The Ritual Master Hello my friends !
It’s been a while since I’ve done a tag, it’s not something I do very often, but it is something I enjoy watching tremendously. And it’s a good thing I do, otherwise I would have never known that the lovely MJ from Reading this Life has tagged me to do this fun and entertaining video. I chose to answer the questions while taking you on a walk on the banks of the Marne, my local river that joins the Seine right before entering Paris. It’s a natural reserve of simple beauty and one of my favorite places to meditate, I hope you’ll enjoy this relaxing moment.My Favorite Things Tag was originally created by author Loren Adele, so let’s have some fun !
1. Who is your favorite musician/ band? I listen to so many different genres that it’s almost impossible to answer this one. But if I absolutely had to choose, I’d say fave classical : Chopin, fave classic rock : Pink Floyd, fave dancing mood : Buena Vista Social Club, and fave jazzy mood : Nina Simone.
2. What are your top 3 favorite films? I can never resist the incredible duo of Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole in the 1966 romantic comedy How to steal a million, I regularly come back to Pedro Almodovar’s Volver and I have a soft spot for Autumn in New York.
3. What’s your favorite scent? I love a good blend of orientals like sandalwood and pepper, I often think I’d like to smell like a cardamom pod, but the one scent that has stayed on top of my list for more than 25 years is freesia. It is one of those rare flowers whose fragrance is impossible to distill, and I have yet to find a synthetic freesia perfume that comes close to the real deal. This makes for a meditative experience of living in the present moment, each time I have freesias in a vase.
4. What’s your favorite Disney film? Animation is not my genre of choice, but I must admit The Artistocats is a charming Disney film. I love the classic drawings and I cannot resist a singing cat…
5. What’s your favorite season? There is beauty in every season, but I feel most comfortable in autumn. The fresh mornings after months of unbearable heat, the rainy afternoons of reading with a cup of tea at hand, autumn harvests with such a variety of fresh produce, and the glorious chrysanthemums everywhere. Yes, I am definitely an autumn person.
6. What’s your favorite seasonal drink? For the cold season, mulled cider is my absolute favorite, and for summer a nice and light Spanish vino tinto de verano is absolute bliss. I’ve filmed videos with both recipes if you’re curious, the links are HERE and HERE.
7. Do you have a favorite shirt or article of clothing? I’m not a big fashion collector and I usually don’t get attached to my clothes, but I do love this silk dress that I made and hand painted a few years back. It was a first try and probably beginner’s luck, but I do love it.
8. Who is your favorite author? How can anyone answer this one ? The only possibility for me is a stream of consciousness answer : Gustave Flaubert, Elif Shafak, Elizabeth Gilbert, Khaled Hosseini, Simona Antonescu, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Françoise Sagan, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ion Luca Caragiale, Ann Patchett, Amor Towles…
9. Do you have a favorite spot for reading or writing? It depends on my mood, but usually reading in bed is my thing. I also have a special time of year, late autumn – early winter, when nightfall comes very early, and I can read on my couch at 6 pm, with scented candles around me and a cosy fireplace ambiance.
10. What’s your favorite food or dessert? If you’ll allow me, I’ll replace this with a short list of foods. I’ve often said to friends, if I were allowed only one thing to eat for the rest of my life, I could survive on… So here is my survival kit : Italian olives, Greek feta cheese or Italian Buratta, French bread, Medjool dates, Ethiopian coffee and fresh water from a Spring in the mountains.
11. What’s your favorite time of day? It must be twilight, with its strong symbol of winding down : there are no more expectations of performance and getting things done, only the prospect of an evening however I choose to spend it. There is a scent of freedom at twilight.
12. What’s your favorite color? The freshness of Forest Green is always my go too. It’s a color that stimulates my synesthesia : it smells like moss and Christmas trees, it tastes like crunchy fresh asparagus, it quenches my thirst and sounds like a koshi bell. Forest Green is more than a color.
13. Who is your top 3 favorite YouTube channels? There are channels that have a calming and inspirational effect on me, channels that feel like soul-mates in a way : Kylie Flavell, Jonna Jinton, Her 86m2, The Cottage Fairy, Helena Woods, Nathaniel Drew. And then, there are the entertaining channels, the places where I learn new things or laugh with people that feel like long lost friends : Garden Answer, The Chateau Diaries, Dr Shereene Idriss, Peaceful Cuisine, Ediya ASMR, Katie Brindle, Pick Up Limes. Sorry, more than a top 3 but I cannot help it… Links to all of them in the description box.
14. What’s your favorite musical or play? Musicals are not my thing, but theater is. And while the text is at the heart of it, the production is what I’m looking for. I’ve loved the award winning Edmond at the Théâtre du Palais Royal, a spin-off inspired by Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac. And I have been lucky enough to see three legends of Romanian theater on stage in the National Theater in Bucharest : Radu Beligan, Marin Moraru and Gheorghe Dinica in the excellent Tache, Ianche si Cadîr. Not to mention Peter Brook’s plays. Maybe my fondest memories of live theater, though there are many more.
15. What’s your favorite place you’ve visited? I loved so many places I visited, each one for different reasons, but maybe the one I would go back to right now, that holds a special place in my memories, is the Island of Capri. I’ve spent little time there, and yet the memories are so vivid in my mind, but I’d like to refresh them nonetheless. This being said, I might say the Alhambra tomorrow, or the roaring energy of Anfield the day after that, it’s a subjective choice and a moment in time.
16. Who do you tag?I feel like I’m the last one that has done this tag, so I don’t want to tag someone who already did it. But if I am not mistaken, this invitation would suit Deea from the channel Novel iDeea, Debra from Book in with Debra, and Vada from Vadania Silverscribe. And of course, anyone watching this, who feels tempted by the questions. But I have to warn you, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Or maybe I have a problem with choices…
I hope you enjoyed this, thank you for taking a walk with me today, and until next time enjoy your reading and your rituals.
