*Paris in the Spring...

..

"I love Paris in the spring time

I love Paris in the fall

I love Paris in the summer

when it sizzles

I love Paris in the winter

when it drizzles.
.

I love Paris every moment

Every moment of the year

I love Paris,

why oh why

do I love Paris

Because my love is here".

Cole Porter

.

The Champs Elysée, 23 May 2010 : see HERE for more on this unique event...

.

"Amo París en el tiempo del resorte
Amo París en la caída
Amo París en el verano

en que chisporrotea
Amo París en el invierno

en que llovizna
.

Amo París cada momento
Cada momento del ańo
Amo París,

porqué oh porqué lo hace

el amor París de I
Porque mi amor está aquí"
Cole Porter

.

*I just love Frank Sinatra's version of this song...

Plaisirs du jour...

.

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop
whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention

to eating..."
Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright,
"Pavarotti, My Own Story"

.

La Tartine Gourmande

.

I love sharing recipes that inspire me in the hope that they

will inspire others...

.

Click here for this recipe

and many, many more...

.

Simple Pleasures...

.
Today,

I'm feeling really inspired by these images...
.

Ghana, West Africa

Small, Satisfying Things
About Today...
.
~ hearing the Right Song at the Right Moment...

.~ completing my travel arrangements for my upcoming
trip to West Africa...

.~ the aroma of freshly brewed coffee...

.. ~ finding a photo album of my African childhood
in the most unlikely place...

. ~ Making Someone Smile...

.~ Spring may, at long last, be just around
the corner...

. ~ daydreaming when I should be working...
..

Le Grand Retour...

.

"The work goes on,

the cause endures, the hope still lives

and the dreams shall never die..."

Edward Kennedy

.

Me, myself, I - admiring the Mont Blanc chain of mountains...
.

Where i've been ?

.

i've been here, there, elsewhere -

living, learning, understanding but also

coping and searching...

.

i've been here, there, elsewhere -

working, developing, exploring but also

failing and struggling...

.

i've been here, there, elsewhere -

travelling, observing, listening but also

experiencing and suffering...

..

i've been here, there, elsewhere -

giving, receiving, helping, but also

needing and doubting...

.

i've been here, there, elsewhere -

searching, finding, creating but also

forgetting and losing...

.

i've been here, there, elsewhere -

loving, laughing, remembering but also

crying and hurting...

.

i've been here, there, elsewhere -

improving, succeeding, rejoicing but also

hoping and praying...

.

Tell me,

where have you been ?

.

Thanks for all your kind words left in my absence; I'll be, hopefully,

catching up with all your blogs asap...

Sun, Sea, Sailing and Surf...

.

BONNES VACANCES..!

.

Off to enjoy sunsets like this in Mauritius
.
Hope you're all enjoying a great summer

- wherever you are,

whatever you're doing..!

.

Despite all my best intentions I never did find the free time to regularly

update my blog and catch up with all your delightful blogs

- I've been far too busy off-line -

I have every intention of catching up, once and for all,

when I get back...

Why oh Why...

.

"...do I love Africa?

.

photo credits

.
Because we are all related.

All Africans are brothers and sisters

Biologically,

wherever you are from in Africa, we are related.

In Africa if you are from the same house

- you are related,

from the same village

.

- you are related;

from the same country

- you are related.

Even from the same regional grouping like west,

.

east, north and southern Africa

- we are related

- as long as you are an African,

we are all related.

We refer to each other as brother and sister in Africa.

We do not have cousin or nieces

- all we have are brothers and sisters.

That is why I love Africa..."

Jonathan Tommy,

Sierra Leone

Meanwhile...

.

"Good friends are like the stars
you don't always see them,
but you always know they are there"
unknown

.

my collage

I've been away from blogland, spending quality

time with friends and family mixing business

with pleasure...

.

Thank you all for visiting and leaving such kind words

in my absence...

Monday, Monday...

.

Small, Satisfying Things

About Today...

.

source

.

. 1. My First Sip of Tea on Waking

2. The Familiar, but Nevertheless, Spectacular

View from my Kitchen Window

.3. Finding Photos I Didn’t Know I Had in an

Old Handbag

.4. Meeting a Friend Who's Back from India with

Some Great Fabrics to Share

.5. Hearing the Right Song at the Right Moment

.6. Receiving an Unexpected Compliment

.7. The Feeling I Got when My Soufflé made It To

the Table before Collapsing

.8. Making Someone Smile

9. Receiving a Handwritten Letter and Package

via Snail Mail
.

10. Finishing What I Started..!
.
Do tell me, what small, satisfying things did you
achieve today..?

C'est la Canicule..!

.

Trop chaud pour travailler…

je rêve de passer mes journée dans l'eau...

. Heidi Claire blog

Tuscan Villas

Achitectural Digest

.

Côté Sud

We're in the midst of a heatwave here

(which is why I'm dreaming of water, pools, the sea, bathing...)

unfortunately, it's all work and no play chez moi..!

.I LOVE hot weather, I always have, just not, when I've got so much work

that I can't get out and enjoy it...

Is it hot where you are..?

.

The Art of African Headwraps...

.

Dressing is an important part of every culture and often a way of
portraying ones culture visually -

.

.African women, especially those from sub-saharan Africa are very

well known for their extravagant head ties and

no wedding or party would be complete

without what is popularlly known as gele in Nigeria.

Head ties always perfectly match the outfit making the African woman

outstanding in any gathering.
With the head tie, the African woman portrays her culture with

dignity and integrity... .

"It is art because it transforms the functional into the elegant and mysterious.

A covering for the head becomes something much more,

a skyward looking arabesque of folds and patterns,where cloth undergoes

a metamorphosis into a salute to the head as metaphysical centre of the self,

as the matrix of direction for the body "

Babatunde Lawal

.

.

African women are the only women in the world who wear head ties.

Caucasian women wear hats or veils (or rather, used to..!),

Muslim women and women from many Eastern cultures wear a headscarf,

while other women allow the full beauty of their long hair to show

by wearing it loose.

A big, colourful head-tie

(preferably in a colour different from the rest of the outfit!)

is an entirely African affair..!
..

See lots more gele on these photo galleries
here and here

I'd love to dress like this, so chic..!
What do you think..?

Une Planète, Une Chanson...

.

Music at its' best...

.

One of my best friends (who knows me really well)

sent me this:

"This should be required viewing for everyone.

It’s basic humanity in it’s finest form.

In spite of world governments, politicians and corporations

doing all they can to destroy the spirit in people,

along comes this beautiful video..."

.

with the following links:

.

"Playing for Change"...

.

.

The Journey

Mark Johnson explains how Playing For Change began and

how the journey has gone thus far...

..Stand by Me

Definately the best version of Ben E. King's classic

I've ever heard..!

One Love

Izulu

Don't Worry

Bring It On Home

+ the latest episode:

Chanda Mama

.

I don't know what you'll all make of it,

but the whole project

blew me away..!

It is nothing short of moving, inspirational,

and technologically impressive...
.

ENJOY..!

A Propos de Moi...

.

.

i am sunshine and tropical rain

i am raw silk and blue jeans
.
i am belly laughs, giggles and smiles
.
i am regrets and disappointments, made whole

by hopes and dreams
.
i am walking toward the future
with my eye turned toward the past

i am me...

.

Who are you..?

Destination l'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue...

.

pour un weekend de chine dans les brocantes/

vide-greniers du Vaucluse...

.

.

with Sunday Lunch at this excellent family run restaurant:
.

* "Le Carré d'Herbes"
13, Avenue des Quatre Otages ...

L'isle sur la Sorgue

.

* Le Carré d'Herbes:
"Un espace de verdure au cœur des antiquaires où l'on savoure des mets provençaux

confectionnés au gré du marché..."

.

BON WEEKEND..!

India on my Mind...

.

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul and paints

his own nature into his pictures"

henry ward beecher

All photos by photographer: Claude Renault

.

From Flickr testimonials:

.

"...his photographs are multi-faceted, profound, and historically aware.

With his camera, Claude is able to bring India close to us.

He views people without any type of social romanticism and portrays them

in everyday life situations, their self-confidence, pride, joy,

religion, serenity, leisure, contemplation, modestry, sadness, misery, poverty...

Claude doesn't approach people with his camera in an aloof

and voyeuristic manner, but as one of them.

His impressions are, in their perfectly calculated light and their play of colours,

a declaration of love to the people of this subcontinent..."

.

I couldn't have said it better myself..!

.