We all have memories we cherish, and for many of us, these memories revolve around our childhood. My mother loved cooking more than anything else in the world and she would spend hours in her kitchen preparing meals for the family. My brother very much appreciated her efforts, but alas, I was a very picky child. No amount of coaxing or pleading would open my mind to her “healthy” recipes, so she often prepared separate meals for me (so I wouldn’t “starve”). One of my favorites was palačinke, better known as crepes.
Linda Kovic-Skow, author of French Illusions
Memoir Nightmares
April 27, 2016 by 14 Comments
I’ve often wondered how the main characters in my memoir, the Dubois family, would feel if any of them picked up a copy of French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley. For those of you unfamiliar with my story, I worked as an au pair for Madame and Monsieur Dubois in France in 1979. In 2007, when I decided to write my memoir, I searched the internet using their real names and found nothing. No mention of them at all. Another search using the name of their chateau produced zero results, so with trepidation I progressed with my project. Five years later, when I published my memoir, I revisited the subject of how the Dubois family might react to my story. I had changed the names of everyone I met in France and followed my diary religiously, but I still worried about the reaction of the Dubois Family. My name was on the cover, after all, and I was sure that Madame Dubois still cursed the day she took me in. Read my book and you’ll understand.
Nanny Chit Chat
April 15, 2016 by Leave a Comment
My husband and I spend summers on our boat in the Pacific Northwest Waters of Washington and British Columbia. Occasionally, we pull into towns and purchase moorage so we can gather provisions or do our laundry. Last summer, while I was at the Friday Harbor Marina Laundromat, I met a young woman named Rebecca (not her real name), and after basic introductions, we moved on to a surprising subject.
Remembering the “Place de la Concorde” in Paris
March 20, 2016 by 2 Comments
Traveling abroad and living in Paris in 1980, when I was in my early twenties, was a big deal. It was the kind of experience I dreamed and talked about long before I worked out a way to make it happen. Even though I was on a tight budget at the time, I enjoyed La Ville Lumière, or City of Light, on many levels. 
One of my favorite memories is the day I toured the Place de la Concorde with Michel. Here is an excerpt from my memoir, French Illusions: From Tours to Paris, describing this magical event.
