Say Bonjour to the Cover of the Book…..

To follow the story from the beginning, click here.

Evening all, or should I say ‘bon soir’ (probably)! Welcome to a mini-post. I won’t be chatting as much as usual tonight (phew).

I arrived at my apartment late afternoon Monday – a cute little one bedroom flat in the 17th arrondissement. It is exactly the kind of place that I was after. I almost feel like I live here now. (Herve, if you read this – you can have your apartment back – promise!). As I unpacked I realised I had everything on my list. Oh – apart from an adapter. Ooops. With a Mac and Phone to charge, not to mention a fringe only kept under control by the power of straighteners, this was a faux pas that needed to be put right quickly. Off I went and stumbled across a nearby pharmacy. Neither of the shop workers spoke a word of English. They found this hilarious. I stuttered and stammered and managed to buy a charger and found myself leaving to them almost chanting ‘Anglais, Anglais’. I wanted to join in but no one wants to be the English girl shouting ‘ENGLISH’. In French.

So the whole speaking French malarkey is not going fantastically well but I am soldiering on and, of course, come day ten of my stay, I hope to see at least a tiny improvement. It’s a confidence thing – most definitely a confidence thing. If you say something with conviction and with a crack at the accent, you will be ok. I had my first moment just yesterday when the waiter didn’t realise I was English for quite some time. Yeh – I know, I think he was being polite too, ha! But I will take that one!

I have had a very chilled first few days here. I know many people wished me a ‘great time on holiday’ but really – I didn’t come here to spend too much time sightseeing. With Paris just a couple of hours from London, I figure I have plenty of time to come back and explore properly. I plan to see a little bit more every time I visit. I am here this week and some of next to work on the book, between coffee shops and in the apartment I am writing to you from now. I am saving my playtime for this weekend when Caroline (birthday girl) is joining me for a weekend of fun. By this time tomorrow, we plan to be catching up over a vino in a jazz bar in St Germain. I cannot bloody wait!

On Tuesday afternoon, I received an email from publisher, Briony.  The content of which was quite the surprise. It was the design for the cover – already! I could tell from the subject and attachment so took a deep breath and opened it up, filled with nervous excitement. Well I simply burst out crying, didn’t I.  In a good way – a great way! I just couldn’t believe that I was looking at my book cover. I told you in my last post that it still doesn’t feel quite real. I think this moment definitely made it a little more so. Now I can imagine it on a book shelf. I think Briony and the S&S Team (Anneka is the designer) have done 60 Postcards justice. And more. The colours, the fonts, the photos, the noticeboard concept – I am completely in love with it. I know my Mum would be too. I am grinning with pride and excited to give blog readers an exclusive look, just ahead of it being sent out!

So here is the 60 Postcards Book Cover……………

What a wonderful thing to see whilst I am out here.

Sending a huge amount of love to my family.

Speak to you soon,

Rachael (insert French accent)

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