Vive la France!

My old colleague Patrick will probably be laughing now. He used to visit France quite often, while we never went there. Chris and I were mostly away to Great-Britain. But as GB made it more difficult to enter, we haven't been there since March 2020. 

Recently, we've been discovering more of France. Before corona, we had already visited Paris (day trip with the village priest), La Rochelle, Marseille and the Côte d'Azur. This year in summer, we made a trip to Bordeaux and shortly we head to Strasbourg. This destination was also intented for last summer, but due to the problem with the electricity, we moved this trip to the coming autumn break. 

And because we cancelled our rail passes (see earlier blog) we picked for the new destination - France once more! We'll make a train trip to various places there. First to Lyon, then from Lyon to Tours (Loire valley) and finally to Paris. Found a cute hotel there.

So by the end of this year, we'll have seen a good deal of France already. Our French is improving accordingly. We both know and understand French perfectly (our grandfather was French-speaking) but we are not in the habbit of using it. You don't need French in Flanders. But right now we can also speak it more fluently and need not search for words anymore. When we go on in years and we make more visits to France, our French will get just as fluent as our English.

France is also a destination where you know you'll find fine food - not to mention the wine! 

Bad deal of the year

At the end of June this year, we got ourselves a Rail Pass. There was a promotion campaign around it, and the prices were reduced to 50% for some days. So we decicided to take advantage of this offer and got ourselves these passes. Only 304 € to travel 5 days within a month, without restrictions, in first class on whatever train. We'd use the pass to do some travelling in the Christmas period.

Last weekend we wanted to make a start with planning the trip. According to what the promotion promised, we'd be able to search for trains with the app, and also make seat reservations. Well, when we tried it gave - nada! The app just said they couldn't find train times and making reservation didn't work either. But when you went online to a site like Deutsche Bahn or B-Europe, you could find train times, buy tickets and make reservations.

So we dumped the pass - thanks to an extra we paid, we were fully refunded. What use it is when you can't use it?

Result: we have to make new plans for the Christmas period. Still thinking about it. Anyone else who had a bad experience with a rail pass?

Day Against Cancer

Today, everyone is aware of the fight against cancer today. The organisation Kom Op Tegen Kanker organises for the 22nd time the Day Against Cancer. You're asked to wear a yellow ribbon to show that you support the case.

This organisation depends solely upon gifts. My sister and I also have a standing order that everyone a certain amount is transfered to this organisation. The moneys gathered help scientists to develop new ways of helping cancer patients, develop new medicines. It also helps build support houses where cancer patients and their family can have a few days away from all worries. And of course Kom Op Tegen Kanker does a lot of other things. 

This week, our national tv station has been broadcasting programs around people fighting cancer. I'm also one of them. A bit more than 4 years ago I was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney. In all honesty, I can't say I was devastated by the news. I sort of catalogued the fact for what it was worth and continued as usual. I suppose my sister had a harder time accepting it. I've always been able to accept what's coming and make no drama of it. And who knows, perhaps it's for the better? I'm still here after the tumor and my right kidney were surgically removed (made a quick recovery) and I've been taking my medication day by day - I call it my daily poison. I need the medication because the cancer created some methatases on my lungs and one of my pancreas. Nowadays, my lungs are clear once more and thanks to the new medication (the old one didn't work anymore) the lump on my pancreas is decreasing in size again. 

So I'm doing fine and can't really complain. I don't feel like a cancer patient. Of course, I sometimes suffer from some side effects of the medication. With the new medication, the nausea and diarrhoea are less frequent. The only thing is that right now my feet burn like hell every morning and evening. But a paracetamol helps to relieve the pain and then I can function like normal in the course of the day. Do I need to complain for this? There are people who are worse off than myself. I take every day as it comes and hope that many more are coming my way!

All is Set Anew

 Today we welcome Jim Cheney, who's doing a virtual book blast tour for  All is Set Anew, a Supernatural Thriller available now from Prufrock Communications. The Book Blast Tour will take place October 18 - 22, 2021. 

 

Jim Cheney will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the following link to place your comment:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3926/

 

Blurb

A fast-paced examination of loss, survival, and ultimately acceptance of those things we do not understand but must contend with as if our lives depend upon it.

 

From deep in the rural Tennessee woods, two brothers flee their murderous father only to find that a violent, supernatural force has followed their escape and will haunt their family for multiple generations.

 

All Is Set Anew is the story of abandonment and its subsequent revenge, set against a backdrop of characters imprisoned by poverty and self-doubt and their struggle to outrun the evil and illness that relentlessly pursues them.

Excerpt

That afternoon Mary found Edgar at the hog pens and she told him that she wanted to speak with him after supper. She spent the rest of the day packing suitcases for her husband and tidying things around the house. LoLo moved about the rooms silently and Mary worried that her decision was poorly chosen each time the woman’s eyes met hers. It was not a critical exchange of glance, but the way that LoLo diverted her eyes too quickly gave Mary a sinking sensation that made her want to ask her what she would do if the decision was hers. Mary’s upbringing had been as pragmatic as it was cultured, so she looked to facts when challenged. They had let a man like Hicks onto the place. Logic told her that he had raped Katherine, although she could not prove it. Her daughter Renee had left with him, although she could not prove that either. Katherine was alive, and while traumatized, Mary believed that she could guide her back to health. If it got out that Katherine had been raped by a man that Renee had run off with, the impact to the family and its reputation would be devastating. And when she imagined her husband’s reaction to any of this, she felt as helpless as someone looking out over an arid field, begging the merciless, baking sky for relief. Katherine will recover, she told herself. She has enough of me in her that she’ll find her way through. 

Author bio and links

Jim Cheney was raised in North Georgia and has written professionally for more than 25 years. He has been published in media outlets throughout the United States. This is his first novel. He lives in Franklin, Tennessee with his wife, two boys and three dogs.

Links:

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Cheney/e/B0984GXJPM

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JimCheneyAuthor

The book is on sale for $0.99

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B097NS5L8C/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-is-set-anew-jim-cheney/1139777480

 

Another weekend Antwerp

This year, we've been visiting the town of Antwerp more than once - one of the effects of corona and not being able to travel to a lot of other places. 

 As always, we stayed at the Hilton in the town center - they are beginning to know us there. Everything fine, as usual. 

And also like the weekends before, the weather co-operated and was fine for the time of year. We went shopping on Saturday morning (got myself a nice new woollen dress) and had lunch. In the afternoon, we made a walk and afterwards sat on a terrace sipping from our apérol spritz. Had a nice conversation there with a couple next to our table. 

In the evening, we attended a musical dinner show in Studio Zuid (the part of Antwerp where a century ago the poor folk used to live, but now it's very exclusive). The show being performed was The Bodyguard, and it was a decent production.

The food was okay too, we've experienced worse. Some apetizers, a Thai chicken soup, salmon in a jacket of herbs and at last dessert: chocolate mousse by famed chocolatier Dominic Persoone. 

In December, we'll go to a sortlike event. That time they're doing Jesus Christ Superstar. 

So we had a relaxed weekend once more and that's just a fine as having a holiday in a far-away destination!

Going back to my childhood

I don't know, but the older I get, the more I'm inclined to go back to those habits and ways of my childhood... 

When Chris and I were kids, we always rode first class on the train. Our father worked for Belgian Rail and his position gave him right to first class tickets for him and his family. We could enjoy this luxury as long as we were minors and also as long as we were students at uni. Nowadays we tend to buy first class tickets once more. Corona measures played a role in it, as well. First class compartments here in Europe are not only more expensive, but they are less crowded as well. The seats are better and wider. When we travel by train, it's always first class now.

Because our dad worked for the railways, we did not have a car when we were young. Why buy a car when you can go from A to B for free? Later on, when having to go from one school to another, both Chris and I had a car. But I sold mine already like twenty years ago, and the last car went in 2009. We don't miss it. We've adjusted our life to it. For transport there's the train or bus, and we have a caddy for running errands. No car means a least one city trip a year 

Also, I go back to hobbies I had when I was much younger. These past years I have been reading voraciously, just like I did when I was a kid. (When being told I should go play outside more, I hid a book under my sweater and climbed into a tree - to read there for a couple of hours!) I often catch myself thinking I shouldn't have given away my Barbie dolls - we donated them to the Speelgoed Museum in Mechelen. I loved to dress the dolls in their magnificent designer clothes (for which we saved like a year to be able to buy one). I also loved making construction with Lego. Hm,, that's become fashionable nowadays. I've been looking at the site and soon I'll be buying a box to build a historical building or such.

Are there any others who experience this?

Weekend at the coast

Now that most of the corona measures have been lifted (in Flanders at last, the situation is still bad in Brussels and parts of Wallony), we are free to go wherever we want (at least when in the EU) without tests and often without facemasks. We only need to wear a facemask on general transport (train, bus, tram), in the hospital, and a few other exceptions. But we can enter a shop once more without that bothering mask as of the 1st of this month.

We came to the seaside last Friday, to enjoy the beautiful days predicted by the weather bureau. And indeed, yesterday was a magnificent sunny day, with high temperatures. It was so nice that we could wash some clothes and hang them outside to dry.  We made a walk in the afternoon, enjoyed a terrace (with a Brussels waffle) and did some shopping. Losing weight is nice (especially when you don't have to do a thing to gain it) - can you imagine, going from a size 44 to a mere 38? - but it's rather costly! First I had to buy different sizes of new jeans and skirts, then came the bra's and now it's the t-hirts and sweaters. The positive thing is that my sister is also losing some weight, and that my size 44 clothes fit her now (she come down from a size 46). 

When Chris takes her pension in September 2023, we'll be able to come here more often and also whenever we like. Now we still have to take into account the school holidays. Our flat here is well situated. We face south, i.e. the sunside, and overlook the hinterland and part of the harbour of Zeebrugge. More interesting in our view than looking out over the North Sea. This facing south also has the advantage that in winter, when there is sun, we don't need heating. This saves energy. Also, the entrance of the building is on the promenade. A big supermarket is at 5 minutes from the flat, and a doctor and dentist are also quite near. Lots of advantage when you are growing older!

Today looks like a nice day as well. Probably we'll take another walk in the afternoon, and then enjoy our dinner. Chris is a good cook and what she prepares is just as good as in many a restaurant. Today is a tournedos steak with a sauce of blue cheese and portwine, accompanied by stewed witlof and with little pineapple fries ( sort of potato in the form of a pineapple). And of course, a good glass of wine!

Unexpected Connection

 Let's say hello to Sue Jaskula today. Sue is doing a virtual book blast tour for Unexpected Connection , a Romantic Suspense available now from The Wild Rose Press. The Book Blast Tour will take place October 4 - 8, 2021 

Sue Jaskula will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the following link to place your comment:

<a class="rcptr" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3915/" rel="nofollow" data-raflid="28e4345f3915" data-theme="classic" data-template="" id="rcwidget_xrgh3pm1">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>

Blurb

Confident and resilient homicide detective Jennifer Scott is instinctively suspicious when her best friend's life is disrupted by the arrival of an unbeknownst twin sister. When a murder coincides with her appearance, the mysterious twin becomes the prime suspect.

 

Adding confusion to Jen's organized life is another unexpected intrusion, her handsome and sophisticated new partner, Detective Luke O'Connor. As mischievous as he is charming, chemistry between the two intensifies, threatening Jen's reputation and testing her limitations.

 

As the murder investigation unfolds, the detectives are forced to back-burner their heated connection while they race against time to figure out what other long-lost family members may be involved, how they're connected to the twins and why they've surfaced now.

Excerpt

I was angry at myself for my body’s response that started the minute he walked up in his perfect suit. The return of his devilish grin didn’t improve my disposition. “It’s nothing,” I snapped.

“I’m good at reading people and that expression tells me you have something you’d like to discuss.”

Again, I hushed my voice, but I knew my irritation came across loud and clear. “Keep your voice down, damn it. I don’t need rumors starting from your asinine comments. We’re not going to play this cat and mouse game, Detective O’Connor. I am also good at reading people, that’s why we’re in this job. I’ve been around a few rodeos and met your smooth-talking type. The last one almost got me fired, so let’s establish a few things. I’m not a damsel in distress. I don’t need you to escort me or help me or hit on me or tell me how good I look on any given day. I don’t date cops and I don’t need you in my personal space every time I turn around. Are you picking up what I’m putting down here?”

Author bio and links

My career has spanned many years in a mix of criminal and civil law and hospital surgical administrative work. Along with my work and life experience, I hold a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and a Creative Writing Certificate both from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.

I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to take early retirement and pursue a career in writing, a pursuit I have entered into with energy and enthusiasm. I am currently a registered member of Toronto Romance Writers and Crime Writers of Canada.

My husband and I share our home in Grimsby, Ontario, with our youngest daughter, her boyfriend, our dog and two cats. But I spend a great deal of time at our cottage in Kincardine, Ontario near my daughter, son-in-law and first grandson. On these shores of Lake Huron, with some of the best walking trails in the country, my imagination soars and my best stories come to life.

 

Social Media Links

https://suejaskula.wordpress.com/

https://www.instagram.com/suejaskulaauthor/

https://www.facebook.com/sue.jaskula

http://twitter.com/jaskulasue

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21295570.Sue_Jaskula 

Buy Links

https://www.amazon.com/Unexpected-Connection-Sue-Jaskula/dp/1509236473/

https://bookshop.org/books/unexpected-connection/9781509236473

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unexpected-connection-sue-jaskula/1139582405?

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/unexpected-connection/9781509236473-item.html?

Positive news

 Those who read my blog, will know that every 4 months I have to take a scan of the abdomen to check how the methastases on my pancreas and lungs are doing. The last time, end of May, it showed that the growth on my pancreas had somewhat increased in size, and as a result the oncologist prescribed new medication, which works in another way than Votrient. This medication is named Cabometyx and it's rather costly (10,000 € per 30 tablets). Thanks to our excellent health system in Belgium, I don' t have to pay for it.

Today was the last scan of this year. And the result was positive: the growth has become smaller, thanks to the new medication. (Well, for that kind of money, it'd better work!)

I can continue with this medication, which is less poisonous than the product I used to take before. Less side-effects and less heavy on the stomach. I seldom become sick these days, and I don't have to hurry to the bathroom anymore. 

I'll be able to end the year in a positive fashion and look forward to the new one.