Passing by one of the village houses, I noticed that the remaining wisteria branches made a lovely “umbrella” at the entrance way and wanted to capture the image.

No handbag meant no “real” camera on hand (a “real” camera just takes pictures: it does not have multi-functionality of phone, scanner, toaster). This being said, I LOVE my iPhone and think it takes great pics for me (I even managed to hold it up to a keyhole and shoot inside a church with some awesome light streams coming across the altar!). So please don’t get me wrong all iPhone Photographers, I am with you all the way.

After I took this shot with my iPhone and an Instagram filter, I remembered those cool Chanel commercials years ago, where a sublime woman, perfectly manicured, sporting chic black glasses and the most elegant bathing suit lounged at the end of a pool, when an adonis-like man dove in at the other end of the pool to swim up to her….

“In sight, is it out of reach?” I find myself asking this question, perhaps not always with the same words, but inevitably with the same feeling behind it. I guess you can also call these thoughts : dreams, hopes, aspirations, projects. All have a positive spin to it, but there is also the “challenge” aspect which comes along and can lay a shadow across the image. Challenges I am learning, can either feel good and motivating (which is great!), but sometimes they can take on a daunting “I’m going to fail, it’s never going to work” hue (which is less great when you are feeling it).

The real goal is to keep that “light at the end of the tunnel” out there in front of you.

Tuesday morning I woke up early and decided to play tourist. I had been told by a friend that the Chateau de Puymartin (located between Sarlat and Les Eyzies) was really special, so I got into my car and headed south.

Puymartin is a gorgeous chateau with “human” proportions; it’s privately owned and currently lived in (lucky folks!). Visiting chateau’s which are furnished make them feel more inviting and almost “home-y”, but I personally still have a hard time imagining having to do the windows : )

I was in the first guided tour of the day and we were less than ten people and were thus lucky enough to visit the “Meditation Room” (when it’s busier, visitors visit a facsimile) as this is a one-of-a-kind room. All in hand painted wood paneling, it has never needed to be restored. You can see a few pics on this site (regular visitors are not allowed to take photos of the interiors).

The Chateau de Puymartin is haunted by “La Dame Blanche” (the White Lady), who was imprisoned for 15 years in a small tower room, then buried in its wall. We didn’t catch a glimpse of her even in the attic, but we were followed around by the chateau’s cat (“Chateau”: chat = cat, “teau” could mean toes?! – so Cat’s Toes?!

It made me smile to myself when I spotted this “red poodle” — I love these sorts of “finds”. Silly perhaps, but guess that’s part of me.

Hello from Crete, I’ll be back in La Belle France tomorrow evening, but I just wanted to start your month off with a smile and May’s free wallpaper download : )

We’ve been bathing in gorgeous Spring sunshine the past week, making it easier to “forget” Senegal until next year.

Yesterday we went for a walk to check out a house we heard may be on the market. It has lots of French charm and loads of work to go with the “charm”! In anycase, the barn with its unkempt wisteria has the cutest door, don’t you think?

No snake here!

I can’t say that I’m complaining too much here in Cap Skirring with sunny skies and mid-80s temps, certainly compared to last year when I was walking the dogs amongst the vines of Burgundy with sub-zero winds blowing down my coat collar! Don’t get me wrong! I love certain aspects of winter: quiet snowy days and roaring fireplaces. But once the holidays are over, I can’t say that you’d have to twist my arm too hard to get me on a flight towards a warmer clime!

So, back to snakes: yes, I did see one, just yesterday! Bumpy and I were sitting on the terrace around 3 pm and I saw a “stick”. But I’ve seen those sorts of “sticks” before, it’s the kind that move! We called for Ibrahim (our caretaker) to shoo it away (another term for “please completely remove the creature as you best see fit”). He went after it, but the meter long reptile slithered away to safety. Ibrahim said it was not one of the dangerous kind, such as the spitting cobras which wander these areas, but I still am not a “Fan” of snakes! Are you?