Nora Roberts's Blog, page 43

Provence, France Day 8

A good workout with some ant companions, a few of which insisted on joining me for yoga. We mostly managed to coexist.

We all walked, following one of Jason’s and Kat’s walking routes to the golf club for lunch. Lots and lots of lavender and herbs, flowering trees, unusual art along the way. A very fine lunch with views of the golf course and the hills beyond. And a solid walk back–mostly uphill, with a stop at an herb garden, scented especially with rosemary.

Reflection. Photo by j a-b BW in...

Provence, France Day 7

Ants are fewer during workout time. Maybe they’re getting the message. I run the battery down on BW’s laptop, so consider that a good session.

A quiet morning with sun on the hills, twittering birds, singing cicadas. So I work on the shady terrace until I run the battery down on my Surface. (Kat’s tracking the new one, still scheduled to arrive today! We’ll see.)*  

While I worked, Kat and Jason took themselves off for a walk. BW’s working on his photos. It’s a good time to settle in with a b...

Provence, France Day 6

Start my workout with no ants in sight. About ten minutes in one scouts the area. His friends, only a handful today, join him. But this time they don’t bother to follow me down the terrace.

Our day really starts when we gather together and walk up to the hotel for our car. We have a plan. Our navigator has a map. BW pilots our big ass SUV along the winding, sun-splashed roads toward the village of Seillans. I may be spelling that wrong, but our trusty navigator (Kat) has the map, and she’s st...

Provence, France Day 5

After another eight straight of solid sleep–wowzer!–it’s workout time on a balmy morning. I figure to start with some cardio with my man Shaun T. We’re kicking it when I notice ants on the patio where I’ve set up. Don’t want to stop, so keep going, trying to avoid stomping ants.

Finally pause, move down the patio. Start it up, pumping up that heart rate. See the ants have followed me. Finish the Shaun T, go for more cardio and some upper body work, and move down the patio again.

Into it! And...

Eze to Provence, France Day 4

Packing up, even though we didn’t actually unpack for our short stay, still takes time. Where did I put this, what happened to that? Then making room for goodies bought. Jason and Kat head down for a last pain au chocolate before check out.

A last look at the sea, a last walk down, down, down through our little village. We couldn’t have had a lovelier time in Eze. 

One last look at the blue sea. Photo by j a-b

Now it’s time for Kat and the bellmen to pack our many bags into the car. And for B...

Eze, France Day 3

Ready for Monaco. Photo by BW

Driving in our little village is . . . interesting. We walk down, down, down to where they keep the car. We have a pretty big SUV as there are four of us, and we’ll have a load of luggage when we travel to Provence, then back again to Nice. These roads are happier with scooters and minis.

There are round-abouts and strange angles and intersections with cars pointed nose-to-nose. BW gets us through it, and we have the Navigation–with her classy Brit accent–set for...

Eze, France Day 2

A fIrst full day in France packed with climbs, views, flora, scents and gelato.  Vacation indeed.

It’s fascinating to climb and wind through the steep narrow streets here with the old stone of the buildings hugging the brick and cobblestone walkways. Ramps and steps heading steeply up and down, flowers and shop displays adding color.

We head out under sunny skies, poking and climbing our way toward Jardin Exotique. We’re not alone and join the queue for tickets. A big black cat curls up for a...

Eze, France Day 1

The full view. Photo by ja-b.

What happened to July? I’ll tell you what happened to mine–with regrets for not posting to the blog for the bulk of the month.

A book ate my summer. I pulled what we’ll call an Eve Dallas for about three weeks to get a book finished before the crazy travel started. 12-15 hour days, eating pizza at my desk. But it worked! Any time I had for writing went into finishing next summer’s hardcover.

Then it was a week at the spa with friends and family–always so much fun...

Postcards from the summer

Good morning all!

The blog laid dormant  for a few weeks as summer (and deadline) caught up with Nora and I took the time to start considering how else to use this space.  The quiet is about to change as  we’re less than a week from Nora’s 2017 travelogue, this time from Cote d’Azur and Provence.

Here’s a quick catch up:

After New York with Logan, Nora planned to finish writing the 2018 hardcover romantic suspense before leaving for the family trip to the spa.   She ended up working 12-14 hou...

Secrets in Death excerpt

We’re just 64 days away from Secrets in Death — out on September 5.  To tide you over, here’s the first chapter.

Enjoy!

Laura