Ah, Les Baux. I fell in love with this charming spot the first time I laid eyes on it. How could I not? It’s the quintessential village perché, or a perched village, though Les Baux takes the usual perching tactics ever so much further. In fact, Les Baux was, according to Marvelous Provence, “Les Baux…
How to Pack Like an Airline Employee* in Paris.
I must confess to a guilty pleasure that I enjoyed during the long, tedious months of lockdown in the surreal year that was 2020: Emily in Paris. Oh yes, I did live vicariously through her, imagining myself as Emily, complete with her slim, lithe frame, sashaying through the streets of la belle ville while wearing…
Isle sur la Sorgue.
Oh, the treasure hunt that awaits us all in Isle sur la Sorgue! This beautiful little town sits quite literally in the middle of the Sorgue river (its name means “island on the Sorgue”) and is lovely even without being the European antiques capital. You can actually get information on a walking tour of all the waterwheels…
Arles, France, in September.
Walking Tour of Arles It’s getting real, folks. We’re going to be in Arles, France, next month. And it’s been a long time coming… Thus, with no further discussion of the reason why it’s been a long time coming because really, who wants to think about all that nonsense anymore, let’s talk about Arles. On…
Safety and Diplomacy for Travel in France.
Paris is a safe city, even for a woman to be alone in. Trip Advisor backs me up in this belief, as do many other websites. Yes, it’s true. I swear it. If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe TripAdvisor. Here’s an example of what Trip Advisor has to say about the subject:…
Travel. Again. At last.
I’ve tried. I’ve really, really tried. I’ve tried hard to be a homebody, the sort of person who takes joy in the simple pleasures of home and hearth. And the truth is, I’m pretty good at it. I do love to be home. I love a day where I don’t have to get out in…
Travel, closer to home.
In another lifetime, many, many decades ago, I traveled to places and then wrote about it. Traveling was what gave me inspiration, or, to unpack that word “inspire,” travel breathed life back into me. Seeing new places, encountering different people and cultures, trying different and new foods- those things bring me joy. They are part…
Workshop in France: Painters’ boxes.
I’ve been writing a lot about the trip part of the upcoming workshop in France. It’s a big undertaking, for all of us who are going, to book airfare and housing and solidify travel plans, of course, and naturally everyone wants to know what it’s like where we’re going to be . However, another important…
Scouting Trip to France: Arles.
I feel like I’ve been saving the best for last in this little post-journey exploration of the places that I visited back in September. I know of course that that’s not really true, because nearly all of the places we visited in September were pretty amazing in their own way. But Arles stood out for…
Scouting Trip to France: Les Baux, St Rèmy de Provence, and Le Vallon de Gayet.
This is part of a series I’m writing about a recent trip to France that was in preparation for a workshop I’m co-leading Sept 23-Oct 4 of 2020. You can start the series here Who Wants To Go to France With Me? , if you are thus inclined, to learn more about what we will be doing. Les Baux,…
Ten Million Miles 