HOME TOUR

I just have too many pictures for this to be one post friends! I promise I tried. I’ll link part 2 when I get it up. For now we’ll start with Paris to Provence of our summer travels and cover our first days in Paris, the fast train to Avignon, the french farmhouse rental and then Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue and the hilltowns of Murs, Lourmarin (my favorite!), Bonnieux, and Lacoste.

When Matt and I were dating in college we would dream of destinations the world over. Places we hoped to see–from the Great Pyramids to the fjords of Norway. The world held so much innocent promise. And we declared right then and there that our goal (among many others) was to always have been to more countries than we were years old. And we’ve gotten quite competitive at it because I’m winning. I hit my 40th country this trip at the tender age of 37 when we day-tripped to Monaco. We’ve now been around the world at every possible price point–from sketchy $10/night youth hostels in Kuala Lumpur to luxury villas in the Maldives.

We have a separate savings account that we budget every possible travel dollar toward. Exploring this world is important to us even if it takes years-worth of savings and sacrifices to attain. Matt and I are not independently wealthy or trust fund kids. We work hard (and around his work schedule) to save what we can in order to take the trips we do. No one pays us to go despite what you may see from other bloggers out there. I realize that it can sometimes create a heart tension when you see someone go on a beautiful trip while you find yourself in a season of struggling or waiting or saving. Choose to find the lovely there, in whatever season you may be in, because seasons come and go. For years we couldn’t afford it, or were having babies, or even longer, the “trying to have babies” season.  Your sweet time will come and it will be worth every second it took to get you there.

I fully planned this trip unlike our spring trip to Peru. Matt and I have been to Paris many times at this point but never with children and seeing it through their eyes makes it an entirely different experience. You can find info on the outfits I packed for the trip in this post.

I have never been to Provence but renting a French Farmhouse has been on my bucket list for a million years. France has a way of slowing you down, encouraging you to linger, stare a little longer, read a book, drink too much wine and I’m so thankful for that. I read two huge novels while we were there. I stopped in front of every blue shutter. I smelled every lavender bush I found. This trip let me slow. What a gift!

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS

We took a Wednesday evening flight from Boston to Paris on AirFrance. I loved every minute on this airline and after our experience with American Airlines to Peru I vowed to pay more for a different airline and fly direct flights. From the free champagne to the children’s entertainment bags they passed out at the onset, every bit of it was a joy. We landed at 5:30 am in Paris, a 6 hour time change for us on EST and a quicker flight than going home to California. The kids had been too excited to sleep on the plane and promptly fell asleep on the drive from Charles De Gaulle to our hotel in the city which, in Thursday morning traffic, took almost 2 hours.

THE HOXTON HOTEL

In Paris we stayed at The Hoxton Hotel which we loved. It has a more trendy vibe but with a delightfully french spin. I swear the entire editorial staff at Vogue was staying here at the same time and I have never felt more frumpy in my entire life. The hotel ended up being absolutely amazing after Cade lost his beloved stuffed Otter in a taxi cab which you may have seen in my Instagram Stories. Weeks later the hotel tracked it down, mailed it to us with a sweet note and photos of Whiskers the otter in front of the Eiffel tower and other sites in Paris. I can’t even tell you how wonderful they were. They didn’t have to but they went above and beyond. Stay here on your next trip to Paris.

PARIS

We gave ourselves only two days in Paris because we had a week-long rental in Provence and were working around Matt’s work schedule. I would have loved more time, especially more non-jetlagged time so we could have lingered but really the point of the trip was Provence (and croissants, who am I kidding). We took the kids to the Musee d’Orsay (tied for my favorite museum in the world with Rijks museum in Amsterdam and Kunsthistorisches in Vienna), Luxemborg Jardin to sail boats, the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, lots of cafes and we tried to see Saint Chapelle but the tickets were sold out for both days. Book the places you want to visit in advance.

TRAIN TO PROVENCE

We took the TGV (fast train) to Marseille from Gard du Lyon station on Saturday morning which was nutty. It was so busy and getting a taxi was an unexpected challenge on a Saturday morning. All seven of us (Matt’s mom and dad came with us) meant we needed to split into two groups just to take the first cab we could find. There seemed to be a shocking amount of construction going on in Paris. But we made it and the train was even a half hour delayed. The train stops in Avignon for a couple minutes which means you need to get all your bags and kids off as fast as possible. We were sitting on the upper level so the men starting carrying our bags down shortly before we arrived to make disembarking less stressful. In Avignon we rented two cars, one for Matt’s mom and dad to drive and one for us. We split the kids and bags between us.

AVIGNON

We couldn’t check in until after 4 pm on Saturday so we lingered in Avignon for lunch. There was a heat wave going on and it was well over 90 degrees in Paris and Provence for those first few days. Heat slows you down, especially with little kids. Cade doesn’t do especially well in heat because his legs get sweaty and slippery, making it a challenge to walk in his prosthetics. Luckily we packed a nice travel stroller which we actually put Cade in every now and then and Matt held Aubrey on his shoulders. We had a late lunch in Avignon and regretted not picking up some groceries here because the hill town shops close early. But I was antsy to see the farmhouse I had been dreaming of for 6 months.

MURS

Our farmhouse was a 5 minute drive from the charming, quiet hilltop town of Murs and located a short 12-ish minutes from Gordes, the famous one you see in all the pictures and movie “A Good Year.” I loved that our closest town was quiet and sleepy but we were so so close to many others. The Luberon has some amazing medieval villages that just ooze character and French charm.

FRENCH FARMHOUSE RENTAL

I looked long and hard and finally booked this farmhouse specifically because it was in a lavender field and so aesthetically pleasing–the curse of a designer. I had dreamed of dancing through the lavender and walking in the fields every morning with a cup of tea. And wouldn’t you know it, we drove in and there wasn’t a single lavender bush in the fields! Just turned over soil and weeds. That was my only major complaint with our rental because it was advertised a certain way that didn’t turn out to be reality. It would have been gracious of the owner to let us know so I could manage my disappointment in advance.

Apparently lavender fields are ripped up and replaced every 8-10 years and we just got unlucky. There will be no lovely lavender like the listing pictures for many years as it takes several years for small plants to grow and there were no plants in the ground. Other than that, I would go back to this house again and again. It was lovely in every way, immaculate, and exactly what I wanted out of a French farmhouse. Just as fair warning, we saw several scorpions inside during our stay and were mindful of the brown recluse spiders that can be very dangerous. The property manager told us the darker-colored scorpions ones are common, their sting doesn’t hurt that bad but to lookout for the blonde-colored ones which are more poisonous. It’s all part of the adventure.

L’ISLE-SUR-LA-SORGUE — SUNDAY MARKET DAY

On Sunday we got up as early as we could and headed to L’Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue which is famous for their Sunday market and the Antique market which goes until about 1 pm. It was a good 40 minute drive from the house but I planned our excursions around market days in the villages and knew I didn’t want to miss this day. Parking was a challenge and it was super crowded. Get here as early as you possibly can. We parked in a free parking lot a good 15 minute walk from the village center as all the closer lots were completely full with waiting cars backed up onto the street.

The antiques were beautiful and pricey and frankly I had decision paralysis–I wanted to buy everything but didn’t know where to start. I came home with olive wood spatulas and some french stripe clothing for the kids and I. Still a lovely experience but man had a wanted to find an antique french painting for my mantel. I guess we’ll have to do this all over again next year! We had a lovely lunch along the river at Aux Cocottes which we just happened upon while exploring some back alleyways and loved the hidden-away garden feel.

MONDAY REST & PLAY

Each morning we awoke to the sweet buzzing of bees in the garden surrounding the farmhouse. We ate croissants and lingered, enjoying the view over the valley. It was truly magical. Monday we lingered extra long as it was mostly our home day. We spent the better part of Monday by the pool and eating cheese. I have no regrets. But in the late afternoon, Matt and I left to go exploring by ourselves. God bless the grandparents! We drove 45 minutes to Lourmarin and began there.

LOURMARIN

My favorite village of the trip, it was uncrowded, absolutely stunning and we had a lovely meal at Cafe Gaby. Here I tried my first Aperol Spritz and hated it. It was so bitter I spit out the first sip thinking something was wrong. Oh boy. It honestly tasted like the bitter part of an orange. I’ll stick to rosé thank you very much. There were lovely shops open late and art galleries. We bought some groceries in this town to bring home, some lovely french soaps and even found Oatly, our favorite oat milk at home.

BONNIEUX

The view over the valley from Bonnieux at dusk was unforgettable. There was a pizza place at the top of the hill where we parked that had a lovely terrace. If we hadn’t just eaten and had they offered Créme Brûlée, we probably would have grabbed a table just to watch the sunset. We explored the cobbled streets and eventually found some delicious gelato. Medieval villages are always better with a treat in hand.

LACOSTE

This hillside town was the smallest one we explored and felt the most empty. Granted it was 9:30 at night. There just weren’t many shops and most of it seems occupied by a study abroad program and modern art installations. There were some pretty corners of this town and we hiked up to the castle at the top where you could see Bonnieux in the distance. I felt like less than an hour was totally sufficient to see this village.

In part 2 we’ll cover the second half of our trip–Rousillion, the lavender fields of the Valensole, Moustier-Saint-Marie, Verdon Gorge, the Riviera and Monaco. Thank you for sticking with me for this first part of our Paris to Provence trip!