Monday, May 16, 2016

Update about Our House in Provence Blog

Hello faithful readers!

I have not entered the witness protection program, become incapacitated nor am I dead if you have been wondering why I have not posted anything new on the blog for a while.

So here's the story. A few weeks ago, I turned on my computer to look at pictures to choose what I was going to write for my next post. I had new restaurants, villages and wineries to choose from.

I clicked on the picture file and instead of seeing lots of picture, all I saw were black images. As you can imagine, I had a sick feeling in my stomach. I bravely clicked on one of the pictures to see if an image would appear behind that black mask.

What opened was a message telling me that I needed to follow the instructions if I wanted to get my pictures back. The instructions were essentially I had to send them $2,000 in bit coins. I had been hacked and my pictures were being held hostage.

After speaking with our IT consultants at work, I decided the only thing I could do was have them clean my hard drive which meant the pictures I had not saved to an auxiliary drive were forever lost. So I won't be doing too much blogging until we get to France in June.

I am really down about the photos I have lost but it was really my own fault since I wasn't backing them up to a secure environment like I should have been. It is hard to replicate the good scenes which occur spontaneously when you are with family and friends.

I have been blessed the last few weeks to hear from several readers with questions about Provence or nice feedback about the enjoyment and travel help they get from reading the blog. So I can't let you down, I will be back very soon.

Until then, à bientôt mes amis.

10 comments:

  1. Dear Michel.... This is such sad, sad news, my friend! I think I might be, finally, putting mine on the hard drive this weekend as planned months ago but not yet accomplished. Your story has served to awaken all of us who cherish and use our photos for so many purposes! I will be more conscientious from now on. Merci. Your story has made me tres triste.... Jackie

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  2. Sad news indeed. Though our visit to Sablet was more than a few years ago, we have fond memories of the village and the time we spent with you and Shirley. We continue to enjoy your blog ... it helps us recall fun times in Sablet and the surrounding area ... and pulls at us to consider a return trip. Your return to the village is only a few weeks away we look forward to your blog's return.

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  3. Kind of makes one wonder about the soul of one who would do that
    to another person...pathetic. Their day will come....
    So sorry this happened to you, Michel... Good luck in getting it
    resolved.

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  4. This is just awful! I'm so sorry this has happened to you! I really enjoy reading your blog and looking at the pictures you have shared with us.

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  5. Oh dear Michel that is terrible news! We look forward to seeing your updates once you are back on the ground in Provence.

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  6. I am so sad for you! That is just terrible! I look forward to all your posts and have learned so much. I enjoy reading through the old posts too on all your good writings. So sorry. -- Cheryl

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  7. Oh no what a terrible thing to have happened, what a dreadful thing for anyone to do to you!!! I always back up my photos so it just goes to show that it is worthwhile though I would never have thought that anyone could be held hostage for their own photos!!!
    Take care and enjoy your trip back to France in June. We will be heading to the USA for our first ever trip there in June so will catch up on our return. Take care Diane

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  8. Toute cette histoire me fait mal au cœur. J'espère vous retrouver bientôt sur le blog. Vous êtes notre guide en Provence. Grâce à vous nous avons passé de très belles heures. Nous irons de nouveau dans le Lubéron le 3 juin prochain et dans notre plan: un déjeuner à Vaison-la-Romaine ou au Faucon. Merci et tenez bon.
    Quyen

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  9. Vendredi passé, le 3 juin, nous avons mangé chez Serge à Carpentras et c'était fabuleux. Dimanche 5 juin c'était au Sanglier Paresseux à Caseneuve. Merci mille fois. Quyen

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