Author Archives: Dr. Karen Stephen

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About Dr. Karen Stephen

Author ~ Flamingo Lover ~ Psychologist

Memories That Make Me Feel Better

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IMG_1313Having spent the last week lying low and fighting off winter germs, I decided I would find some of my favorite photos from last summer to perk me up. And what better than some of the fabulous meal we had a the restaurant of Logis du Guetteur in Les Arcs, especially the foie gras which is now a forbidden delicacy in California.

IMG_1318And this is why I have returned to France so many times. Because lamb chops are my favorite food group.

IMG_1320And does anyone here bring me an extra little sweet at the end of the meal? The folks at Logis du Guetteur do…and they throw in a fabulous view to boot. IMG_1310

Gosh, I feel better already. I think I’ll go heat up my canned chicken soup…and dream of France.

Books My Great-Grandfather Read

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DSC02326Captain Samuel Veazie (1844-1923) was my paternal great-grandfather, pictured here with his wife Zilpha underneath their marriage certificate on the front entrance wall of the family home he built on Islesboro in the middle of Maine’s Penobscot Bay. The traditional Maine-style home with its attached barn still stands and is being tenderly maintained by one of my cousins.DSC02358

Samuel was the first Captain of the Llewellyn J Morse and sailed it around the seven seas. Later it became part of the Star Fleet of the Alaska Packing Association, bringing canned salmon from Alaska to their dock in the Oakland Estuary.

llewellyn J MorseThis archival photo shows the Llewellyn J. Morse just after it had broken through the ice of the Bering Sea in 1923 (coincidentally the same year Samuel died). In its third incarnation, the ship became a famous film star, playing the “role” of the USS Constitution in the acclaimed 1926 silent film Old Ironsides. A clip of the battle scene from the film is available on YouTube.

DSC02317But the most treasured family artifact, in my view, is the actual book cabinet Capt. Samuel took on each of his many voyages, holding his original collection of classics, history, and the novels of his day.

DSC02318From a Common School Grammar to the works of Racine, from The Scarlett Letter to Lorna Doone, from the Aneid of Virgil to the Man in the Iron Mask, from Don Quixote to the Household Physician.

DSC02319I feel I have come honestly by my love for the sea and my love of books and am so grateful that his legacy has been preserved down through the generations. I hope to have a many successful incarnations as the Llewellyn J Morse!

Bring Paris and Provence Home in Miniature

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A must purchase every time I visit France is a few of the J Carlton miniatures of Paris and Provence. On each trip, a few of the charming and very accurately detailed buildings and figures have found their way home in my suitcase.

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The majority were purchased at a favorite shop on Île Saint-Louis but I found a lovely shop near the Opera Garnier as well. You can see me in this picture bending over examining my next purchase with the store clerk. I have to take a list with me to ensure I don’t buy the same ones twice.

Enjoy this video of my entire collection. Now if I could just shrink myself down to about an 1/8th of an inch high, I could visit Paris or Provence as my pleasure. 

A magical photo of Eze leads to a poem

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EzeVillageStarStreetI took this photo during a chilly evening walk in Eze. I couldn’t roust my fellow travelers from the warmth of the restaurant for the trek up the steep hill into the medieval town. So, I found myself alone with the magic and the Christmas star. On my return home, I wrote a poem entitled Dreaming into the New Year.

Winding down,
new memories as yet unborn,
asleep before the celebration arrives.

Drifting through dreams.
Slivers of imagination
fluttering in secret nooks.

Walking through midnight spaces
that hibernate
until eyelids close and my mind dissolves,
then burst into exotic avenues
brimming with intrigue.

Dreams conjured
by a capricious master,
Liquid dreams,
wild with passion.
Desperate flights
on wingless arms.

By act of will,
demons are banished
on this eve.

Dreamless sleep
as old as childhood,
as fresh as the next breath,
welcomed.

Sanctuary found
in unconscious grottoes
shimmering with pools of blessings.

Restored.
Energy harvested like golden sheaves
to feed a year of tomorrows.

Treasures of Antibes

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PicassoWavesViewI have traveled to Antibes in the dead of winter, cocooned in a scarf, turned-up collar, and mittens and watched the waves pounding the sea wall from a window in the Picasso Museum.

I have luxuriated on Antibes’ beaches at the height of the summer season and not even minded the jellyfish sting or two. The lifeguards are well-prepared with a special balm for tourists who do not heed the warnings.

AntibesNarrowStreetArchI  will never tire of walking its narrow streets and lingering for an hour or two in the Picasso Museum. And this jewel on the Mediterranean was always within easy travel reach whether my home away from home was in a camping site near Cannes (2006) or a medieval Logis in Les Arcs (2004), or a luxury hotel in Eze (2005).

Moules et pétanque et la plage et le bébé en Cassis

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IMG_1295We have been to Cassis several times. But this was the littlest muffin’s first look at the pristine beach. IMG_1269Because we weren’t sure about an eleven-month-old on the high seas, we bypassed our favorite activity this time: a boat trip to view The Calanques.

IMG_1288But she did have here first taste of moules with lobster sauce at one of the waterfront restaurants located along the Quai Jean Jacques Barthelemy.

And her first gander at old men playing pétanque.IMG_1300

A gloomy day in Paris is better than a sunny day anywhere else in the world

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ParisEiffelTower

A December day, Nearly Christmas. I was traveling with a friend and her seniors group. The weather casters on the news said it was the coldest December in forty years. Two inches of snow had fallen in Marseille! We had done the Riviera wrapped in layers and with newly purchased hats and scarfs and gloves. The night before we had almost frozen our toes off walking in open toed heels back from the Metro to our hotel near La Defense after seeing the ballet at the Opera Garnier. In the morning, everyone else was still snuggled in bed, but I hadn’t had my Tour Eiffel fix. So I walked there by myself. I was surprised to find no one in the ticket line. Even more surprised to find no wait at the elevators and only a patron or two on the ride up. As I slowly circled the top, identifying each Paris landmark below, I suddenly discovered why I was almost alone. The iconic landmark shuddered under my feet and began to perceptibly sway in the winter gale. I reminded myself of all the years it had stood strong while chicken-heartedly beating a path back to the elevators. Sometimes the only thing you really need to bring back from France is a memory.

Just One? ~ My KQED Perspective on Dining Alone

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To hone my craft and just have fun, I have taken many classes at The Writing Salon, founded in 1999 by Jane Underwood as a school of creative writing for adults (beginners to advanced). The Writing Salon offers small classes held in comfortable, cozy settings complete with fresh-brewed coffee, tea and snacks in both San Francisco and the East Bay (Berkeley). I have taken a variety of classes from their wide selection from fiction writing to screenwriting to poetry.  Each class is small enough to ensure intimacy and individual attention. They also offer classes in personal essays, memoir, play writing, travel writing, food writing (chocolate and erotica not to be missed!), publishing and much more!

solo-diningBut certainly the most fun I had was taking a class on how to write a KQED Perspective from Jesse Loesberg who is a regular contributor to the Perspectives series on KQED-FM in San Francisco. Upon completion of the class, I sent my Perspective entitled JUST ONE? to KQED and was invited to come to their radio studio in San Francisco to record it. After many takes, the recording engineer assured me that we had a winner. And within a few days, I turned on my radio in the car on the way to work and felt my heart go into overdrive as they played my piece. Here is the actual recorded version from the KQED audio archives. JUST ONE?

The delightful photo above is from the Goddess of Adventure Blog. The author lists 5 top advantages to dining alone. I agree and have found dining alone in France or Britain or anywhere but America is quite the delightful experience. They really do have tables set for one!

Or play here:

L’Ambroisie in Quimper

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our table ambroisieRemember the scene from “When Harry Met Sally” in the restaurant? Of course you do. Well, a slightly less R-rated version occurred when a good friend and I first dined at the highly recommended L’Ambroisie in Quimper.

It occurred at the very table pictured in this photo. We ordered the foie gras and with our first simultaneous bites, we both let out an audible, involuntary groan of complete delight. The ultimate braised foie gras, the deep sweetness of the fresh fig compote, the crunch of perfectly crisped triangles of toast, and the chunky granules sal de mer combined to produce the most scrumptious bite we’d ever tasted. That our hosts insisted we must have the Normandy pear cider with a splash of cassis to accompany this dish, without charge, only added to the experience. I think there was quail and a tarte tatin to follow but we will never forget that first bite.

Mommy and the Muffins in La Selle Sur Le Bied

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IMG_0061Mommy and the Muffins first destination last summer was La Selle Sur Le Bied, a beautiful rural community 110 km southeast of Paris, where they had a 10 day visit with very dear forever French friends Christian and Chantal, who have chosen this lovely community for their retirement.

The Muffins learned that basil comes from a garden, not from the grocery store and that it becomes part of very tasty dishes.IMG_0052

That there is nothing quite so interesting or charming as a stroll down a French country road.IMG_0068

That the portable travel high chair that Mommy brought along and which straps securely to any chair works just great to eat those delicious meals.IMG_0046

IMG_0065That there is a poule around every corner.

That Christian knows exactly just how to put on your shoes.IMG_0055

IMG_0090And that relaxing with Chantal creates the perfect ending to another  beautiful day in the French countryside.