Wings: Gifts of Art, Life, and Travel in France

"Erin Byrne captures the essence of France through unique and authentic experiences in Wings, her collection of stories about travel in one of the world's most alluring countries. Some of her experiences come through serendipity, others via good fortune, still others by accident. But each time, Erin takes the experience, digs deeper, and discovers meaning from it. Each story demonstrates in a different way this idea put forth by Joseph Campbell: The passage of the mythological hero may be overground, incidentally; fundamentally it is inward--into the depths, where obscure resistances are overcome and long lost powers are revivified. From Cezanne's studio in Aix-en-Provence to a tiny village in the Jura Mountains, from a cozy bistro on the Left Bank of Paris to a plain high above the Normandy beaches, Erin travels through France collecting stories, characters, tastes, and secrets that act as ingredients for change. She learns to trust her intuition after listening to Henri Cartier-Bresson's advice. After gazing at van Gogh's self-portrait, Erin finds a way to be more honest. This book is about the gifts we all glean from our travels, and will inspire readers to unwrap their own images and impressions in a new way"--