AW: France was amazing

hoffse · August 2015

Easily the best week of my life. Lots of sun, wine, chocolate croissants, sexy time with my husband (!), Roman ruins, sunflowers, markets, and incredibly charming perched villages. We walked and hiked so much that I lost weight, even though we ate croissants for breakfast every morning and averaged about 1 bottle of wine per day...

Our flight to Paris got seriously delayed, and we had to buy walk-up train tickets, which are incredibly expensive. We also landed to find out that the metro line we were going to use to get to the train station was under repair, so that necessitated a cab right both to and from the airport. So we started about $300 in the hole before we even got there.

Still, we rented an apartment and were able to do things like make our own coffee in the morning and buy food from the markets for picnics. Having an apartment and car rental while we were there was just perfect, and we loved where we stayed and its general location relative to other stuff we wanted to visit. The prices in that part of France for food were about half of what we were paying in Paris. It was so cheap that not only did we make up that $300, we saved enough to have a splash out night at our first Michelin starred restaurant while we were down there. Seemed only appropriate that our first one should be in France, since that's where the system was developed!

I also had a financial breakthrough where I really just didn't worry about money for the entire time we were there. It was amazing. I think I worry about it too much, and it was so nice to let it go, enjoy ourselves, and reconnect without every conversation involving the price of this or that. I'm going to make an effort to get back to that mindset more often during daily life when I can. Obviously we all need to be aware and concerned about money to some degree, but I had just gotten too wrapped up in it. I hadn't even realized the extent of it until I was there and just didn't check the bank account/credit cards every day.

I loved Paris too - and we barely scratched the surface, so we need to go back - but honestly.... I might have loved Provence more. Seriously, it's gorgeous, and when I finally did look at the credit cards this morning, I was amazed by how cheap the whole thing was. If anybody is itching to plan a trip there, please PM me!

Photos top to bottom:

1) Sunflower fields

2) Sarlat - one of the Cotes du Rhone villages, with the village vineyards in front

3) Abbaye de Notre Dame Senanque

4) Lavender fields right before the harvest

5) Grapes at a vineyard we toured

6) the Pont du Gard

7) the Maison Carree - best preserved Roman temple in the world

8) the street where we stayed

9) Chateauneuf du Papes - vineyard of the popes

10) street in Nimes

strickland8052 · August 2015

Beautiful pics! Glad you had a great time!

Xstatic3333 · August 2015

Sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing pictures!

jessica490 · August 2015

Thanks for the pics! Your and your husband are cute together! Glad you were able to enjoy yourself, sounds like an amazing time!! See it's worth it to splurge on a great vacation without worrying. It's better to spend money on experiences than "stuff" anyway!

dragonstarjk · August 2015

Oh my, the way you write about it makes me want to go right now!!!!!!

bridejl · August 2015

Looks magical!! I've never had a desire to go to France, but H and I love wineries and gorgeous countryside...now I have another destination to add to the to-do list!

CuriousKiddosMama · August 2015

What an amazing trip! That's on my bucket list, so hopefully someday we will get there.

cbee817 · August 2015

The lavender picture with you is beautiful! Looks like an amazing trip!

short+sassy · August 2015

So glad to hear how amazing your trip was! You described it so beautifully now I want to go, lol. Happy to hear you and your H had such a wonderful time.