Something Special on Belle Ile

 

"A lovely, shimmering story... 
The French House moves to a soulful, very funny rhythm all its own." -Meryl Streep (her comments as recorded on the cover of the book)

As you may recall from my last post, I ordered three special books that all have to do with France in some way or the other. The books arrived last weekend and I have finished the first one, The French House, by Don Wallace of New York City. What a gem I found in this little memoir! This is the story of how a young couple, Don and Mindy Wallace, made their dream come true, even when everyone else said they were crazy. Their desire was to buy a very old row house in a small town on an island off the coast of Brittany on an island they call Belle Ile ("Beautiful Island"). They had finished their formal education when they bought the house but they didn't have much money. They were living in a small NY City apartment at the time, and they were living on a sparse income. Mindy finished her law degree but did not "set up shop" as an attorney, and they began their trips to their beautiful island.

The house in Kerkordardoue was in shambles, and it only had two bedrooms. It basically was nothing more than a pile of rubble, but they bought it anyway. They paid their contractor a little at a time until, after eight long years, the house was livable. Eventually they spent almost every summer there in France, far away from the city living of NY or Paris. I must comment here that having an entire summer off of work is something that most Americans can't imagine, but the Europeans are accustomed to having a lot more vacation time than us each year. Every year when the Wallaces visited their house they got a little closer to their dream of having a good space to live every summer. But when they first bought the house, it didn't even have a working toilet, and going upstairs was "at your own risk." And, of course, they dealt with many setbacks as they had the house renovated, and they had to get used to the slower pace of life and the frustrations of getting workers to actually show up to do the work that was needed. There were codes about what they could and could not do to the outside of their house, and they often found the rules to be nonsensical. Even planting a rose bush was off-limits, but they did it anyway. They had no yard of their own, so planting a small garden was out of the question. One day they saw tracks leading to their dead rose and became very upset because they just knew that someone had run over their beloved plant because it didn't "meet the code." Although renovating the house was very frustrating at times, they stuck with it and made their dream come true.

One of the fun things about this book is that Wallace talks a lot about the 2,000 people who live in Kerkodardoue. He and Mindy enjoyed meeting people such as Gwened Guedel, Denis LeReveur, Suzanne, and many others who made the town colorful. Interestingly, a lot of psychiatrists lived on the island, some of which were part time residents. They found this to be amusing but soon befriended some of these psychiatrists. And why shouldn't these people be on the island anyway? Psychiatrists need a break from it all too.

Very few of us can do what the Wallaces did. When the book was published in 2014, the couple had owned the house for about 20 years. They sacrificed a lot to make their fantasy come true, but they made wonderful memories along the way with their son, Rory. The great food, the body surfing, the parties with their island friends, and the peaceful lifestyle on Belle Ile made it all worthwhile for this family.

Have you ever dreamed about having a place like this? I do dream about traveling, because that's my favorite thing to do, but if I could choose a place to have a simple vacation house it would be in Blue Ridge Mountains here in North Carolina - nothing fancy, just a simple house where we can retreat to a peaceful setting. And doing some hiking and boating would be pretty neat too.

I'm off to Kentucky tomorrow...have a great week.

-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com

A Tour Book Writer and a Greek Wedding

"That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet." -Jhumpa Lahiri

 I finished a good book a couple of days ago and I feel conflicted. Is this the ending that I really expected or hoped for? Is this how people make decisions in the real world? I listened to Anne Tyler's book, The Accidental Tourist: A Novel this week. This is the story of a married couple, Macon and Sarah Leary, who are struggling through life one year after the senseless murder of their 12-year-old son. Sarah left Macon a year after the death, and Macon was devastated. He couldn't deal with his feelings of loss for his son AND for his wife, and his depression showed in his everyday life. One day he met a dog trainer named Muriel, and she seemed to dig her heels into him as if she were aggressively looking for a husband. She did little more than confuse Macon's fragile emotions and he eventually gave in to her advances. There are other turns in the story, but I don't want to spoil it for you, so I won't give you the ending. But it will leave you realizing that life is very complicated and sometimes full of surprises, so be ready for it. 

One thing that I enjoyed reading about was Macon Leary's career as a writer of travel books. Sounds like a great job to me! I wouldn't mind it at all, but Macon absolutely hated to travel. Many times he had to return to places where he had been before because the travel books needed to be updated. Sometimes he went to places in the U.S., but he also traveled abroad, of course. At the end of the book he went to Paris and had a very detailed agenda that he had planned. But this is where one of the twists of the story occurs, because Macon didn't go anywhere while in Paris. Read the book to find out why. Oh, one disclaimer...this book was published in 2002 so you'll notice that the technology is limited and it seems like things are often done "the hard way." We sure have come a long way in the past 15 years.

Yesterday I went to see the new movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" with my college daughter. Since we are also planning a wedding, it was fun to watch this comedic story. While the movie is somewhat a disappointment compared to the first movie, we did enjoy it and had a few laughs. If you loved the first movie like we did, I recommend this movie. All of the original actors are back and a few new ones are on the scene, so it's like a reunion of sorts. I think everyone was surprised at the success of the first Greek wedding movie, but don't be surprised if this one doesn't quite live up to your expectations. Still, it's fun and I'm glad we saw it. What could be better than to see this movie with your amazing daughter who is engaged?

I'm so excited! Today I received a notification from Amazon saying that the three books I ordered are on the way! I can't wait to read them. I'll be reading The Little Paris Bookshop, The French House, and Hidden in Paris. Notice a theme throughout?? So, guess what I'll be writing about in the coming weeks? I can't wait to dig in, so stay tuned. I'll be reading about all things French once again, and I can't wait to get started.

Have a blessed Easter and a great final week of March.

-Melissa Hill

Book Blogger

www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com

What I Do

Photo on boyerwrites.wordpress.com

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."

-C.S. Lewis (Brainy Quotes) 

I've been writing about things that I see and observe on a daily basis, in both my reading and in the ordinary tasks of life. It all stemmed from the book that I listened to, What the Dog Saw, by Gladwell. The book was a collection of his stories for The New Yorker in which he discussed the not-so-ordinary background of people and things in our society. I don't think I have the fervent curiosity that Gladwell has, but I do observe things that I think are unusual, interesting, or simply out of my range of experiences. 

Today I turn to "What I Do." I have my own routines and interests, as everyone does, and I'm not very good at loafing around. I teach English as a Second Language part-time, and I love working with my students, all of whom are Hispanic this year. They are the cutest, funniest, and sweetest children that I've ever known, and my desire is to help them become better readers and writers so that they can become successful adults. I listen to them when they talk about what's important to them, and I encourage them to always do the right thing. I provide hugs when they are needed, and I call their parents when necessary. In short, I'm pretty passionate about helping these children.

I'm also the member of a church, and I am the mother of two adult children. I spend some of my time in church and also in continuing to be a parent. I tell my kids that I'm their dad and I are their "Number 1 Fans," and I encourage them to reach for their dreams. And, of course, I've always taught them to do the right thing. We are blessed to be the parents of our son and our daughter, a job which will never be "finished."  As long as there is breath in me, I will be available to our children.  I see this as my most important purpose, one of the things that motivates me and gives my life meaning. 

There are other things that I do in a typical week. I swim laps three times per week at an indoor public pool, and I enjoy it very much. It's wonderful exercise and easy on the joints. I also go for a 45 minute walk when possible. I read, run errands for my daughter who is getting married, and write my blog. And when time allows, I talk to a few of my great friends who live out of state. I'm blessed to have had some of my friends for 40 years! Who keeps up with old friends like that anymore?? One thing that I've learned is that the heart and soul of my friends has never changed over the years, and all of us have been through "rough patches" on the road of life, patches that make us more resilient and compassionate toward others.

So those are some of the things that I DO, but what about books? This week I'm listening to a book on CD, The Accidental Tourist. I've really enjoyed the story line, and I look forward to listening to it all week. Today I'm going to start reading a book that is a collection of the writings of C.S. Lewis, The Beloved Works of C.S. Lewis. This book includes his works Surprised by Joy, Reflections on the Psalms, The Four Loves, and The Business of Heaven. I'm looking forward to diving into this volume and I expect to find a lot of spiritual truths to be revealed. 

Have you read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah yet? I'm thinking about ordering this book because someone told me that it's one of those books that you just can't put down. If you've read this bestseller, what did you think? I think I'll ee if the library has it before I order it, but I'll probably be on a long waiting list to get it.

That's it for today...have a great week as you wait for spring to come in just five short days! And, Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of my pals of Irish descent.

 -Melissa Hill

Book Blogger

www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com