I have to admit, after having graduated since May 2009 and still working as a server at a restaurant, January and February were two very down months for me. The weather, in particular, did not ameliorate the situation at all. I all of a sudden just felt like I needed to get out, to get away from Washington, DC, and disappear!
I had just finished reading two books, one was "A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle, and the other was "Under the Tuscan Sun" by Frances Mayes. Well needless to say after reading those 2 books just made me want to buy a house in rural France and spend the rest of my life there. But as we all know, that probably isn't the most plausible thing that I could be doing right now. However, it did gave me a sudden idea of taking a trip to somewhere rural, where I could just enjoy nature by myself. No big cities, no annoying tourists, just the countryside to myself. Yet, that was still just a thought, I still didn't think it was likely to happen. Then my friend Dorothy, who had done a similar one month trip to France in the past told me why not? "Go travel while you still have the time." Well, then I started doing my research. It turns out that one can rent cottages in rural France for quite cheaply. Originally I was planning on doing it on my own, but I decided to pass along the idea to my parents who are currently living in Taiwan. They have never been to France. It's one of those places that they are unlikely to go on their own.
Since renting a car and a cottage to myself would be the same for 3 people, I invited them along.
It didn't take the long to say yes. My parents and I share the same interest in gastronomy, so the idea of being able to go to French markets and cook with fresh ingredients everyday is almost irresistable.
So after weeks and weeks of planning here is my tentative itinerary and plans.
We would arrive in Paris on March 4 2010.
From there we head down to Dijon via TGV where I have a rental car waiting for me at the train station. From Dijon, we will cruise one of the most famous Burgundy wine roads, the Cote de Nuits. After a day of wine tasting and fine dining, we will stay in a small locally owned hotel close to Beaune. The next day we will continue our wine journey down the Cote de Beaune by doing a bike tour. Wine tasting and biking just sounds like such a perfect combination. We will spend the night in Macon.
The next day we will head to our cottage in Provence. The cottage, or gite in French that we have rented is located in Saignon, in the Luberon region, which just happens to be the area where author Peter Mayle lives. There we will spend a week where I plan on just relaxing, cooking, biking, hiking, and of course drinking wine (the most essential!)
The next week we will be at our other cottage in Caunes-Minervois located in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.
Then it's 3 days in Bordeaux, and then we will finish up with 4 days in Paris. After all, a trip to France won't be complete without being in the "most romantic city in the world."
So look for my blogs in the coming weeks regarding my daily adventures in France, because, this trip is really a dream that is about to come true!
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