Travel, Happiness and Simple Living During Retirement
By Marie Sherlock I had never heard of France’s Haute-Loire area before I planned to travel there – and only then because it was, more or less, a midway point between two other destinations. Turns out it’s a stunningly beautiful departement of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alps region. (French Geography Lesson: There are 13 regions in France –…
By Marie Sherlock I’m devoting this entire post to the doors of just one tiny perched village in the far eastern part of Provence, almost on the Italian border. Coaraze, a quick half-hour drive from Nice, is (IMHO) one of the most underrated plus beaux villages of France. This enchanting hamlet is a maze of…
I didn’t set out to put together a series of photographic essays on “The Doors of (Small Town) France.” In late 2017, I was working on several articles on “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France” (France’s Most Beautiful Small Towns) and found myself mesmerized and gravitating toward the whimsical, varied and sometimes inexplicably small, odd…
By Marie Sherlock Most people have heard of “Keep Austin Weird” and “Keep Portland Weird.” They may even know that the original motivation for the slogan (in both cities) was to promote local, small businesses. Apparently, in a McDonald’s/Walmart/Home Depot saturated world, the concept of supporting local Mom & Pop Shops is, in itself, pretty…
By Marie Sherlock Travel – if done correctly – is always a learning experience. Traveling to a country whose language is foreign to you and then attempting to absorb said language while there amounts to a learning experience – on steroids. As part of my half-century (!) attempt to master the French language, I’ve had…
By Marie Sherlock British Columbia’s Festival du Bois – “Festival of Wood” – has been on my (Pacific Northwest) Bucket List for years. This annual Francophone event takes place in the Maillardville neighborhood of Coquitlam, British Columbia each March and celebrates that area’s claim as the the center of Francophone culture in BC. I live…
By Marie Sherlock First World Problem Alert! I wrote this back in the fall of 2015 when we had the privilege of spending a full month in France. I penned this during the fourth week of our adventure. Before I launch into this blog, I need to make it perfectly clear: We are still having…
By Marie Sherlock Are you happy? It’s probably a good thing to ask yourself every once in awhile, especially if you sense that something is missing in your life. And if you live in the U.S., that could well be the case. Last year the U.S. ranked a lowly 18th among the world’s countries for…
By Marie Sherlock True confessions: I am a Francophile. While Americans are fond of denigrating the French, citing their haughty waiters, their enduring disdain for foreigners, and their apparent physical inability to pick up their dog droppings, I remain an admirer of nearly all-things-French. It likely started with my dear French-Canadian grandmother who spoke a…
By Marie Sherlock I come from a large extended family – many siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins. Of late (I’m now 64), I typically see my cousins at funerals – the funerals of aunts and uncles. 🙁 Anyway, I was talking to one of my cousins at such a gathering a few years back….