Here is my little update in English, and various stories. First, I wrote about what really matters (in life). Good souvenirs. Strong life histories. A friend of mine got severely ill and it made me think about what can help people in this situation. As for example, every great and beautiful experience one has lived. I thought again about my parents’ photo albums I used to look at when I was a child and which seemed to me only to be a collection of happy and light moments. I now mostly see these as solid rocks I can hold on to in hard times. All these trips we not as careless as I thought, these were not only holidays, but things seen, things experienced, moments which reflex an openness in other people, a will to live life. Today, I tell myself that if one day everything must end, the moments I’m living, just like the ones my parents lived, will maybe give me strenght to fight, or the courage to let go, serenely, without regrets.

Then, I wrote about a day at the National Geographic offices in Paris. I wanted to pay tribute to this magazine I was lucky to write stories for that were very important to me. With NG, I went to Rwanda to write about the work of Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World). To Chile, on the land of the Huasos and the footsteps of my family. Stories which enabled me to talk about countries, people, their vision of the world and what makes their existence. It’s what I love most about my job.

Eventually, I spent a few days in Engadine, Switzerland, a magnificent region. A huge bowl of fresh air, hiking and nature! Overall, a spledid short break (as you can see in my pictures!).

I will also use this message to announce that on Wednesday, March 28th, I will be giving a conference in Paris at the Cercle Interalliée (& sign my new book intitled Escape Hotel Stories, coming out march 15th- I’ll keep you posted, bien -sûr…) My book will be discussed, as well as travels, it will be nice and friendly. So, if you’re living in Paris or if you are visiting and would like to come, you can send me your street address at bertrand.matteoli@wanadoo.fr and I will gladly send you an invitation!

One last thing, I wrote a short text for the superb website www.luxurytravelstories.com. It is called « The Age of Great Exploration ». It’s about when I was in Alaska last summer (the full story and photographs are on my blog). Another great souvenir.

That is all for today.
Have a nice day and see you soon!

The Age of Great Exploration

by Francisca Matteoli

This is the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, taken while I was writing my book “Escape Hotel Stories”. One day we went by kayak to see the Grewingk iceberg, near the Kachemac Bay Park, a protected nature reserve, almost entirely wild; We were only four and had made a long trek through dense forest to get there. The turquoise tint of the iceberg was so intense that it hurt the eyes. The ice cracked only a few meters from where we stood and fell into the water with an awesome groan. It was as if we were the first to ever set foot there, as though we had entered the realm of the great explorers.