Sojourner's Sojourns
Natural Beauty + Sojourns + Wellness
This is a mini-guest photo post by Mark Williams, who is currently touring Europe with DJ Premiere. Mark can be found in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stones.
Paris is always a good idea- Audrey Hepburn
May the spirit of the city of lights be with you!
During my first year as a teacher in 2003, I shared a crappy apartment in East Harlem, ate in almost every night, made few purchases and hoarded my money so I could spend the summer in France. It began in September as a crazy idea. After dinner one evening, my friend Fred said "we should go to Paris."
Of course we should, I agreed. I mean, who doesn't want to go to Paris?
By October, we had an elaborate plan. We were going to take on as much of France as possible for four weeks over the summer.
While my friends bought new shoes and bags, I saved and saved. I would go shopping in Paris I told myself ( this was before the Euro overtook the dollar).
I wish I had a fancy photo collage to share with you of my enchanting time on the Parisian shore, but I don't. In 2003, I was still working with Kodak fun saver cameras (yes, remember them). This was before I had a digital camera and way before I could have ever conceived of an iPhone or of blogging (gasp!). All of my photos from France lie in a scrapbook (oh my gosh, remember those), in my house in Maryland. I'll have to dig them out later. In the meantime, I will continue like the rest of the posts in this drawing inspiration series.
When I think of France, I am reminded of:
France, what a pleasure and an honor it was to be in your presence.
Two products were inspired by my time in France, the Paris Fragrance oil, a light, roll on formula that epitomizes romance and pleasure, with notes of lavender and jasmine and the Provence Whipped Body Butter, a creamy, whipped butter scented with lavender.
If you can’t experience France in person for yourself, take the journey with a Paris Fragrance Oil or a Provence Whipped Body Butter.
From now, until next Wednesday (9/17) enjoy 10% off the Paris Fragrance Oi and the Provence Whipped Body Butter by entering the code FRANCE at checkout) and enjoy!
Click HERE to purchase.
I recently stumbled across these photos from my first trip to England- my first trip outside of North America.
It was the summer of 2002, I had just finished my graduate work at NYU and had six weeks to kill before I was set to begin my first job. My friend Robin was in London studying at the University of Westminster and invited me to stay with her during my six weeks of freedom.
I jumped at the opportunity. I had always liked the idea of travel. I had always wanted to see the world. I just hadn't gotten around to it between my conservatory style undergrad training that bled directly into fast paced and all-consuming grad school. There seemed to be a million distractions and traveling was simply a dream deferred.
Then I took the leap.
Something happened to me during those six weeks in London. The once deferred dream, was a dream realized and the dream was turning into somewhat of an obsession.
I tasted every new thing I could. I drank pints even though I wasn't a beer drinker, just because that was what was done. I visited the countryside, stared, mouth agape at the crowned jewels and the latest exhibits at the Tate. I went shopping at Harrods, Top Shop and Hadleys. I drank tea and indulged in scones and crumpets with clotted cream. I stood at the gates of Buckingham and Kensington Palace. I walked the banks of the River Thames and marveled at Westminster Abby and the Tower Bridge. I cheered at football matches, rode double-decker buses, splashed through puddles, and gave silver pounds to the street performers at Piccadilly Circus. I ate curry and shepherds pies, I tried marmalade and digestive biscuits. I sat in pubs, cafes and gardens and wrote for hours.
It was the summer I contracted the travel bug. The summer I stepped outside and into myself. It was perfect and it was imperfect.
It was the summer I got lost trying to navigate my way from central London to the outer zone of Dulwich (long before google maps had been invented to save us from ourselves). It was the summer my credit card was stolen at a pub while I sat working on a story enjoying some fish and chips. It was the summer I saw how Americans were sometimes perceived negatively abroad. It was the summer I saw the frustrations of many of England's immigrants living and striving to achieve the "English Dream" (if you will) in Outer London.
It was the summer of a powerful awakening.
Though the photos are somewhat blurry as they were taken on a fun-saver camera, long before my DSLR would become the standard and though many of the photos are missing, I still feel the hope and optimism of that summer.
Throughout my last decade of international travel, I haven't spent much time in Europe (barring brief trips to Paris and Amsterdam).
As I pack my bags, I'm excited to return, if only for a little while, to England before I move on to explore Portugal. It has been a little over a decade. So much has happened. There is so much more yet to come!
Do you have a favorite European destination?
