International Year of Forests

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.

–Robert Louis Stevenson

To learn more about the International Year of Forests, visit the United Nations dedicated website. If you liked the video, you also might want to check out the related book, Forests and People, which contains essays by Gisele Bündchen, Don Cheadle, and Wangari Maathai.

And don’t forget to turn off your lights  – and maybe even the basketball game – tomorrow (Saturday, March 26) at 8:30pm local time to mark Earth Hour.

Bed & Breakfast on a French Farm

The French countryside has an appeal that is almost primordial in nature: beautiful land, temperate weather and fertile soil – what more could a society want? The subject of both envy and inspiration, it has been fought over, divvied up, bequeathed, painted and written about for centuries. But if life for French farmers has never been the paradise that the landscape seems to promise, the country’s beauty and lore still casts a powerful spell – from Provence to Britanny, people continue to fall in love with la campagne.

Want to spend a few nights on a French farm?

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