Colorado Cycling France French Life French Provinces Outdoor Adventures Paris Podcasts Telluride Writing & Books: Colorado Cycling France French Life French Provinces Outdoor Adventures Paris Podcasts Telluride Writing & Books
by maribeth
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Read and Listen to What I Say About A Tour of the Heart
A Tour of the Heart book cover
I’ve been pounding the pavement this past week, promoting my book, A Tour of the Heart: A Seductive Cycling Trip Through France. It’s been great getting out there chatting with people at promotions I’ve done in conjunction with the USA Pro Cycling Challenge—it’s always nice to connect with like minded people that enjoy to read. The beautiful cover of this travel memoir/love story draws people in right away and then I take it from there. I tell some people a lot about my book; others just a little—whatever it takes for them to determine if this is a read for them. I’ve done readings, signings and press interviews and have even distributed flyers and postcards the old fashioned way. To me, it has all been important and best of all, it has afforded me the opportunity to chat with people that love cycling, France, Colorado, food and wine, adventure, romance and other components of my story.
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Paris Podcasts Travel Writing & Books: Paris Podcasts Travel Writing & Books
by maribeth
Comments Off on Don George: Leading Travel Writer, Editor and Travel Writers Conference Founder
Don George: Leading Travel Writer, Editor and Travel Writers Conference Founder
Don George
“The more we travel, the bigger we become,” says Don George in our Travel Fun interview below. This leading travel writer and editor is certainly not referring to added poundage. Instead, in our half-hour chat, Don talks about how travel can expand one’s view of the world, whether you’re actually on the road or reading about a journey in a book or a story.
I met this influential force in travel writing about seven years ago when I attended the Travel Writers & Photographers Conference at Book Passage in Corte Madera, California. Don founded this now-renowned conference twenty-two years ago with Elaine Petrocelli, the owner of this fine independent bookstore, when he was travel editor at the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle. I felt drawn to him by his passion for travel and his keen desire to share his knowledge and expertise of the travel writer trade with others. When I learned that Don George was a major Francophile, I became even more of a fan.
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Colorado French Provinces Paris Travel Trip Planning: Colorado French Provinces Paris Travel Trip Planning
by maribeth
Comments Off on Trip Planning Pour Vous
Trip Planning Pour Vous
La Borde Maison d’Hôtes in Burgundy
I’ve been busy the past couple of weeks planning trips for people. Did you know I do that? I don’t publicize it much since it’s sometimes hard to juggle the time required to set up a wonderful trip for someone with my ski instructor/travel writer life, but I’ve decided to put the word out more about this service.
My forte is arranging travel for people to France (Paris and the French provinces, bien sur) and, of course, Colorado. Those are my two loves and having lived eleven years in France and now the same amount of time in Colorado, I know my subject matter. At the risk of sounding immodest, I know these destinations as an expert, as someone that has authored five books on France and blogged about Colorado and other parts of the American West for almost five years. Voilà, those are my credentials. And with all the research I’ve done for myself to travel and experience these different places, you can bet I’ve organized countless trips. It has been fun doing it for others as well since in most everything I do, I try to share my passion for my favorite lands.
French Life Paris Podcasts Restaurants Travel: French Life Paris Podcasts Restaurants Travel
by maribeth
Comments Off on Girls Guide to Paris: Your Resource for Paris and More
Girls Guide to Paris: Your Resource for Paris and More
Place des Vosges
There are so many websites and blogs on Paris that you can spend hours—if not days—perusing them in an effort to find the information you’re seeking for the City of Light. Want to check out the hottest restaurants? How about some up-to-the-minute fashion news? Or even better, do you need to find just the right place of lodging for your dream trip? Girls Guide to Paris provides this and more.
Doni Belau, Founder of Girls Guide to Paris
I chatted with Doni Belau, founder of this dynamic site on Paris and other French destinations, during a special April in Paris Travel Fun interview last month. Click on the play button below to listen to what Doni has to say about yet another of her “passion projects.”
Indeed, Doni is a woman of many passions. I was familiar with Girls Guide to Paris for a while although I came to know Doni from Susan Viebrock, a connection here in Telluride that does her own information-packed website/blog, Telluride Inside…and Out. Susan wrote a story that showcased Doni’s philanthropic works in the post TAB Welcomes Honorary Beneficiary: Ubuntu Africa. TAB, or Telluride Aids Benefit, is an organization that raises money for HIV/AIDS education, advocacy and NGOs. They put on many fun and happening events throughout Telluride Gay Ski Week. This year, Doni’s organization, Ubuntu Africa, was one of the beneficiaries from funds raised by TAB. Doni actually came to T-ride, my town, for the events, yet unfortunately we did not meet up in person. (She actually found out about TAB from Kittie Lingeman Brown, a former resident of Telluride that now lives in Paris.) Doni talks about that experience and her impressions of Telluride—particularly the fabulous TAB Fashion Show—in the below interview.
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Art & Culture Food & Wine French Life Paris Shopping Travel Writing & Books: Art & Culture Food & Wine French Life Paris Shopping Travel Travel Writing Writing & Books
by maribeth
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French Village Diaries: Books, Cakes, French Life and More
Jacqui Brown
With ski season behind me, I suddenly have a voracious appetite for reading. I always want to read and to me, it’s one of the most relaxing and enjoyable activities in the world. But during ski season I’m exhausted in the evenings and tend to just zone out in front of the TV and then head to bed before there’s time for a leisurely read. (Also, I often stay up late when engrossed in a good book and that certainly doesn’t gel with a ski instructor’s need for a long, fat sleep.)
Being the Francophile that I am, I love reading books set in France. Whether it’s Paris or the provinces, if the writing is rich, I relish being instantly transported to my beloved land. So you can only imagine how thrilled I was when I discovered Jaqui Brown’s charming website/blog, French Village Diaries. There you may delve into an abundance of book reviews on books relating to France and then shop in her online bookstore which features titles she has reviewed and more. Jacqui, a Brit that moved to France in 2004 with her British husband, scours the internet for the most interesting reads on her adopted country. That’s how she found my book, A Tour of the Heart: A Seductive Cycling Trip Through France, and then wrote it up at French Village Diaries.
Art & Culture Cycling Food & Wine French Life French Provinces Girl Talk Hotels & Lodging Paris Restaurants Romance & Relationships Travel Writing & Books: Art & Culture Cycling Food & Wine French Life French Provinces Girl Talk Hotels & Lodging Paris Restaurants Romance & Relationships Travel Writing & Books
by maribeth
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A Tour of the Heart and KOTO Love
My New Book: A TOUR OF THE HEART
Last year around this time, I celebrated a milestone birthday. I was grateful that I was feeling healthy and well, the most fit I’d been in ages and ten pounds thinner (a rarity for me since my weight never fluctuates). Here I am a year later having perhaps gained back five of those pounds—I don’t really know since I stopped weighing myself (a good sign of maturity). And now I’m two days away from another b-day with something far more significant to celebrate—a new book!
Twelve years. Yes, twelve years. I can’t believe it myself. It was twelve years ago that I began to plan a trip that would forever change my life. I actually took that trip in the fall of 2000. We all have transformative events and travels in our lives. I just happen to take a lot of notes on mine. “A Tour of the Heart: A Seductive Cycling Trip Through France” is the fruit of all that note taking and so much more.” Click here to see a preview and download excerpts. I hope you’ll enjoy the read. Books are rolling into bookstores now; be sure to ask for it if you don’t readily see it on the shelf. You can also purchase it as a paperback through amazon now or as an eBook on kindle.
Since it’s KOTO fundraising time and I love my NPR-station here in Telluride, Colorado, you can receive a free e-book with every $20. donation and a free paperback with every $30. donation. Books sell for $8. and $20. respectively. Contact me directly through this site to make your donation. Also, if you enjoy Travel Fun, my talk radio show on travel, and the podcasts of those interviews I post here on this blog, please make a pledge or donation to KOTO as well. For that also, it’s best to contact me directly. Community radio is a rare breed in the U.S. and ours is almost entirely supported by caring people like you.
I will be talking about “A Tour of the Heart: A Seductive Cycling Trip Through France,” on Travel Fun tomorrow, August 21, at 6 p.m. mountain time. You can also tune in on the Internet at KOTO.org at the time of the broadcast. I hope to post that interview as a podcast on this blog within the upcoming week.
One more thing: Click here to become a fan of A Tour of the Heart on Facebook.
Merci!
French Life French Provinces Paris Writing & Books: French Life French Province Paris Writing & Books
by maribeth
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Dog Trots Globe to Paris & Provence
An American Dog’s Dream Vacation: Chula in Provence
I’ve sometimes thought I’d like to have a dog just to be able to take him or her to France. Although not a dog owner, I’ve always been amused by clients in French restaurants—including fine establishments in Paris—that enjoy a meal in the company of leur chien. It’s always so much fun to see the French fawn over these cherished, four-legged creatures. So much so, in fact, that a water bowl for the dog is often brought out before une carafe d’eau for his or her master.
Art & Culture French Life Hotels & Lodging Music & Dance Paris Podcasts Restaurants: Art & Culture French Life Hotels & Lodging Music & Dance Paris Podcasts Restaurants
by maribeth
Comments Off on Terrance Galenter from Paris Through Expatriate Eyes: An American Bon Vivant
Terrance Galenter from Paris Through Expatriate Eyes: An American Bon Vivant
Terrance (Seated in Blue Sweater) and His Cohorts at the Famous Café de Flore
Ahhhhh. April in Paris. It truly is a delightful time for visiting the City of Light. And as Terrance Galenter, emphasizes in my below Travel Fun interview, the month of May is even better.
Terrance, an American that started Paris through Expatriate Eyes ten years ago in California, has been operating from the French capital for the past fours years. He’s your point person in Paree for everything from tours to lodging, restaurant and reading recommendations. “It’s a very small town for a big town,” Terrance says about Paris. And if you make contact with him before or during your Paris stay, he’s sure to make this fabulous city a smaller, more comfortable place for you.
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