I was immediately attracted to this article in the Times this morning "Aging Gracefully, The French Way" http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/fashion/15French.html?ref=fashion as it speaks to a subject dear to my heart - women's attitudes toward aging, cultural norms, self-care and self-image.
On a business trip to France, I was introduced to a particular line of French skin-care products. They seemed prohibitively expensive and self-indulgent, but I had recently turned 30, had just survived melanoma, and knew that my skin could be my enemy both in terms of my health and my image. So I took the plunge, and have never looked back. Those products couldn't prevent the cancer from returning, and I have no idea if their early introduction in my life contributed to my relative lack of wrinkles, but what they did do is introduce a ritual which became a part of me, not self-indulgence but rather, self CARE.
On a lighter note and even earlier in my career, my ex-husband and I took a trip to St. Tropez to observe fashion. Prior to the trip, my worldly husband declared that the expected display of topless women in France was no big deal, after all, he had seen many breasts already in his life. Then we got to St.Tropez, and he encountered all these beautiful French women and re-thought his earlier position! Viva la France!
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