Category: People
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The Sounds of a House
I’m in bed and Husband’s downstairs making coffee when we hear a jangle of keys and the turning of the front door handle. A young man lets himself into the house and is startled to find it occupied. He hastily explains that a neighbour told him that the house was empty and it was okay… Read more
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Night Wanderings
I’m sweaty, Husband is coughing and hacking, and I can’t sleep. But this is a large house and there are empty beds upstairs. In the blackness of our unfamiliar bedroom I shuffle across the floor, toward the spiral staircase and a sliver of light. The stairs are stone, wedge-shaped, five hundred years old and lack… Read more
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French Architectural Eye Candy
There’s little point in snapping pics of Marco and Rod’s house here in Noyers-Sur-Serein, Burgundy, France when there’s a ShutterFly page crammed with great photos. Not a bad shack, I think. And here’s a sneak peek at the greater village. Read more
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Winging Away
I realized that it isn’t obvious I’m away for the summer. Husband and I have taken all the squids to France/Italy, returning in September. We spent five days in Paris, moved on to Normandy and have just arrived for an extended stay at my brother-in-law’s house in Noyers-sur-Serein. After, we’re off to see the rellies… Read more
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Driving Miss Crazy in Paris
I realize, on Saturday afternoon on the 6th level of the underground parking garage Gare du Nord Paris, that I haven’t driven a standard in three-and-a-half years. Read more
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A Sign
This week I received a sign I’d been waiting for. I wrote here and here about the McCarney family that owned my house between 1918 or so and 1976. Patricia McCarney, one of four siblings, lived in the house – nicknamed Rustic Manor – until she entered the convent. John, her nephew, spent summers at the… Read more
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Full Body Chills On a Hot Summer’s Day
Several times a day my neighbour passes the house walking her toy poodle. It’s an odd day if she hasn’t stopped and chitter-chattered about this and that. But yesterday she had a particular tale to tell. On the weekend she attended an outdoor wedding on the grounds of a picturesque stone home built in… Read more
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CurioCabinet: Studiolo Gubbio
In our family, turning six entitled the birthday child to a five-day trip to New York with Mamma. It was a mutually beneficial ruse: I enjoyed a big-city adventure roughly every eighteen months and they got my undivided attention and an itinerary to match their interests. The Metropolitan Museum of Art became a staple. Set… Read more
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Page 23
Think those models in furniture catalogues don’t have a life? Think again. Amazing what lengths some people will go to for style. A short film by Jeroen Houben, Tim Arts, and Stefan van den Boogaard made during the 48 Hour film project in Utrecht, 2011. Discovered via http://www.shortfilmfests.com. Read more