Now in English! Concours Figaro Madame! and the Reason Why I Blog...

Counter of votes back to zero!!!!! Please, could you vote again? (Sorry)

I would like to start this post thanking those of you who have already voted for me, even without knowing what I had written..(since it was in French) Wow! That is called trust, or better even, recognition!

If you voted before (it was not the right link..well Le Figaro took its time), or if you want to vote now, you can do it here!

Click here, please!! And thanks a lot for your patience!!

Now, what did I have to do? Yes, you deserve an explanation. After the ten bloggers per category were chosen initially by Le Figaro editors, then we were given a topic.."Festival" We were supposed to write about this in a way that would be connected to our blog, using photos, drawings, text (not exceeding 3000 characters) Finally one blogger in each category will be chosen by the votes of the public, to be "rédactrice d'un jour" pour Le Figaro! No money here (maybe a weekend trip), but mainly just the honor! 

Well, I guess winning money would be technically speaking more important..It would help me on my project, or for so many other things...The life of a blogger is not his perfect TV sit-com world we sometimes show..we all have problems: family problems, health issues, money problems..why not say it?

So, why is it so important for me to win? And again, we all have a bigger or smaller ego..let's face it! We are not reincarnations of angels that cook! But probably, when we are in bed, with our pillow as only witness, we think....why do I do this crazy thing that is writing a blog? Well, in my personal case, I do it as a self challenge! Before the "void" of each recipe, I think, I research, I come to conclusions (many things I read in the internet are not trustworthy..), and then there is my taste, my history...and then, once the flavor/execution phase is solved, comes the visual...the artistic...I must admit that sometimes I look at the photos and I say "Wow", surprised at how well it looks..and other times, it is only criticisim, I get angry at myself when I see faulty technique, bad "mise en scéne"...but then I say to myself.."Ok, lesson learnt..it will be better next time..hopefully"

And there is precisely when my blog becomes meaningful, rich, worth "living"...because I don't live alone..I live here surrounded my three teenage kids and a husband that see me full of enthusiasm sometimes ("in Heaven") and sometimes sad, defeated, angry..they have heard me so many times saying "I'm fed up with this stupid blog" "I'm a good for nothing" "I will never be one of the chosen ones in Saveur magazine" (?!)...and I tell my husband that next thing in the morning I will get myself a job in some silly shop...but worse even, they won't even hire me because I have no experience selling, and I speak French with an accent, and sometimes I confuse words..! And then, when I reach the very bottom of my blogging life, and I cry (yes, I was always stupidly temperamental, and foolishly romantic, in the literary point of view) I wake up, the following morning, and, as if nothing had happened, I talk about this "great" idea I had during the night..and off I go to the market to buy the ingredients...

And it's just that! and there the blog acquires a new dimension..because these teenage kids, that happen to be my children, and are beginning now to face the difficulties of life: university entry, the terrifying "Bac"...will remember (I hope) their mother, who one day, left the easy "day to day" that her profession assured her, to follow a dream, or a new passion..and it was not easy, because I had to start from scratch...and show I didn't know, and feel vulnerable..yet I persevered.

I hope some day they will remember "my mom won Le Figaro contest" (if that happens) , and the lesson will be there, in their memories...It is never late, when we believe in ourselves, when we work hard, when we are passionate about what we do...

God bless my blog, the contest, you that have always supported me, but mainly my family, my most precious work of art, a thousand times better than my St Honoré!! those beings who will not lead me to an award, but are there, a testimony of something wonderful that I could create!