Living in Provence, following my dreams

Although I am reveling in my new life living in Provence, I am actually also working. As part of that I am involved in a great deal of social media engagement for Integratis, finding things of value and interest to share. My motivation and interest is driven by trying to contribute to helping others improve performance…not just from the goodness of my heart, hopefully potential customers will like what we do and pay us to help them achieve their goals!
So why am I even writing this?

Well I just posted on our business Twitter and Facebook pages something which I also decided to share on my personal Facebook wall. Why? Because it comes from my heart, it is what I believe, applicable to both work and home, in all we do; it is how I try to live my life and living my life has drawn me tol iving in Provence,.
“People might forget what you said or did but they will never forget how you made them feel”. I hope that I always make others feel that I care about them, about living a life of peace and joy, which might well include listening and crying together but also hopefully dancing on the coffee table!

To me, life is all about people, my Daddy taught me that. No matter what we have or strive for, we can’t take ‘things’ with us but the memories we create with others and through the life choices we make, live on in our hearts forever. I then pondered on this irony, why then have I repeatedly chosen to move far away from those I love? Maybe it is that same depth of feeling I have for those I care about that also drives me to follow my passions. Living in Provence has long been a true passion of mine. To discover whether life here is nothing more than a ‘shutters and sunflowers dream’

I still can’t really define exactly what it is about iving in Provence, that fills my soul about this beautiful, ancient, mystical part of the world, it just does and maybe that is good enough. Yesterday, sitting outside having lunch with Chris, under the glorious splendor of the Palais des Papes in Avignon, ‘ancient’ and ‘mystical’ were everywhere.

The might and power of the medieval Catholic Church in Avignon, the magnificence of the buildings created from the painstaking blood, sweat and toil of others. The incredible architectural feats, from a time when technology was so little understood, a time riddled with suspicion of science and progress, when all labour was exactly that, labour; excruciating, backbreaking effort. Yet men created buildings that even today, regardless of your religious affiliation, make you gasp with wonder. I must re-read ‘Pillars of the Earth’, Ken Follet‘s amazing tribute to such buildings!

Did I say ‘sit outside’…..yes it is finally warmer! Eating outside is again possible, after all it is such an integral part of living in Provence, The squares, once deserted, windswept voids, are filling with bistro tables, chairs and enormous market umbrellas…. a sign of even sunnier days to come and I love it!! We ate a long, leisurely lunch of roasted aubergines and artichokes, steak frites, followed by a splendid chocolate covered pear for Chris and the most divine crepe ‘pour mois’…..well the day before, was pancake day!!

all washed down with an excellent local red vintage, calories, work worry, all temporarily forgotten. As we looked down on the mighty Rhone river and the winter vines by Saint-Benezet’s bridge (the bridge, made famous in the song’ ‘Sur la Pont D’Avignon)