Okay, now who wouldn’t love receiving a letter like the one below?
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date: Tue, Feb 17, 2009
subject: Re: a few more things . . . .
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can just imagine the chocolate river, your self-inflicted hair cut, and the lovely meal (but French and Japanese — too weird!). The photos of Annecy on Trip Advisor are stunningly beautiful. What was the deciding factor to pick this lovely little village?
Just curious,
Val
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Val, you made my day.
And funny you should ask.
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date: Wed, Feb 18, 2009
subject: Re: a few more things . . . . OR Why I chose Annecy
Hi Val,
I wrote the following to Char the other day:
“My heart is pulling me towards Annecy. I spent one night there in September 1999 on that month long trip with my parents . . . and at the time, I thought I’d like to return one day for a little longer stay. And then when Becky the nice physical therapist recommended it, it kind of struck a chord . . . she was Dad’s fav therapist at Patricia Neal.”
Here’s my Dad happy as a clam during that September 1999 trip. The wine was from the little town near the farm gite where we were staying.
See the cool candle holder? It came from Beaune.
Notice his colorful Hawaiian shirt? My sister later made a wonderfully healing quilt using that shirt as the theme . . . nope, you can’t have it!
Though I’d be happy to share its healing powers with you. Drop me a note and I’ll send
some of its Light your way.
And also, as I thought about it, I realized that Annecy was where I decided to learn French. On this month long trip with my parents and my sister I had not even bothered to learn any French phrases; I tend to be an all or nothing kind of gal. But towards the end of the trip I got fed up with not getting what I really wanted for breakfast, so I looked in Hannah’s phrase book for how to order a larger coffee with cream and some bread with something or other . . . I remember Dad saying, “Now that’s more like it!” when we received what we really wanted for breakfast.
Mom and Dad with some of the wine grapes grown in the vineyard where our gite was located.
Also, during that same trip French people often became indignant that I couldn’t speak French. I was somehow the designated spokesperson and my haircut was a bob then (more French-like), and they just thought I should be able to speak French. I remember thinking in my little brain that I had already learned a second language; but during that trip I thought, “Why not learn French too?”
That’s me on the left with my sister
(who later made the special quilt for me).
I don’t think my hair looks like a bob either!
See how memory can plan tricks on a person!
Et alors . . . in conclusion, I do believe it was in Annecy that I had that epiphany . . . AND it’s a really pretty and small town. I think small will be really good for me right now. AND it’s close-by and it won’t be a big deal to get there.
Some of the other places people suggested just cry out for more time: Loire Valley for example.
Yes, French and Japonaise food in combination IS really weird! But I think having been in Hawaii for so long, where we eat Japanese food, prepared me. The other lady’s eyes got REALLY big a few times!
Please give my regards to Robert.
p.s. I decided to copy this to ALL since maybe others are wondering why I chose Annecy . . .