Novel Setting & Deep Breathing

It's been a rough week here in the US

with the hearings (don't even want to say his name) for the Supreme Court nominee,

 feelings of frustration and betrayal along party lines, fear and anxiety among women,

the list goes on and on. Emotions are high. Women are trying to stand together

and at the same time, I'm seeing some very reactive behavior. 

Me included. 

Anybody else wake up in the mornings with just a tad bit of anxiety?! 

Maybe even more than usual?!

Sometimes I wake with the feeling that I just can't do what's expected on this planet. 

And I don't have what you would call a high stress life,

especially after my injury put me out of work. 

But the feeling is still there, like I'm not meant for this place and have no idea

how to navigate what must be waded through.  

It feels like it's sometimes too much for my brain to comprehend. 

Luckily, it's my writing day

so I'm retreating into my novel

where many of those above feelings are still located 

but my job is only to help my characters navigate

and try to make the language work as smoothly as I can. 

The photo above is the Prior's Table Restaurant 

(within a 12th century Cistercian abbey in the French countryside 

called Abbaye des Vaux de Cerney) 

where my love interests meet and set up their first date. 

I'm in my final read through before sending out 

to my last round of readers. 

Wishing you a good week

and hoping whatever you are navigating 

is nothing but smooth sailing. 

Be sure to take deep breaths and 

hold someone's hand if needed! 

I'm here if you need me. 

For more photos and info on the Abbaye, 

Click Here

(Photo copyright: Kirsten Steen)

Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay

One of my favorite spots outside Paris is this 12th century Cistercian abbey (founded in 1118) located in the village of Cernay-la-ville in the Yvelines Departement of the Ile -de-France (about 30 miles west of Paris).




Now a luxury hotel in the Rambouillet Forest region with 60 guest rooms and The Prior's Table Restaurant, it is a scrumptiously decadent place to have lunch, tea or simply walk the lush grounds. Join me for a quick tour!






From the parking lot we enter through here.....






...and are greeted under these divine gothic archways.





The walls of the entryway are playfully adorned



with vibrantly-colored knights and damsels.





La Table du Prieur Restaurant menu has several price-fixed options to choose from (The Conver's Menu~50 euros, The Prior's Menu~60 euros and the Pére Abbé Menu~88 euros)






each designed and attended to by Chef Xavier Désiré (gotta love the name!)

One of the sites of my novel in progress (as well as one of my short stories), my protagonist is having lunch here

when her future date arrives in a helicopter on the lawn.





After lunch, dessert and coffee are served in the Music Salon and Smoking Room








Where one can sit by the fire









while spooning tasty French desserts and sipping one of these libations.




If curious, (like I was) the guest rooms rest above this stairway.




Restroom at the base of the stairs. (I snuck upstairs on my trip to the restroom to see if any maids were cleaning rooms and sure enough, found a door open where I could peek in to see the lovely accomodations!)


After filling one's self beyond capacity, a walk around the grounds and the lake aids digestion and fills the soul.

A visit to the cathedral ruins inspires awe and the informative plaques piece together the history of this magical place.

Now you have some idea why I have returned here more than once (literally) and haunted the abbaye and grounds in my fiction (and fantasy)! Can you not picture your life here during another time and slice of reality?!


Visit their website at http://www.abbayedecernay.com/ for more photos and information as well as a true virtual tour.

Photographs copyright: Kirsten Steen