France

I turned 40 this year (2018) and I made a conscious decision to celebrate all year long in ways that would be memorable for years to come. One of those ways was to take a trip -- our first really significant trip as a family of four -- and we decided on France quite easily since it holds a very special place in my life, though it had been nearly 20 years since I’d last visited. I lived in the south of France for a year in my early twenties and the idea of going back there so many years later with my family in tow just felt magical to me. France also has special significance for my husband whose Scottish grandparents had a summer home along the Mediterranean; and though he never visited it, we have in our home many photographs and paintings by his grandfather of this beautiful place.

We visited five areas of France in a little over two weeks: Paris, Montpellier (this is the city I lived in during my year in France), La Roque-sur-Pernes (in the Vaucluse region of Provence), Le Lavandou (the small seaside town where my husband’s grandparents had their home) and Annecy in the French Alps. Aside from the nostalgic moments of going back to my French “hometown” of Montpellier, there were several standout moments; at least one from each of the five areas we visited:

Paris: stepping out of our incredibly Parisian flat every morning along Rue Montorgeuil and being assaulted with the smells of fresh bread, the pedestrian-only traffic rushing by us, and the aproned waiters at the cafe on our corner bringing us coffee and croissants.

Montpellier: visiting my old apartment and seeing that the old door is still painted green and the laundromat on the ground floor is still there.

La Roque-sur-Pernes (Provence): visiting the orange-tinged village of Roussillon and hiking the gorgeous Sentier des Ocres - an old ochre quarry that looks like you’ve arrived on Mars while being surrounded by towering trees and lavender.

Le Lavandou: avoiding the crashing waves of the Med while we hiked the Sentier du Littoral - a trail that literally hugs the ocean in the most gorgeously dramatic way you could ever imagine.

Annecy: renting a paddleboat and spending a blissful hour floating on lac d’Annecy in the hot sun....in mid-October!

My children also loved wandering the impossibly narrow and steep streets of Montpellier and making wonderful discoveries like Pomme de Reinette & Pomme d’Api -- the most unbelievable toy store we’ve ever seen. And of course, they adored the private pool we had in Le Lavandou!

74We have taken home a few important things with us from this trip...

- the knowledge that despite what a lot of people told us, our kids CAN keep up with the long days of travel and we shouldn’t assume they won’t be up for an adventure.

- quiet time every day - we are already pretty good at this, but this trip was a reminder that to get the best out of everyone each day, we needed to build in down time every afternoon -- much like the French people do.

- crepes: we will be adding a crepe pan to our home this winter!

Words and Photography by Jess Kosmack