Category: France
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Île de Ré
Quiet, deep minty-green shutters and a soft palm. Seagulls gently calling out over the orange rooftops. Warm sunrise glow, deep and rich like a sunset. A slow form of breathing returns, fresh air. Sweet air, creeping in from the tiny crack where the shutters meet and loosely hang open. It is my 29th birthday, and…
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Saint-Martin-de-Ré
Saint-Martin-de-Ré, bright, hot sun. Warm whites, pastel shutters. Solitary hollyhocks. Salty, sweaty, slow. Oyster shells in crates and bins. Boats sitting on the sand, stuck in the harbor, and fishermen selling the fresh catch. Wild, raw. Real. My birthday trip to the French coast, but this time, instead of the south, to the west –…
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Paris
Paris; silent streets at dusk, slowly falling rain. Grey slanted rooftops, balconies and chimneys winding, reaching, stretching into the air. White, grey, beige. Tiny stairwells, tiny rooms, tiny windows. So much in such small spaces, a perfect implosion. It all sparkles, just like they say. Musical, the chatter in French of the walkers, of…
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Vieille Ville Antibes
Antibes had me homesick for home – for a small, slow seaside town, asleep in the winter. For a the crisp, cool seabreeze that I always remember. It reminded me of slow, coastal Cape Cod on the rocks. Of being alone in an empty place, and only then, truly feeling that I know and belong…
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Cap d’Antibes
Cap d’Antibes, of literary legend. The air is cold and pretty. Dainty, crisp. Smells of seaweed and seamist, triggering beach memories of home. The rocks are unforgiving, silver and white. And the sun is so, so vibrant. Warm on my face. It’s hot, but the light gusts make it feel cool. I picked up the…
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Menton
Menton, last French town before Italy, where both cultures meet, sandwiched between sea and the sun. Citrus wonderland, citrus fest. Citrus dragon, citrus camel, citrus tree, citrus pop at the annual Fête du Citron. A cloud of confetti and cascading crowd. On the beach, it’s calm. Speckles of sea glass; the hum of people and…
exploring & escapades 