i moved!!!

ok, so i didn't actually move...as in moving house. i'm just moving webpages. for me, just as fun though! :-)

i've decided that i am going to continue blogging but feel that i need a new page, a new name and a new look. i enjoy writing and exploring my thoughts through my blog and hope you all continue to join me!

if you want to stay with me, please change your links, shortcuts or bookmarks to my new blog called "sans map".

you can find me here: www.sansmap.wordpress.com

and just as i like to mix french and english in life, my new blog name is just that. sans in french means without. and map, well, no explanation needed.

please bear with me as i move everything over...i still have to setup e-mail notifications, make some formatting changes, etc. as always, it's a work in progress.

see you over there!!!!

turning the pages

i bit the bullet and am officially going for it. i bought 3 books from amazon today as my first step.

these are 3 books that have been sitting in my amazon.com wishlist for too long.

for those of you with amazon.com wishlists, you know what i mean. you want the books, but maybe not right now.....need time to think about it, or just dreaming of having more books and click the little 'add to wishlist' button - forever saved in the list? (can you see me smiling from there? more books!!!)

are you dying to know what i got? can't stand the anticipation? (or are you just wishing that you knew the contents of my wishlist? hmmm....the curiosity!)

perhaps you are thinking that i got yet another book about the south of france or something in french, (my favorite topics), or a witty novel? a book about running, knitting or making soap? maybe even on gardening or something 'green'?

nope, nope and nope.

you know that one game, 'getting hotter'...'colder', 'getting warmer'.
well, you're very cold. freezing even.

i bought study guides. 3 of them. and i sure hope they help.

i am taking the GRE general test for admission into graduate school.

(now i know you can see me smiling from there...)

why should i only dream, hope or wait when i can do, accomplish and achieve?

i am turning the pages of my own story...a new chapter, perhaps a true beginning? stick with me to see what happens next...

......hmmmm, the curiosity...

go green ! !

you may be confused by this title, me being a spartan and all.

truth is, i don't even own anything anymore that even mentions michigan state. or the spartans. and i don't bleed green. (i think i heard your gasp from here...)

what i do want to talk about is about BEING green. not bleeding, or wearing or shouting green.

image by lisa wood, 2009

courtesy of www.associatedcontent.com

and i want to hear from you.

what do you do to help the environment? what part do you play in reducing, reusing and recycling?

share some pride about what you do to help mother earth by letting everyone know what you do, big or small. you may even give someone else a fabulous idea, or inspire them to do the same!!

leave your thoughts in the comments box by clicking on 'comments' below this post....be the first to start the discussion!

we can all make a difference!

reduce, reuse, recycle....
lower consumption, lower emissions, lower greenhouse gasses

i know i'm doing my part to help :-)

no map

inspiration comes in many forms. sometimes it may even literally be handed to you.

the new name of my blog came as inspiration, on my behalf, to my talented sister. she always has good advice....and is unrelentingly supportive, i thank you a million times over.

so as i turn a new page, a new chapter, i will think of her kind words:

"may the map you follow continue to be uncharted"

our lives aren't already mapped out for us....we must make our own.

no map.

in the eye of the beholder...

two full weeks have passed since i tearfully left the magnificent south of france. i almost had to be pushed onto the plane. dragging heels, frown and a pit in my stomach.

almost 6 months living, experiencing, taking in the wonderful life of the french; it's significant. perhaps life changing...

i truly do believe that there is beauty all around us, no matter where we go. i will make that beauty apparent, live it, breathe it...or chase it if it flutters too far away....

in my temporary suburban dwelling, this beauty i speak of is oftentimes clouded by life's many tragic distractions. i won't let that stop me though. perhaps i can even help others to see it too...

everything is in the eye of the beholder. you just have to look. if you don't see it at first, look again. i promise it's there.



in my first real attempt to actually grow something edible, renewable, to soothe my conscious, we started a pseudo-garden on the back deck. it's small, somewhat amateur, i admit.

we have delectable vine tomatoes, fragrant basil, thyme and rosemary. ohhh, the scents! i wait with child-like anticipation the day i can sink my teeth into a juicy tomato; the beginning lives of my tomatoes below....


i thank you all, loyal readers, for riding along with me thus far. i think i have gotten used to having you here, listening and reading.

it's like a gentle push forward, a reassuring nudge into the unknown. we are all always moving forward, and isn't it nice to have people come along?


beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

i know you see it too....

au revoir, for now.....

after 5 months in what i can only describe as paradise, tomorrow marks my last day. we fly out at noon...

in the midst of hundreds of workers scrambling to setup the stages, tents and advertising screens for the infamous cannes film festival....david and i took our last walk along the croisette...for now.

the daily habits, food, sights and sounds of this lovely place will be missed. ever-present in my mind, the experience of being here for such a time pushes me forward on to new and exciting things.

i can only say thank you, lovely south of france. thank you for all of your beauty.

merci infiniment.

au revoir, for now.....




stick with me, my friends, to see what happens next....what beauty i will find in my next location, wherever that may be.....

could be here or there...

can i merge here with there and not have to bother? best of both worlds?

wish things were that easy, right?

in my head, i tend to justify things accordingly. and it's not like i can change every little aspect of life. it keeps me moving forward and i'm happy about it.

for me, standing still is no way to live....but moving forward is. evolving, growing, learning, extending beyond my comfort zone....

like an old friend that sticks by my side no matter what, i have this inventory of memories and experiences that keep building up, over time - catching me when i fall, and lifting me up when i'm down.....

and for all of that i am thankful, grateful and consider myself one lucky gal.

it is said that cats have 9 lives. i think we can too.
(although let's hope far less dramatic than the old saying goes...)

i think it's okay to go where the wind takes you....
so far i like it's path,

could be here or there...

joyeuse fête du travail ! !

today, may 1st, in france is the 'fête du travail', equivalent to labor day in the u.s.
stores are closed, people have the day off work and most people spend time with their families. or, as did we, flock to our gorgeous southern beaches in hoards!

anyone visiting on this day, not familiar with the 'premier mai' in france, may wonder why so many street-vendors and the markets are overflowing with 'muguet' flowers, ((pronounced mew-gay):lily of the valleys) for sale? it is customary to give muguet flowers to your loved ones, family, friends, etc. as they 'porte du bonheur', they bring luck!

i bought this muguet pot (my photos above and below) from the market here in cannes for my mother-in-law...pretty!




we got up decently early today to hit the local market. we bought tons of fresh fruit and veggies. yum! we also picked up some ham cut by hand off the bone and also some pâté called 'pâté de grand mere' - - delicious! we lunched outside on the balcony with our market finds and opened a bottle of red wine. what a way to spend lunch!

the rest of the day, we spent on the beach in théoule-sur-mer and driving along the road that is 'board de la mer', along the sea. a photo i took along the path shown below...



we had a wonderful day and if i could, i would have bought muguet flowers for everyone to wish everyone 'beaucoup de bonheur' ! ! !

joyeuse fête ! ! ! !

théoule-sur-mer, une vrai beauté

théoule-sur-mer is a mere 15 minute drive from cannes if travelling along the seaside road. although it is easily accessible by train and bus, it always seems to be quieter than say, cannes city centre.

on this rainy monday, i am happy to post a few photos from théoule that i took on a hike this past weekend with david. we hiked up a huge rolling hill on a super windy day....there were actually points along the hike (when we were waaay far up) that i was actually a bit frightened! doesn't help that i have a phobia of being up too high, at times the path was tiny and felt as though it was a little too close to the edge of the hill (i'm hesitant to say mountain, but i truly think it is a mountain...not a hill).....


after asking a random shopkeeper in town how to get to our starting point, la plage de l'aiguille (shown below), we started towards the hiking path. we passed a few public beach spaces, gorgeous, but vacant, because it was an outrageously windy day.


about half way up the hill/mountain, there were various path's jutting out into the ocean. below is a snapshot of some of the rocky decent towards a 'hidden' beach...which apparently is only accessible from these paths. it was a gorgeous site. i was terrified to get to close to the edge of the path, it was viciously windy and i was scared like a little baby. david was laughing at me....


shown below are two photos of the hidden beach, one from the left of the beach and one from the right of the beach, further along the path along the mountain.




after another 30-40 minutes along the path, along a winding road and into another off-the-beaten-path hiking trail, we arrived at the summit. it was windy, and when i say windy, i was almost tempted to actually sit on the ground for fear of being swept out into the sea from the top! again, david was laughing at me, he wasn't concerned about the wind in the least.

the view was beautiful and we could see for miles and miles, even as far as the lérins islands!


we crossed back into the hillside, where the path flattened out giving us the fresh scent of pine, eucalyptus and wildflowers. ahhh, the sweet smell of fresh air and countryside....


the path then took us back onto the opposite side of the mountain, giving us breathtaking views of the towns below, as well as insight into the lives of some of the most rich and famous....and their secret french hideaways.


the photo below is looking towards cannes. you can even see the cruise ship that docked in town for two days. this time of year it's very common to see gigantic cruise ships docked just off shore. they hover for a few days, out of town tourists crowd into town by hoards, and then jet off to their next mediterranean destination.


i took this next photo looking down onto a spectacular house privately nestled into the side of the mountain...i always wonder who owns the house, what they do for a living and if they know just how fortunate they are to have their house.

i mean, the view itself is worth a million dollars.....


we continued along the tiny winding roads oooing and awing at the houses...all of the infinity edged pools overlooking the french riviera, magnificent balcony's and vine-covered terrace's owned by who i can only imagine to be celebrities or the rich and famous.


looking down over the city centre of théoule-sur-mer, we descended back to where our little twingo was waiting for us.

it was a beautiful day to hike (although crazy windy) and i'm glad we were able to explore some more of the region!

out and about in cannes

some photos i took out and about the town....

iles de lérins - st. honorat

the lerins islands are made up of ile de sainte margeurite and ile sainte honorat, they are located just off the coast of cannes. we visited st. honorat a few weekends ago and it was a gorgeous escape.

the island itself is owned and inhabited by 30 monks from the Abbaye de Lérins, but they allow visitors on their island year round. they live, work and worship on the island, it is their home. to get there, you can take a quick boat ride from cannes - the shuttle boats depart hourly (or so) from early morning until 5 or 6pm.

so a quick boat ride from the city and you land on the shore of paradise. st. honorat is the smaller of the two islands that make up lerins islands. there are marked footpaths, benches and picnic tables scattered throughout. thankfully we went before the height of tourist season, so it was not too busy.

there are plenty of boats that we saw anchored around the shallow waters in the calm sea between the two islands. here are some photos of the rocky shoreline and boats.

we packed a picnic lunch, although there is a restaurant and 'snack' bar on the island too. we preferred to hike around, find a nice spot to eat and continue on exploring the island. the east side of the island is actually quite dense and somewhat like a forest, we found a nice shady spot near one of the many chapels on the island. we had a little picnic ;-)

the monks have various vineyards where they grow syrah, chardonnay, pinot noir and some sort of rosé grape also. the footpaths are throughout the fields, however it is not permitted for guests of the island to walk too close. the sell their wines (as well as handmade liqueurs) at a store near their monastery and also in surrounding cities on the mainland. this is part of the way they support themselves financially on the island. some of their wines are such good quality, that they are offered at some of the best restaurants nearby.



the island is such a beautiful escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, you almost feel as though you are thousands of miles away. it is serene, quiet, wildflowers and bugs and birds (including beautiful pheasants - we even saw a few!) flutter around you while you walk along the shore. we saw jellyfish, butterflies, bunnies and all!







as we headed around the back of the island, we came across the old fort tower, and then the actual monks monastery and working distillery where they make their wine and spirits (delicious natural alcohol drinks). it was so beautiful and on top of the tower was magnificent, i was swept up in it all as the wind wrapped around us.




the monastery itself is gorgeous....





at the end of a wonderful relaxing day with my sweetheart, we stopped for a drink at the beachside bar, i had a glass of wine, david had some of the monk's liqueur. deeeelish.



then we had to head back to reality. *sigh.