourtis
by maribeth
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Grateful for My Friends in France and Belgium
Laughing with Marie in a Paris Café
My Petit Dejeuner in that Café
Toasting Life Chez Michèle et Loic
Zee Sunday Brunch Spread
Pain, Vin et Fromage Chez Steph et Véronqiue
I’m big at counting my blessings year round. As challenging as life can be, I try as much as possible to pause and feel truly grateful for all that I have in my life.
There’s so much for which to be grateful, especially when it comes to love. There’s nothing like feeling love and appreciation. There’s nothing like feeling valued. There’s nothing like feeling your heart swell with love–day after day after day.
I was blessed with an outpouring of love during my recent trip to Europe when friends in France went out of their way to meet with me for coffee, organize special dinners, include me in on Sunday lunches and chat with me at great length over leisurely breakfasts and afternoon teas. My friends in Antwerp entertained me all weekend long. And throughout every encounter, I felt a connectedness with my European friends that made it feel as though I had just seen them the week before. (It had, in fact, been many years.)
