Chapel at Caillan

Many people all over the world have visted this special region in the South of France and truly fell in love with ists charme, and their initial resistance towards France was melted down by the sun and the beautiful landscape from the sea up to the mountains. In this article I want to introduce some of the the key data about the Provence and its six different departments (districts) of which the Cote d’Azur and Var may be the most attractive for international people looking for a place to live in the south of France.

Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur (abbreviated: PACA) is one of the 26 regions of France, mostly mentioned simply as Provence. It encompasses six departments in south-eastern France, bounded to the east by the Italian border, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and by the principality of Monaco, to the north by Rhône-Alpes, and to the west by the Languedoc-Roussillon, with the river  Rhône marking its western border.

The capital of the Region is Marseille   The total area of Provence comprises 31,400 sq. Km
(avg region area in France: 24,725 sq. km.) 
Provence population in total:  4,506,151   (avg region pop. in France: 2,660,000)

Departments and their capital:  
04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, pop.: 154.500  ,  Digne (pop. 17.600)
05 Hautes-Alpes, pop.: 133.000 , Gap, pop: 36 262
06 Alpes-Maritimes, pop: 1.070.000 , Nice- pop: 346.900
13 Bouches-du-Rhône, pop.: 1.916.500, Marseille pop: 1.349.772
83 Var,  pop: 974.000,  Toulon pop.: 167.400
84 Vaucluse,  pop.: 533.000,  Avignon pop: 90.800

Claus Møller is “Mr. Time Manager”

In 2007 my wife has been co-organizer of a business-meeting for an organization called Nordic-Link (www.nordic-link.org ) for promotion of exchange between the south of France and the Nordic countries. Within the program was a section for Cultural differences and practical leadership. The person for the program noted was a certain Claus Møller who I didn’t know personally before.

When he began his program about practical leadership and about “Heart work” instead of hard work, it became obvious what a caliber of talent came on stage…

In only a few minutes he had the audience turned around and run through a rollercoaster of drama, funny stories and business wisdom. People in the audience were impressed, attentive and laughing about his tremendous humor. I was one of those, inspired by his coaching, using symbolic personal stories, and graphics to present his crusade for improvement of personal quality management. He made it clear to everybody how essential this will be for any business.

Claus Møller is “Mr. Time Manager” as he had the vision and pioneered most useful Time Management tools as the first in the world. Only recently author Niels Lillelund published a book about Møller and his life titled “Mr. Time Manager” in which he portrayed the famous Danish entrepreneur as an outstanding personality. The book is momentarily only available in Danish language but might be translated in English in the next months.

Claus often talks about the subject “Time is the raw-material of Life” and that we have to realize how we can best spend the time as time cannot be brought back. He teaches the awareness about the “now”, which we shall live with conscience and transform those “nows” in to a precious moment, each of them like a “pearl” adding to a beautiful chain of pearls being our life! – Everything in our years of existence hinges on time…therefore we need highest level on awareness how we manage our lifetime!

I met Claus Møller for the first time in private, when my wife and I were invited to his home in Cotignac, a beautiful village located in the Provence. There he has settled two decades ago, with his lovely wife Viveca, a strong personality, who he often mentions in his coaching-sessions and where I learnt about her one year before I personally met her. Within their property the Møllers host groups for the seminars in their mansion-like estate, which they call the “Learning Village”. Viveca is a passionate person with artistic talents, her artwork of tapestry is fantastic and she is a great chef de cuisine, cooking with a lot of fantasy.

That particular summer evening she presented a stellar 4 course menu we have thoroughly enjoyed.

Claus Møller and Melchior Lippisch

(Viveca Møller, during seminars takes care of the meals for the trainees, together with her friendly French and Danish assistants.)

We had a great conversation that evening and touched the subject of time and the preoccupation with the feeling being too busy with secondary issues, not able to enjoy the moments and “nows”

Claus put this in a funny phrase people may use “I have a very busy autumn” as an excuse for almost everything … This was symbolic for many of those who are not managing their time properly and I must admit – was the beginning of his good influence on myself as he inspired me to be more conscious about my time!

Our Cappuccino mornings…


I love mornings, even all year round, but now in the peak of summer – it is particularly nice to wake up early! In our region this year’s summer started late after a spring with many rainy days in the south. Now is the season that gives you the wonderful feeling of lightness as mornings are particularly beautiful. There is a certain routine and wake up normally around 5.45 am and then go out to garden early for feeding the dogs, who are waiting already anxiously on the doorsteps for getting their dish…as early as possible.

I am the one who feeds them and taking care of giving them something they like and so I mix together can-food with leftovers of the evening. Sometimes I even cook sausages or barbecue some minced meat like for hamburgers, which makes them happy. Victor and Brioche are Hovawarts, very kind dogs, easy to keep and vigilant dogs who vigorously guard the villa. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovawart )
While I prepare their food they are watching everything through the window and once I come out they are happy – and start munching immediately.

Then I turn to the plants who need water and to rinse the many pots around the villa takes at least a quarter of an hour – enjoying to see the new blossoms in the morning – and observe the growth of all the different types of plants every day.

The rest of the family is still sleeping and I, all by myself have a quiet and relaxing time in the morning – giving me time for reflection, inspiration and tranquility as preparation for the challenges of the day. I feel privileged having the office in the villa not needing to commute and lose time in traffic.

I always have look onto the latest e-mails and news there after – when we make our home-made capuccino – in our espresso boiler with our favorite brand : Lavazza Crema e Gusto. See an Italian AD – http://tinyurl.com/5scbcm

It’s been a long time that I finally got my own blog flowing now! Too many other things got in the way as I had to make money by writing newsletters for other parties and organizations.  Then I had to stick to other priorities which have been interesting to follow and brought a lot of work, but also fun with them. Well while doing this I kept my eyes on the community of web 2.0 specialists and authors, reading more than I wrote here – to understand the T-flow and what was brought up by the community of bloggers, numerous authors commenting on new developments and use of the latest applications. I think despite of all the talk of crisis – we live in a very interesting era – and there is hope that the world gets better through the connections we can make with the help of digital media.

Before I get too philosophical I just want to introduce myself quickly and hope you may join me in adding to the motion that drives the 21 st century. I would like to be a contributor in publishing and find good ideas and concepts myself or help publish those of others as well. We can find them or hear about from where ever – those improving our daily life and comfort we shall propel so many people can benefit.

But this blog is my own and it is my aim to publish my thoughts and in the time-flow paired with emotions and experience. So if you are interested to follow, be a friend or allied with me subscribe and/or comment…