"Here comes the sun..." CesVT's Profile

... dont you just feel like a born again human? :)

I'm Cécile, from Paris, France

Feeling lonely at the Sacré Coeur?

Although, as most Parisians, I was not born here but in Grenoble, in the Alps... (Photos of the French Alps) I moved to Paris aged 17 for my studies... which I flunked (or, more precisely, gave up)... Apart from a couple of months in Germany both in 1987 and 1990, a couple of months in the States and Canada in 1989, a few months back in Grenoble in 1990 and about 4 months in Ireland in 1991, I've been living in Paris ever since... I love Paris, but mostly when I have time on my hands and can enjoy it as a tourist... which I haven't done in a while... I'm not sure I want to live here forever, though... May be that thing about turning 40: the things you haven't done (like actually living abroad), the quality of life (getting tired of the commuting, the crowd, the noise, the tiny apartment), this feeling that it's 'now or never'...
Well, until I 'find my way' (the new one), I can still enjoy the cafés, the bookstores and the concerts...
And my passion: traveling!

Love of traveling

First glimpses of the world...

My first glimpse of another country was... Italy! I was 7 but can still remember the smells (the cologne-scented soap in my first hotel room, the sticky fig 'milk' from the tree by the bungalow...), the disorientation climbing up the tower in Pisa and the old lady at the souvenir stand who offered me a silver bracelet, the fascination with Pompei and the volcano, the largest pizzas in the world... and rushing back home because of a cholera epidemic! Then my parents took us to Spain, the Riviera, Barcelona, Roman ruins... My next trips were as a teenager - I was sent to England twice to study English, then Wales... I think that's when I caught the 'bug'!! Later on, I was sent to Germany a couple of times (before actually working there a couple of summers in my twenties)...
And then it went on... ;-)

Love of nature

Bruno, me & Little House in the Mountain

As kids, my brother Bruno and I got to spend a lot of time outdoors... My parents had built a small cabin in a tiny remote hamlet in the Alps, about an hour's drive from Grenoble... We spent week-ends and holidays there, surrounded by mountains... and very few humans! (French Alps)
Also, in the summer, we'd often get to spend time with our family in Burgundy, both in the Saône-et-Loire and the Nièvre departments - real rural areas! (BurgundyTourism)
So we both ended up with a passion for nature... Unfortunately, my brother 'left us' in 2001, and he never got to realizing his dreams of going to Scotland and Ireland... Maybe I can enjoy it for both of us, and I'm sure he would have loved other destinations I've been to or I'm dreaming of! :-)

Other passion 1: reading

'The Way of the World', by Nicolas Bouvier

Reading is a family disease! From as far as I can remember, I can see my grand-parents reading, my parents reading, my brother reading, my own books, and the thrill of going to the old little bazar in our mountain village (a few miles from the hamlet!) where they had EVERYTHING, kids books included, the newspaper & magazine store by our first appartment, the library when I was a teenager, the Latin Quarter bookstores as a student, and, these days, either the Fnac in La Défense, the nice brand new bookstore round the corner here in the 11th arrondissement, WH Smith near la Concorde or... the Internet! Not to mention all the wonderful places you 'bump into' around the world - I sent myself a case of books from Alaska, if it can give you an idea... ;-)
Here, the cover of L'Usage du Monde - The Way of the World -, the book Swiss writer Nicolas Bouvier is most famous for... (Wikipedia page on Bouvier with quotes and links) A jewel of a writer, so full of images, depth, humour and sensitivity, here retracing the trip he took with a friend in 1953, driving a small Fiat all the way from Geneva to Afghanistan... (Telegraph Book Review)

Other passion 2: photography

Little Jade & friend at play

Well, I'm not sure I should mention this one, as my passivity and laziness don't allow for much progress in this area... Always been interested in images, but I never really make the effort, never really try, except for the occasional course... As in most other areas, I like to keep things simple and can't take too much technique... probably because I'm so tired already just being a complicated person, I hear some say (other voices saying 'Yeah, you're a woman' ---> you're out!)... ;-)
Maybe I just don't have the patience... Still, I'd like to take the time again-let's see if I eventually do!
Of course children are always fun to observe - Here you have Jade, left, the daughter of a Brazilian friend married to a Frenchman, and a little friend of hers, herself half-Corean!

Other passion 3: music

I LOVE music and going to concerts! My tastes are pretty eclectic and revolve around rock, the blues, soul, and also 'old time' jazz (NOT free jazz!)... Last year's concerts have included (besides a few shows at clubs to see 'local' bands and French harmonicists): Springsteen , Joe Bonamassa, Bjorn Berge, The Presidents of the USA, Buddy Guy, The Stray Cats, Bryan Adams, Flogging Molly...

Other passion 4: animal welfare

A mischievous friend in Dawson City

I have been concerned with the environment all my life - probably for the same reasons I inherited a passion for nature in the first place... I'm also one of those people who think humans are animals just like 'everybody else', and that animals are sensitive beings we have a way of mistreating I really don't care for...
So, a year ago, after many years of thinking about it regularly and not taking the step, and after one horrifying video too many, I simply decided that I now was a vegetarian! My ideal would be to be vegan, but I've been finding it pretty hard, especially as soon as I have to eat out...

Et pour les Terriens français, un site porteur d'espoir et d'action à consulter, celui de COLIBRIS, MOUVEMENT POUR LA TERRE ET L'HUMANISME:
Colibris

Intro Updated Apr 27, 2010
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Personal Pages (10)

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Comments (90)

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gwened Apr 8, 2013 at 12:50 PM

bon te lire mon amie.. donc on est sur le printemps ou pas ? mdr!!!
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  CesVT Apr 17, 2013 at 4:29 PM
  
  Ca y est, vous aussi vous avez pu faire un petit coucou au soleil ? Ici, c'était l'été aujourd'hui, mais on en revient au printemps demain !
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  gwened Apr 18, 2013 at 1:14 PM
  
  ho ho ho le même ici mais je serai à Bucarest tout la semaine prochaine!
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RUMISABUNCU Feb 15, 2013 at 2:10 AM

I enjoyed travel your Vt pages. I love to be in France. I lived in Avignon for a research study. South of France has very nice Landscape. Warm greetings from sunny Antalya,TURKEY.
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  CesVT Feb 18, 2013 at 4:19 AM
  
  Hi, Rumi, & thanks ! Yes, the South of France is really picturesque-I don't know Turkey myself, but I've heard a lot of good about it! :-)
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  RUMISABUNCU Feb 20, 2013 at 2:26 AM
  
  Antalya and around so similar about general landscape of south of France, especially Kemer, Kaş and Kekova are very nice and natural places. Have a nice travel to you!
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hannette Feb 13, 2013 at 2:13 AM

Hi,
quelle jolie première photo! (avec la fenêtre) .... les couleurs douces, la lumière, la composition, ...
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  CesVT Feb 18, 2013 at 4:17 AM
  
  NB: ta propre photo est très dynamique ! ;-)
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  hannette Feb 18, 2013 at 6:05 AM
  
  Oui, certe ça rende bien l' ambiance du sud de la France! ... Ma propre photo est faite dans un moment très spontané chez moi en Belgique pendant l' été...
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kiwi Feb 12, 2013 at 4:43 PM

I love your little house in the mountains :-) We have those, but at the beach. We call them a "bach", it refers to settlers' "bachelors' huts" that were transplanted to the beach after the country was developed (and no longer needed for armies of single men clearing land etc). Many families used them as a beach holiday home. Ours is larger, but still a "bach".
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  CesVT Feb 18, 2013 at 4:14 AM
  
  Hi Pam, how interesting, I didn't know about this "bach" thing! :-) Which points to the fact that I definitely should visit NZ, even though I'm not sure I'll ever be able to afford it... Our "little house in the mountains" was unfortunately sold when I was 10-I'm not sure I ever recovered... We went back to see it with my parents a couple of years ago, still as enchanting as it used to be, but rather melancholy, as the "new" proprietor had recently died and his widow had had to leave for a nearby village (closer to facilities), so it was all overgrown, etc. They used to call it their "little paradise"...
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sunny750 Jan 26, 2013 at 10:42 AM

hi,,,,,wanna frendship
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Jefie Dec 25, 2012 at 6:12 AM

Joyeux Noël ma chère amie! Je te souhaite une excellente journée remplie d'amour et de joie :o) Ici, c'est le calme avant la tempête : Pascale, Alex et Kevin arrivent ce soir, wouhou!! Gros bisous xox
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  CesVT Jan 4, 2013 at 7:19 AM
  
  Oops, j'arrive un peu tard ! Merci pour tes bons voeux, ma belle Isa, et tous mes voeux pour une très belle année 2013, pour toi et tous ceux que tu aimes ! :o) Je sais que tu ne manqueras ni d'activités ni de projets ! ;o) Je pense que les fêtes ont été joyeuses et animées, d'après l'affluence ! ;o) Gros bisous xoxo
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gwened Dec 25, 2012 at 2:25 AM

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noêl!
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  CesVT Jan 4, 2013 at 7:21 AM
  
  Merci, Pedro ! J'espère que tu as passé de bonnes fêtes (sous le ciel breton ?), et je te souhaite une très bonne année 2013, à toi et ta famille ! Bises
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  gwened Jan 4, 2013 at 7:25 AM
  
  merci Ceci; meilleurs voeux! le ciel breton est nougeaux ::)
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Pawtuxet Nov 21, 2012 at 2:08 PM

I just love that sunny yellow photo! Makes me happy to arrive at your page. Sorry for being AWOL for so long. Obviously we didn't make it to France this year. I'm hopeful there will be another opportunity. We're getting ready for Thanksgiving Day tomorrow. We're sure to eat way too much food...drink too much wine.... but it will be grand to have a fair number of the family members together. Weather promises to be fair.
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chahlawah Nov 12, 2012 at 1:36 AM

Nice picture you have of your travels
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gwened Nov 11, 2012 at 5:09 AM

good to see you on, hope all is well. waiting warmly inside cold outside lol!!!