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Sunday, August 25, 2013

My Eager Tale of Two Cities by Vonnie Davis


I’ve got the suitcase open and a pile of clothes lying next to it. Every other day—okay, every day—I enter the spare bedroom to finger over them or add to the pile. My eagerness is rising. We leave for Paris and Berlin in fifteen days.

This will be my second trip to both cities. Each has her own energy and identity. Paris is like a fashion model, strutting her beauty and daring anyone not to adore her. The City of Lights sparkles day and night.
 
 

Berlin, having undergone a huge rebuilding after WWII, is more youthful and less status conscious. She shows little concern for the graffiti--or street art, as the Berliners call it--decorating her buildings, bridges and sidewalks, and in fact wears them like a badge of honor. The city takes pride in her speedy mass transit system and technological advances.

If it’s modern, Berlin loves it.
 
While Paris worships her history and preens her beauty.


 

Paris is my husband’s second home. He’s lived there twice, writing at sidewalk cafés and absorbing French culture. Soon we’ll be living like the French in a Left Bank apartment for two weeks. Then we’ll fly to Berlin to visit my step-son and his Berliner wife for a week. Needless to say, Calvin is very eager to spend some time with his only child. Kelly designs and maintains websites for the Bayer Corporation.
 
While my head will be on a swivel, taking in all the glorious sights, I’ll be researching some details for a couple books—historical and contemporary.  There's nothing like sitting at sidewalk cafés, watching streams of humanity pass by. Museums are great places to reach the creative and historical parts of our souls. At night, we'll return to our little apartment to cook dinner--we're both diabetics--and write notes from all we discovered during our daily walks down narrow and windy streets once traveled by chariots.
This is a picture of our living room in our little pad near the Sorbonne University in the part of Paris known as the Latin Quarter. Centuries ago, students spoke only Latin on these streets as they discussed literature, art and politics. Today, burdened by backpacks and carrying instruments, you can still find them in cafés and brasseries discussing these same age-old topics.
 

Located just a few blocks from our apartment is rue Moufftard, location of the oldest outdoor market in Paris once operated by monks. The French display fresh produce as if they were works of art. And don't even get me started on the pastries. I may have to forget I'm diabetic a time or two.
As you can guess, this is a trip we've been planning for a long time. I thank you for allowing me to bend your ear with all these little details. Writers love visiting where they plan to set their books. It's an important part of presenting you with stories full of accurate details and flavor.
Memories of our trip there five years ago anchor my romantic suspense series set in Paris. The Red Hand Conspiracy series involves two American sisters, French counterterrorism agents and a world-wide terrorist group called The Red Hand. Filled with suspense, sparked with passion and tempered with humor, you'll love your time in Paris as you read these two books.


Winner of the HOLT Medallion Award of Merit in two categories. Best Romantic Suspense and Best Book by a Virginia author.
 



Please visit me at www.vonniedavis.com

 
 
 

23 comments:

  1. Vonnie!!! Tuck me into your suitcase! LOL. Have a fabulous time. I'll be thinking of you and French pastries :)

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    1. Oh, darlin', I would never tuck you in my suitcase. My luggage has a history of getting lost. Hard to tell where you might end up! As for the French pastries, I'll have one for you.

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    2. Ha ha!!! Now that you mention it, I do remember reading a post about you going on a cruise while your luggage went in a different direction... No suitcase ride for me, then!!! ha ha!!! Post pictures of all the pastries you eat while you're there so we can all be jealous!

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  2. Enjoyed the post! Have wonderful holiday. Be sure to pack your notebook to jot down new story plots. lol Have fun!

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  3. Thanks, Karen. I'd got a new "Surface" for that...and a paper notebook, too.

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  4. Oh, Vonnie! I envy you. I love Paris. I've always wanted to rent a flat and spend a few months there, but it hasn't happened yet. Btw, NICE flat! Have a wonderful time!

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  5. Thanks, Joan. I'll share pictures the next time I post here. Maybe I'll be able to share some story ideas that revealed themselves to me in Paris and Berlin.

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  6. That's incredible Vonnie! Take lottsa pictures to share. And you can use them when we do a roast for you when the book is released!
    Sounds like an amazing trip and you get to visit with beloved family too. I can't imagine anything better to look forward to!
    Hope you have a blast girlfriend...

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  7. Oh, Mary, we'll have a ball. Calvin's sense of humor is just as quirky as mine. We seem to laugh our way through life. Kelly's wife, Katrin, loves the English word "hugs." Even though she speaks mostly German, she's mastered that word quite well. LOL She is a ball of energy.

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  8. Have a great time, Vonnie! I am so envious.

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    1. Thanks, Liz. We're so looking forward to it, well, except for the 9-hour flight.

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  9. Enjoy your trip, Vonnie! One of these days my husband and I will get back to Holland to visit his family then down to Spain to see my niece, but every time we've started planning something comes up. I have an idea for a story set in Netherlands that has to do with my husband's grandpa and the war. I'd like to do research there before I try to write the story.

    Have fun!

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    1. That sounds like a delightful trip, Paty. I hope you soon get to make it. My husband is much older than I and he's coming up to that age where his health might now be able to stand another long flight and the stress of traveling. He hasn't seen Kelly in two years, so he needs to spend some time with him.

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  10. Beautiful post - my trip to Costa Rica inspired by first book. Traveling is good for the mind, body, and soul! I loved Paris too, I think I've stood right where you took that bridge picture!

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    1. Kathee, my luggage took a trip to Cost Rica once. I took a luggage-free cruise to the Carribean. Seven days with no clothes was no fun...wait, that didn't sound right, did it? You're so right, a vacation is great for the soul.

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  11. Vonnie, I am jealous of you and Calvin. I love travel, and love Europe, so you planted a whole crop of seed of jealousy and discontent. Hope you have a wonderful time, and that you gather background for another of your great books.

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    1. LOL Don't be jealous, Caroline. I'll be gathering lots of background tidbits and taking gobs of pictures to refer back to for details.

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  12. I'm just so jealous you get to visit my dream country...again. :) I'm part French and have always wanted to visit France and Ireland for my other self-country. Promise you'll both have a lot of fun and take a special picture of that waterway for me. ;)

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    1. Once we step off the plane and loosen stiffened joints from the nine-hour flight, we'll enjoy every second of our time there. I'll be taking lots of pictures.

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  13. Vonnie, what anticipation, and what a trip! You'll have a ball. We'll be waiting for a full report with pictures. :)

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  14. Wow Vonnie. This is awesome! Have a safe and wonderful time.

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