I hope everyone is enjoying a great summer. I’ve become used to the sweltering heat of the south of France, so the cool English summer has taken me a bit of getting used to. On the bright side, I got to buy several new jackets and hats to keep me warm.

Speaking of warm, I got a warm, fuzzy feeling when I realized that it was almost my “blog birthday.” On August 22, five years ago, I published my first blog post and I’ve been writing regularly ever since. Thanks to all of you who have been faithful readers. I hope you’ve found something worth reading on my site.

Now, I’m wondering whether I’ll get cake and ice cream on my blog birthday…

Starting my blog was the beginning of my writing journey which has produced three books so far. My latest one, Curious Histories of Provence: Tales from the South of France, has just been featured/reviewed in two great online magazines. The articles are below, and please have a look at these great magazines for more interesting stories about France.

Perfectly Provence

Perfectly Provence is an online magazine which collects content from the region’s top writers. This is the place to go to find whatever you want to know about Provence. They recently contacted me to write a guest article about my latest book:

My books are called Curious Histories and my blog is called The Curious Rambler. I like the word curious because of its double meaning: On the one hand, it means eager to know or learn something – which definitely applies to me. I’ve always been a curious person. But on the other hand, it also means unusual or quirky. While I consider myself perfectly normal, I think the second meaning does, indeed, apply to my stories. I like to find quirky tales – the quirkier the better.

So, being a curious person, ten years ago when I plopped myself down in the south of France, I was full of questions: Why do the French do this? How did that custom come about? What does this expression mean? Etc.

I set about looking for the stories behind the histories of the area and then writing about them (and laughing at them a bit by drawing little cartoons). This is how my first two books came about: French Holidays & Traditions and Curious Histories of Nice, France.

After writing about Nice, it just seemed natural to venture further afield into Provence. My third book, which has just come out, is Curious Histories of Provence: Tales from the South of France. Of course, Provence is a big area so I tried to focus on things that were general to the region, and in this book I also incorporated legends whenever I could find them…

Read the rest of the story on PerfectlyProvence.co

A French Collection

A French Collection has a lot of information and tips from Annette, an Australian who realized her dream of buying a home in France. She shares her experiences and interesting articles about all things French. This is the review she did of my latest book:

A book about magical Provence …

Fair warning to all of you who might be history buffs or inquisitive readers, the latest book by Margo Lestz ‘Curious Histories of Provence’ will draw you into its pages of historical facts, legends and traditions and keep you wanting to learn more.  You’ll want to head to France to explore Provence, the land of sunny days and quaint villages armed with the stories and histories that shaped the area.

Margo Lestz is an American by birth, but now divides her time between London and Nice, France.  Margo describes herself as a perpetual student because she’s always taking some kind of course or researching a moment in history that has caught her fancy. She is curious by nature and always wants to know who, what, why, when, where, and how…

This interest in history has been shared on her blog, Curious Rambler, in many articles over the last few years and recently they have been collated into a number of books because as Margo says… What better way to really understand a region than by learning its history and listening to its stories?

This book is divided into the five aptly named sections; Essential Provence; In the Footsteps of Saints; A Few Curious Characters; Language and Culture and Wild West of Provence.  Are you getting the feeling you know how the title of the book originated?

There are gypsy characters, French and non-French popes, medieval lovers, saints and monsters, and even cicadas and mistral winds explored, explained and expounded…

Read the rest of the story on AFrenchCollection.com

Thanks so much to Perfectly Provence and A French Collection, and thank you to all my readers for your support over the past five years.

*Don’t Miss Anything – If you would like to receive an email every time I post an article (2-3 times per month), sign up to follow The Curious Rambler. You’ll find the button just above my photo. And, of course, you can always leave a comment below. Thank you for reading.

See all my books here.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Margo Lestz

Margo has authored seven books and writes mostly about France and England. She has a BA in Liberal Studies with International Emphasis and enjoys travel, languages, history, writing, and experiencing other cultures.

Latest posts by Margo Lestz (see all)

• Celebrate Easter with a Bang in Florence, Italy: The Crazy Exploding Cart - 20 March 2024
• Venice Carnival in Photos - 17 February 2024
• Wassailing the Apple Tree Man - 28 January 2024