Armchair Travelling

I have always loved to travel and, up-to-now, I still find it wonderful. But the last couple of trips have shown my husband and myself that we won’t be able to do it forever. It gets a little more difficult with each passing year; although my mother was still going strong in her 80s.


Just in case the time comes when we must content ourselves with armchair travelling, I’m slowly obtaining a collection of travel guides, which, aside from the internet, may just be the next best thing. In that regard, Amazon sent me a lovely Fodor guide for reviewing this month and I would like to pass along my thoughts on the book to my readers.

It’s “Fodor’s Guide to “Provence & the French Riviera.” I highly recommend it. Here is my review:

“Several years ago my husband I spent two glorious weeks exploring the southeastern area of France. From the Pont du Gard near Nimes, to the lemon center of Menton, next to the Italian border, the beauty and charm of the area enthralled us. Reading Fodor’s beautiful new guidebook entitled “Provence & the French Riviera” brings back all the excitement of a market day in a village like Gordes, or looking down at Monte Carlo from the heights of the Grande Corniche.

As much as we crammed into that two-week period, I wish I’d had this guidebook at the time. It shows us that there is so much more we actually missed that we are now ready to get on the internet and start booking our next trip.
I love how the book starts out with two pages of Top Experiences and then goes on to suggest several tours planned for those with special interests. For example, there is one called “The First Timer–The Best Two-Week Tour” which gives one two days at all the essential sites. Another lovely itinerary called “The Modern Art Route” takes you to see paintings by 20th century artists like Picasso and Matisse.
Of course, at the beginning they tell you what their ratings mean. The top rating is called Fodor’s Choice, which is indicated by orange stars throughout the book while black stars highlight sights, restaurants and properties they consider “Highly Recommended.”

The book is then broken down into areas: each one explaining the top cities to visit; top sights to see; top attractions to experience; along with things like Festivals, Nightlife and the Arts, Shopping, etc.

As usual in a Fodor Guide, there are beautiful full colour pictures and, with Province and the Cote d’Azur being such an amazing area to see, they have outdone themselves with these. Even if you can never visit this wonderful area of France, just reading the book will make you feel like you have experienced some of its delights.”

Latest Amazon Book Review

Hi. I'm sorry to be so late in posting this month, but I have been sick with the flu most of the month. It seems at this age, along with a compromised immune system, I get hit hard and once the coughing starts, it's difficult to get past it. Never mind. It's all part of the aging process and we just deal with it to the best of our ability.

Here is a book I found most enjoyable. I've posted this review in my Amazon Vine Account.

"A historical fiction writer has a definite edge over a true historian and this is where some readers of historical fiction tend to get confused. The writer of historical fiction has the versatility of verisimilitude: the appearance or semblance of truth. As Mark Twain once said, "the difference between history and fiction is that fiction has to (only) be believable." In other words, it doesn't have to be exact historical truth. In his new novel, "The Tudor Secret," author, C.W. Gortner uses this device to good effect and makes an unlikely plot seem plausible.

Brendan Perscott is an orphan reared in the household of the dangerous and cunning family of Lord Robert Dudley. He has never known who his parents were and is eager to find the secret of his ancestry. As well, he wonders what ever happened to the warm and loving household servant who raised him and was, according to Lady Dudley, killed in a roadside ambush.

Now twenty years of age, he is sent to the court of Edward VI to serve as a square to the young Robert Dudley. However, as soon as he meets the Lady Elizabeth, King Edward's sister by Anne Boleyn, he knows he is her liegeman. He would serve only her and to shield her from the Dudley Family, he joins forces with William Cecil, Elizabeth's protector.

With the exception of what I consider to be Philippa Gregory's revisionist history, I have a great fondness for books set in the Tudor era and especially about members of the royal family. I found Mr. Gortner's writing quite compelling and I quickly was caught up both with the characters he introduces and his young hero's dilemma.

Only towards the end of the book, in a scene with Cecil William, did I find the writing went a little overboard and the young man's outbursts rather exaggerated. What had happened didn't seem to warrant his reaction. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and found it an engrossing read."

My Oscar Picks

Just got back from our winter vacation but won’t be discussing that this time. This is Oscar week and for the first time in quite a few years, I’m really pulling for one movie and its stars. I don’t go to theatres to see movies often anymore—mostly wait to rent them from either our cable server or a rental shop. However, our hotel in Anaheim was close to a theatre and since we were tired from a full day at Disneyland, we decided to rest the following day by seeing “The King’s Speech.”

Most people still remember the Queen Mother, Elizabeth; however no one born later than the 1950s will remember much about King George VI. I was 15 when he died and while we didn’t yet have television, he was often featured in the newsreels at the movies, so I feel I knew him quite well. His bravery in staying in London during World War II, to give courage to his subjects, made him well loved both in England and abroad. There was no doubt about his feelings for his wife; theirs was definitely a love match and the queen never forgave her brother-in-law for his abdication which forced her husband into a much more public life than he desired.

Colin Firth is far better looking than I remember the king being. He had rather a thin, worried face and Colin is exceedingly handsome. But the portrayal of the King’s speech problem is superb and the supporting actors are equally fantastic. So come Sunday, I’ll be rooting for “The King’s Speech” to take home several of those little gold statues. I’ll be sorely disappointed if they don’t.

My Novel and Why I WroteI It.

They say “if you can't find the novel you would like to read, write it yourself.” Which is why I have written a novel based on my family history research. I based my novel on the few facts I had about my Huguenot ancestors and pretty well imagined the rest. Before I started to write my book, I visited the ancestral places in France and England and saw with my own eyes the village where my people originated.

The story is the way I would like to think it happened. I feel that, in a time when there are still places in the world where a man can't follow his own conscience, it has an important message for us all. I hope others find it exciting and informative.

“What is a Huguenot?” people often ask me when I tell them about my novel. Although there are still members of this early Protestant group worshipping today, they are no longer well known. In 16th century France, Huguenot was the name given to those who came to follow the teachings of Jean Calvin. The Protestant Reformation, began by Martin Luther in Germany, spread rapidly to France. However, as it grew in that country, it abandoned the Lutheran viewpoint and took to heart the beliefs of Dr. Calvin. Primarily it rejected much of what the Catholic Church stood for.

Calvin’s major doctrine was that, even prior to birth, all men are divided between the few who are saved and the many who are damned to hellfire. Those damned are without benefit of salvation, even by faith. It is their destiny. It was a very strict philosophy and most believers in those days saw all conduct in black and white. There were no grey areas. They also believed that wealth and position in the community were proof of their being part of the Elect, the Heavenly class.

Whatever one thinks of their doctrine, we can only admire the faith and endurance they showed, when in October of 1685, after almost one hundred years of religious freedom, King Louis XIV decreed they recant their beliefs or die. Many historians have said that being in the large part, artisans, craftsmen and professional people; they were some of the brightest and best of France’s population. Countries such as Holland, England, South Africa and even the English colonies in North America welcomed them with open arms and so, at great risk to themselves and their families as well as those who helped them, they fled from their homeland. Consequently, French society suffered a substantial loss.

Centuries ago wise King Solomon stated, “man dominates man to his injury.” So much of our history proves this to be true and in many parts of the world, it is still a sad fact. One interesting historical detail is that many Catholics, not liking the decision of King Louis to eradicate these people, put their own lives on the line to help their friends get to safety.

However they managed it, my own ancestors made their way to London where they shaped admirable lives for themselves. In the novel, the hero, Pierre Garneau, tends to be typical of Huguenot philosophy in his beliefs and behavior. I am happy to say that over the period of the story, he learns moderation in his judgments and enough wisdom to realize his own shortcomings.

In the next month or two I’m publishing this novel on CreateSpace. I’ll have more to say about this experience later.

Around the Club House Turn

Winter solstice has passed, the saternalia is over and the sun will be travelling north a little further each day. It all means long, sunny days are just around the corner.

How do you picture the calendar year in your mind? In my mind's eye, I actually see it rather like an oval shaped race track with January and February at the top and July and August at the bottom. The months of March, June, September and December are all at the curves of the track, while October and November and April and May are along the sides.

I'm always happy when we "round the club house turn" where December sits and we head into the top of our calendar oval. It means, up here in the Pacific Northwest, that we are getting near the end of our winter. Sometimes in mid-January dear little snowdrops bravely show their faces and by February the green spears of daffodils are poking through the ground.

Those long, dark days of November and December are difficult to get through and it's easy to understand to some extent why our pagan ancestors living in northern climes instituted the Saturnalia to add some winter cheer. I often wonder if that is not what modern day winter festivals are all about.

Neutrogena Ageless Intensives Anti-wrinkle Deep Wrinkle Filler, 1-Ounce

As one of my hobbies, I'm an Amazon Vine Reviewer which means that they send me books to read prior to being released to the general public and, quite often, other products as well. I thought my review of the above item might interest some of my senior friends out there. I have published the following on Amazon:

It may be that I am asking for miracles here. There does come a time when one is past the point of no return and I think I'm there, unless I try injections and fillers.

I've tried this product now for two weeks and at least it has done no damage, which is great since I have extra senstive skin. There is a little bit of redness around the lip line but they tell you that will happen.

Let's face it. I've been a senior citizen for awhile now and I think no amount of applied creams will help everything. I do think the finer wrinkles are better and I will have to see how it goes in eight weeks for the deep wrinkles they call marionette lines. Stay tuned for more information in about a month and a half. In the meantime, I do feel it's a good product, so I'm giving it at least a four out of five stars.

Hope my readers find this analysis helpful. :)

No Excuses for Lazyness

So it's a long time since I wrote anything on here and that is just wrong. I suppose I could say it's because I'm a year older and getting lazy in my old age. But that's not good enough. I'll have to pull up my socks and try to do better.

However, it is true that at this age life has a habit of flying by. I remember when I was six or seven and in my early school years, those weeks until summer holidays just dragged by. They were interminable. Now it seems that the time between one summer and the next is gone in the blink of an eye. So I guess it's a matter of perspective and mathematics.

I have been busy though, reviewing books on Amazon and editing my own book a couple of times. And I've come to the conclusion that I will self-publish. I'm thinking that at my age I don't have time for the normal process. Sometimes it takes years to get an agent, then it takes months for them to sell it (if they ever do) and then it takes months for the publisher to publish it. I don't have that sort of time left. And with e-books self-publishing has become quite respectable.

I would like to get this book out to the public because it's an interesting time in history that has been mainly overlooked. So in January I hope to actually push the button that will put it out there. Will keep you "posted."