a very large update is necessary. i have been in the south of france on holiday with my family and loved every second of it. the concept of french holidays is a great one and something i think should be introduced in america. they have 2 week vacations allowing for bigger trips or simply more time to relax. we spent the majority of our time in the countryside of a town called, beziers and stayed at the house that has been in marie’s dad’s family for hundreds of years. the property used to have acres of vineyards and they would make their own wine in the wine cellar. the land now harvests wheat and the wine cellar has been converted to a huge venue to hold the reception of the family members who get married there. there is also a little chapel beside the house. we also went to marie’s mom’s beach house in banyuls, which is about 10 minutes from the spanish border. luckily we didn’t go to spain on this trip because I had stupidly forgot my passport--such an american mistake. I met a lot of marie’s family (she has a huge extended family,) and it was great to be welcomed into so many homes of almost strangers. josephine had warned me before we left that her grandparent’s didn’t speak english, which I found it hilarious how worried she was for me, but it was nice to be around so much french for two weeks. as crazy as it sounds, living with a family that speaks english well and very often, I sometimes forget I live in france. 

I still constantly crack up at how the french manage without big cars and am a little envious of the few tahoes we see driving around. on the way to the train station we had suitcases stuffed in the truck and buckled into the front seat, while five of us sat in the backseat. (france isn’t very strict about children buckling). we had tons of luggage and were running late so it felt like the scene in home alone where they are sprinting through crowds of people. lucy and josephine kept constantly turning around to me, squealing with excitement. chris didn’t come with us and it was so cute watching them spell notes to each other on the windows. this was my first train ride ever and one of the first sunsets I’d seen since moving to france.

I didn’t want to have expectations of what our house/experience would be in the south because I didn’t want to be disappointed if it wasn’t what I pictured. however, I walked into my bedroom and practically hit the floor I was so excited. every part of me had to resist the urge to immediately jump on my bed because it’s been a while since these eyes of mine have seen a queen sized bed. the shutters were amazing to make my entire room black, but more often than not I enjoyed keeping them open overnight so the morning light would wake me up. I loved the floral wallpaper and antiques and it really reminded me of sleepovers at my grandmother's house. 

 

we got to the house at night so this was my first view out of my window when I woke up and I could barely put shoes on quick enough. I was so excited to go explore the grounds and take pictures. there were pots of lemon and orange trees everywhere and a pomegranate tree, that they take the fruit off of whenever they want. there was a beautiful courtyard where I wished it hadn’t been as cold at night so we could roast marshmallows out there after dinner. there were tons of fields and also a lot of woods with a river we would play near. 

the kids loved being on holiday. they were in wonderful moods the entire time and I loved hanging out with them. lucy and josephine got new bikes while we were there so most days they would do lots of biking. we also did things like shoot bow and arrow and went on a long treasure hunt that marie had set up where we sang the follow the leader song from peter pan the whole time (it was in my head because emile looks like michael carrying his animal with him the whole time). one day josephine, emile and I picked almonds from a tree for hours and sat in a field cracking them open. josephine and I would each take a bite and then exchange, saying how good this particular almond was. we also did things like collect flowers from a field to make flower crowns and spent lots of time painting and reading books. it was really nice to spend so much time outside together and I loved how entertained they were by the simple things. marie told me when her dad was younger, he and his cousins used to turn wine vats into a boat and float down the river and that one time they wanted to see if a cat could parachute so they tied a bag to it and threw it out the third story window haha. 

I had my afternoons off and spent the majority of my time studying french in the courtyard or greenhouse, lounging in the sunshine or on long walks around the countryside. the weather was gorgeous and quite warm the first few days so it was nice to be outside in short sleeves. I always asked to be the one to hang the laundry out to dry and enjoyed imagining growing up with that as your lifestyle. there were super clear nights so I spent a lot of time sitting in the lounge chair at night. I have missed looking at stars since I’ve been here and it was amazing to see so many shooting stars. even though I’d packed lots of books and movies and had a list of things I wanted to accomplish over break, it was so nice to spend little time on the computer and lots of time outside. 

I was struck by how beautiful the light was in beziers. even on the days I was sick, I made a point to be outside for the hour that the sun was setting because it was absolutely fantastic. I think part of it was how open it was. I’ve made the comment to lots of people, but it was like I was living in a painting. there were vineyards everywhere you looked and even though most of the grapes were gone, it was neat to see the vines, the vats, the cases of empty bottles stacked up. it was also interesting to hear about vineyards from marie because she’s grown up around them for so long. I loved walking around once the sun had set too because you could see the lights from so many surrounding country towns, some of which I walked to and explored during the day. I’ve never seen so many birds gather to migrate to africa and I was nervous everyday that I might get pooped on. it was kind of good because it made me run faster to get away from them. 

my first time to the mediterranean sea was a great one. we were driving up hills and around bends and suddenly we were in banyuls. we spent almost the entire day outside trying to catch crabs, fishing and just walking around. their house was on the main road right beside the banks and post office, but also right across the street from the bay and beach area. we saw a woman strip on the beach and swim laps in the freezing water. there was a little marina area with lots of local artists and tons of scuba divers changing after their morning dives. I loved how even at the beach there are cute french cafes and crepe stands, and it was more amazing that all this existed amidst huge mountains and cliffs. I also found it hilarious that the police station was attached to the main bar in town. the girls and I took our shoes off and sprinted towards the sea and spent the late afternoon sunshine watching the sunset over the mountains, eating waffles. 

the girls and I had a sleepover one night, where the girls got lots of sleep and I got kicked in the sides all night. josephine made lucy and I switch places at least 4 times because she couldn’t make up her mind who she wanted to sleep with. we giggled for over an hour before we could get settled down because everyone was so excited to spend the night together. josephine wanted to spell things on my back, which was cute because the only thing she knows is her name, so I pretended not to be able to tell so she would keep tickling me. it made me think about all my sleepovers with friends throughout the years and made me think of laura and katie when I woke up at one point and all three of us were sharing my pillow. after our sleepover the girls considered my bed as much theirs as mine, so every morning they would slowly creak open the door and come to my bedside asking if they could climb in with me. josephine was also precious at night because I would see her little toes cross the door threshold and wait there for a moment, and then she’d peer in and ask if I would come tuck her in snug as a bug and stuffed like a burrito. 

holiday was wonderful. I feel like I’ve been close with the family since I’ve been here but it was so nice to see different sides to them and to get to spend so much more time together doing fun things. it was also such a treat to come back to paris and have tons of christmas lights up everywhere. I am so thankful to be in france :)