Travel, Happiness and Simple Living During Retirement
I didn’t set out to put together a series of photographic essays on “The Doors of (Small Town) France.” In late 2017, I was working on several articles on “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France” (France’s Most Beautiful Small Towns) and found myself mesmerized and gravitating toward the whimsical, varied and sometimes inexplicably small, odd…
By Marie Sherlock Travel – if done correctly – is always a learning experience. Traveling to a country whose language is foreign to you and then attempting to absorb said language while there amounts to a learning experience – on steroids. As part of my half-century (!) attempt to master the French language, I’ve had…
By Marie Sherlock British Columbia’s Festival du Bois – “Festival of Wood” – has been on my (Pacific Northwest) Bucket List for years. This annual Francophone event takes place in the Maillardville neighborhood of Coquitlam, British Columbia each March and celebrates that area’s claim as the the center of Francophone culture in BC. I live…
By Marie Sherlock First World Problem Alert! I wrote this back in the fall of 2015 when we had the privilege of spending a full month in France. I penned this during the fourth week of our adventure. Before I launch into this blog, I need to make it perfectly clear: We are still having…
By Marie Sherlock True confessions: I am a Francophile. While Americans are fond of denigrating the French, citing their haughty waiters, their enduring disdain for foreigners, and their apparent physical inability to pick up their dog droppings, I remain an admirer of nearly all-things-French. It likely started with my dear French-Canadian grandmother who spoke a…
By Marie Sherlock I’ve got to go on record, right now, and say that 48 hours is, most definitely, not enough time to experience San Juan Island, Washington. If you can, plan on staying a week – or more. Heck, consider retiring here. But if you only have two days to visit this namesake of…