Observing Leslie
Thinking Wandering Migrating Journal
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On Getting Asked for “Old-School Advice”
On Getting Asked for “Old-School Advice”

I even told the Good Housekeeping reporter at one point in our back-and-forth that I didn’t know if I had any self-generated old-school advice, as I’m “not that old.”

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ThinkingLeslie FarnsworthMarch 11, 2026blogging, educationComment
Month-in-Review Highlights: February 2026
Month-in-Review Highlights: February 2026

February Februaried, which made it a good month for working on my fiction and a bad month for socializing. Bring on some sunshine and spring already.

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JournalLeslie FarnsworthMarch 4, 2026goals, postmortemComment
What to Do on Vacation in Périgord Noir
What to Do on Vacation in Périgord Noir

Prehistoric sites, cave towns, cliff towns, medieval castles… To see anywhere close to everything there is to see in Périgord Noir, we would have needed twice the amount of time we had.

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WanderingLeslie FarnsworthFebruary 25, 2026travel, vacation, FranceComment
How to Spend a Week in Ardèche and Drôme
How to Spend a Week in Ardèche and Drôme

Ardèche and Drôme don’t get the same wow-level publicity as other parts of France, but don’t let that sway you away from visiting. You’ll be surprised at the history, culture, and beauty it offers.

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WanderingLeslie FarnsworthFebruary 18, 2026France, culture, history, travelComment
Julia Child and the Borders of Fame
Julia Child and the Borders of Fame

Outside the United States, the very much beloved Julia Child, so frequently cited and lovingly lauded and even spoofed in books and films, is a relative unknown.

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ThinkingLeslie FarnsworthFebruary 11, 2026culture, food, FranceComment
Month-in-Review Highlights: January 2026
Month-in-Review Highlights: January 2026

Quiet and focus on the personal front and anything but quiet and focus on the world stage. Goodness gracious, January. Goodness gracious.

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JournalLeslie FarnsworthFebruary 4, 2026goals, postmortemComment
How Switzerland Transformed Chocolate
How Switzerland Transformed Chocolate

The story of how Switzerland, a country with nothing inherently to do with chocolate, has come to have so much to do with chocolate.

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ThinkingLeslie FarnsworthJanuary 28, 2026Switzerland, culture, foodComment
The Best Books I Read in 2025
The Best Books I Read in 2025

Always a long internal debate each year to put this list together, but I finally got it done. Here’s my list of the best of the best books I read in 2025.

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JournalLeslie FarnsworthJanuary 21, 2026books, literature, reading Comments
Books I've Read: Q4 2025
Books I've Read: Q4 2025

In order of roughly the date I finished reading them, here’s the list of books I read in the fourth quarter of 2025. As always, I’ve put my favorites in bold.

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JournalLeslie FarnsworthJanuary 14, 2026books, literature, reading, CultureComment
Month-in-Review Highlights: December 2025
Month-in-Review Highlights: December 2025

I didn’t achieve everything I set out to achieve in 2025—some of the aspirational goals remain aspirational—but I gave every item on my list my best effort.

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JournalLeslie FarnsworthJanuary 7, 2026goals, postmortemComment
The Alpine Dragons of Switzerland
The Alpine Dragons of Switzerland

The dragons of Switzerland, naturally, are dragons of the Alps. And, it turns out, the legends might have some basis in truth.

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ThinkingLeslie FarnsworthDecember 17, 2025Switzerland, culture, history Comments
Month-in-Review Highlights: November 2025
Month-in-Review Highlights: November 2025

What struck me the most about November 2025 its speed in passing. I would have sworn the first week of the month’s activities had happened only yesterday.

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JournalLeslie FarnsworthDecember 3, 2025goals, postmortem, writingComment
Where to Eat in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Where to Eat in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence exceeded the our expectations for good restaurants. I enjoyed the food too much to remember to take pictures!

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WanderingLeslie FarnsworthNovember 19, 2025France, travel, foodComment
Day Trips from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Day Trips from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence exceeded my expectations for a base of stay for seeing Provence. Highly recommended if you have a vacation planned to the region!

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WanderingLeslie FarnsworthNovember 12, 2025France, travel, cultureComment
Month-in-Review Highlights: October 2025
Month-in-Review Highlights: October 2025

The last quarter of the year always feels like such a headlong rush, doesn’t it?

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JournalLeslie FarnsworthNovember 5, 2025goals, postmortem Comments
The Iconic Swiss Cowbell: Celebrated Artisans, Festivals, and Celebrity Cows
The Iconic Swiss Cowbell: Celebrated Artisans, Festivals, and Celebrity Cows

Swiss cowbells aren’t the average, run-of-the-mill cowbell most of us elsewhere around the world know and shrug off. Oh no. The Swiss cowbell is a serious thing indeed.

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WanderingLeslie FarnsworthOctober 29, 2025Switzerland, culture Comments
Books I've Read: Q3 2025
Books I've Read: Q3 2025

The books I finished reading in Q3 2025. My favorites, as always, in bold.

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JournalLeslie FarnsworthOctober 15, 2025books, literature, readingComment
Month-in-Review Highlights: September 2025
Month-in-Review Highlights: September 2025

September felt like a lot of ramping up and getting back into gear with one big break in the middle.

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JournalLeslie FarnsworthOctober 1, 2025goals, postmortemComment
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