This is Georges, writing this blog post. This is my first and last post here. This is for you, readers of The Bold Soul from all over the world, readers of this inspiring blog. This is also for you, strangers of the world who discover what she says and shows to us. This is in the name of Lisa, the one and only Bold Soul, my soulmate, my love, my wife. You read the last post from Lisa, dated exactly one month ago. This will be the last ever from her. Lisa died Monday evening in Paris. The cancer was too strong, too quick, too violent. Happily, Lisa died peacefully , while deeply asleep, with her family around. And we could exchange with her in the last few days. Lisa left us to join the Universe somewhere, elsewhere anyway than in my arms. Peacefully ? Who can be at peace with such unfairness ? Lisa had such positive energy, boldness, charisma and so many colors that she was strongly determined to fight. You can’t win all battles. She lost this one against an unfair aggressor. Serenity is to accept and refuse at the same time. To use serendipity to change... Continue reading

When you get an illness like cancer, you can do all kinds of things to prepare yourself for what is about to happen to you, both physically and emotionally. Preparing, having some information as you begin working with your doctors, will help you know what questions to ask them, and will give you some sense of control at a time when so much of your life will feel like a runaway train. So educating and preparing yourself is a good thing. You can research it, being cautious about going to reputable sites with a strong medical track record. It's the Internet, people, and there are a lot of trolls and kooks out there with too much time on their hands. And you don't want some twisted 18-yr-old giving you advice about treatment under the handle Dr. FeelBetter(Suckers) on www.DrsRUs.com. Ask around. Your friends or your friends' friends may have already gone through it. While every patient's experience will be unique to them, it can help to learn from someone who has lived it. You may not feel up to a full exercise routine while you're in treatment, but if you're going to be lying in bed a lot, you may... Continue reading

Tonight will be the final episode of Mad Men. But this is what "advertising" once looked like in France. There aren't many of these stone wall billboards left in Paris these days, and I love those rare moments when I spot one. Continue reading

First, I want to wish my readers who are mothers a very happy Mother's Day. I think you are heroic, because parenting is so damn hard even in the best of circumstances. And I hope you have someone who is making you feel special today about being a mother. But there's another side of me that kind of hates this holiday. Yes, you heard me: hate it. To me, Mother's Day is one of those Hallmark/FTD holidays, just like Valentine's Day, that are designed to point out that there are haves and have nots in the world when it comes to love and relationships. On Valentine's Day, if you're single, you're not going to get any flowers or teddy bears or heart-shaped boxes of chocolate. If you're in a relationship with a jerk, you also won't be getting any of that swag. So when everyone around you is ooo-ing and ahh-ing about their dozen long-stemmed American Beauty Roses, you get to feel like shit. Well, it's the same for some of us on Mother's Day. Not all of us got to become mothers. For some of us, that was a choice. For others, its just how it worked out for... Continue reading

The past month hasn't been easy. In fact, it's been mostly lousy. My family vacation in the south, that I had imagined being so wonderful and restful and full of days resting on uncrowded sandy beaches with azure blue waters before me and all the sunshine I could want, turned into me having some sort of new pain in my right side and my appetite tapering off (so much for all the Pastis I had planned to drink) as I spent more and more time in bed because it was the only place I felt even a little comfortable. Phone consultations with my GP in Paris were only partially helpful, as without seeing me in person, there was not much he could do in the way of diagnosing or treating what might be wrong. Here I was, taking a welcome break from the chemo where I should have had more energy, and yet I felt worse where I had expected to feel better. I wanted to be out with Georges and our boy, and all I could manage was to send them out to enjoy each day and smile when they came back to tell me about it -- it... Continue reading

There are so many adorable little pedestrian streets tucked away in corners of Paris. Sometimes you might just stumble on one randomly... ... and at other times, you might be led there because a dear friend is opening a wonderful news shop and atelier for knitters! Yes! My friend Aimée, owner of L'Oisive Thé et Tricot in the Butte aux Cailles (13ème) is opening a second shop in the same neighborhood! (So proud of Aimee and her husband Julien!) Located at 27 Rue Paulin Méry, just near Place d'Italie, La Bien Aimée sells wool, knitting tools and mercerie/sewing notions. They'll also be offering workshops, so sign up for the mailing list to find out when the first workshops will be available. Once you arrive at Rue Paulin Méry, you won't have any trouble finding La Bien Aimée - just look for the bright, sunshine-yellow exterior! (This was my photo taken weeks ago while they were still doing the construction, but don't you just love the color?) You'll still be able to buy some knitting products (and knit, of course!), over at L'Oisive Thé, but with the new shop, Aimee has expanded her capacity to carry even more beautiful wool and... Continue reading

One afternoon while in Saint Raphael, I had the time and energy to pass through the town square, and there was a nice little brocante - an antique sale. A lot of the vendors were already packing up to go home (it was sunny but very windy and maybe business wasn't good enough to merit sticking out the afternoon). But I got a few photos, nonetheless. Here's something you don't see every day - a lovely Victrola (or whatever the French label might be) complete with it's practical and decorative cabinet. Back in the day, you would have been proud to own such a "frivolous" item for listening to music on "records". (If you under-35's don't remember what "records" where, I think they are just calling them "vinyl" now, and they're back in demand.) I love the blue color of the amplifier. This seller had an eclectic collection of tin pails and buckets, decorative friezes and bells, and even (on left) a life preserver for a boat. And the winner du jour of the "Oddities" category for this brocante: the antelope (or is it a gazelle?) skull and horns, next to the captain's hat! Then I went to my favorite... Continue reading

Saint Raphael has a new attraction! Brace yourselves, it's pretty big: OK, maybe not all THAT big. This photo was taken the day they'd finished putting up the frame but obviously had not yet attached the cars. The wheel opened on Friday, May 1st, which is a holiday in France. The weather was a bit grey and it was windy, but Georges and the Garçon went anyway to take one of the first rides. Not only was there NOT a line to get in - there was NO ONE ELSE waiting at all when they arrived. So, they got 3 laps around the wheel all alone! At least they can say they were one of the first. The wheel will stay until mid-September, then be taken down for a few months, then will be back again for a few weeks at Christmas; apparently they tried it out this past Christmas and it was quite popular, so I'm sure once more tourists are around, there will be more tickets sold. Georges took a few short videos and the view was quite lovely from "up there" so I'm looking forward to taking a ride myself during our summer holidays. Actually, it's not... Continue reading

I recently got a new look for myself (see photo at right) - a fresh, lighter "do" to usher in spring and perk myself up. So I thought it was also time for a new look for The Bold Soul blog as well. I'm actually in the process of revisiting both my blog and web site designs, and will probably be making some more customized changes to both in the coming months. But in the meantime, I decided to choose a new theme from Typepad. I won't be customizing the top with my own photos with this one. And instead of the full blog post right on the main page, you'll see an excerpt, and you can either click the post title or the "Read More" link in the excerpt to see the entire post. I've also updated the menus both at top and bottom of the page, as well as streamlined what's available on the sidebar. Some of the menus will link you back to pages on my web site. Unfortunately, Typepad -- which hosts my blog and which I've paid for monthly from the start of my blog 10 years ago -- is really behind the times when... Continue reading

"Right now we can't even let her out on the balcony unchaperoned, because she's threatened to jump and make a run for it. Just like a teenager, wanting to sneak out and party, right?" If you think you can train a cat to do ANYTHING, you're deluding yourself. Continue reading

Our spring vacation has been all about taking it easy. Although I'm on a short break from chemo, problems with my sciatic nerve and back have made it difficult for me to do any real walking and I haven't had much of an appetite. This means I've been staying home, chez Georges' sister, more than I normally would. Saint Raphael is a quiet town, especially off-season, so there aren't tons of things to do, but the mini-golf has been open in the afternoons and normally it's just nice walking around or taking short drives. We did take a short drive the other day, to enjoy lunch at one of our favorite beach-front restaurants, located on a little cove. A few people were even swimming or kayaking. I put my feet in the water for a few minutes but that was about all the cold water I could stand. I love the red rocks on the coastline here. Another day, we drove into the center of town, and I parked myself at a table at Le Poussin Bleu for a hot chocolate while Georges and le Garçon went to the nearby bookstore. Just next to this restaurant is a hotel-restaurant called... Continue reading

Why yes, I guess it has! Seven happy years ago today, Georges and I were on this very beach in Saint Raphael -- right about where those children are digging a hole and making a castle in this photo that I just took -- when he surprised me by dropping a melon, then dropping down on one knee and asking me a Very Important Question. There was never any doubt what the answer would be. And every day, I'm still so glad he asked me. This will always be our "Melon Beach". Happy 7th Engaged-iversary, mon coeur. Continue reading

Je prends un bol d'air. I'm getting a change of air tomorrow: literally. Georges and I, and le Garçon, are leaving town for two weeks at my sister-in-law's place in Saint-Raphaël. It's the spring school holidays, perfect timing to shake off the remaining dregs of the grey (polluted) Paris air. All I want to look at for the next two weeks are palm trees, azure-blue seas, sandy beaches and a pastis bottle. And the love in my husband's eyes. He needs this vacation as much as I do. (Sketch by my SIL of Georges reading on one of our favorite beaches.) Continue reading

On Sunday, April 12th, I'll be making a (probably very brief) appearance on a French TV documentary about Notre Dame. It will be airing tomorrow evening at 6:30pm/18:30 local Paris time, on channel M6 for their regular program 66 Minutes: Grand Journal. If you're in France, please tune in and watch! I was invited to participate because the producers heard about the No Love Locks campaign, and they were also planning to interview one of the leaders of another historic preservation group whose members live in the Notre Dame neighborhood -- they've been trying to get the city to clear locks from the Pont Neuf and other bridges in their quartier for several years, and we decided to partner with them last year. The producers decided to have us both on camera together on the Pont de l'Archevêché, discussing how horrible this locks have become, and how it really degrades the neighborhood and view of the stunning cathedral. While most of the focus and press about love locks in Paris centers around the Pont des Arts, the Pont de l'Archevêché is just as grotesquely disfigured, and because it is located directly behind Notre Dame, the visual pollution has a huge... Continue reading

The weather has turned sunny, the sunshine is warm and lovely, and the days are getting longer. Parisians are coming out of their grey winter hibernation... And apparently some of them are celebrating while they bask in all that Vitamin D-light! Continue reading