Diaries of a French Holiday.
The places to stay, shop, eat and re-set.
Bonjour my friends! I apologize for the gap in posting while I was on holiday. I had every intention to post while gone but truth be told, there didn’t seem to be a minute to spare, let alone sit and write a thoughtful diary worthy of your time (and money!).
With that said, I have received so many requests to share our family holiday with you that it really seemed important for me to take the time to do it right. So here we go.
As many of you saw on the ‘gram, my family and I were fortunate enough to travel to France for a few weeks. We spent the majority of our time in the most charming town called Lourmarin. Lourmarin is in Provence, the more southern part of France, which for a lack of a better way to describe it, is basically their version of Napa/Sonoma Valley. The climate is perfection (over 300 days of sunshine in an average year!). The food a delight. And the shopping insane. To be completely honest with you, my husband and I were initially at odds about bringing our children to Europe at this age. Maeve, we knew, could handle it, but the other two are 7 and 5 years old and he was a little more hesitant than I was. Having been born in Europe, and raised by European immigrants, my family didn’t think twice about traveling with me at Maeve’s age, so I had a deep desire to do the same thing. And I am SO glad we did. The memories we made, the way their eyes were opened up to just how big the world is and how much there is for them to learn and explore was exactly what we wanted.
How We Got There
Frankly we complicated our lives slightly but it all worked out - we booked our flights in and out of Paris, which is fine since we flew home after spending a few days in Paris, the initial travel day was looooong. On top of an already stressful overnight flight for the girls (initial departure time was 9:45pm), we got delayed by 3 whole hours . The girls were exhausted by the time we finally boarded. But I still gave them these gummies to help them sleep - Melatonin is clutch here! When we landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport, we had to make our way to the train station to go to Avignon. We were worried about timing so we hired greeters who guided us through the airport - it’s a luxury to do this, but it’s something that makes it so worthwhile when traveling with small children. They know their way around, navigated immigration and got us through one of the biggest airports in the world with zero stress. Once on the train, the TGV which is a super fast train, we were in Avignon after 3.5 hours. So it was not a short trip after a 7 hour flight. And then a car from Avignon to Lourmarin. But once we got there, the kids were in heaven, wanting to go out for dinner at 9pm. That definitely saved our butts with jet lag.
On the way to Paris we took the same train back (from Aix-en-Provence) but got out at Gare du Lyon in the middle of Paris.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at a private home that was a short walk from the town. A great resource for finding a home in Europe to rent, and specifically in Provence, is this site. They vet the properties based on needs for kids and make sure you have the amenities that kids need. Having a private home for us, meant I could get up in the mornings early, walk to town and get fresh pain au chocolat for the kids, sandwiches for the grown ups (baguettes with ham and butter are so simple but so damn delicious there), and the kids had a pool to be kids in so it didn’t feel like they had to go, go, go all the time. Fun fact: Lily learned to swim over there.
In Paris we stayed at Le Meurice, the same hotel Mike and I stayed at last summer when we were there for our 10 year anniversary getaway. It’s the perfect location - both for tourist-y things (across the street from the Louvre) to all the amazing shopping on Rue Saint Honoré.
Where We Went
Lourmarin is in the Luberon region within Provence. Around Lourmarin there are so many places to explore, all within 40 - 50 minutes of where we stayed. We went to Gordes and St. Remy and Chateauneuf-du-Pape - all different villages/towns to explore that had a very similar vibe. We knew the kids would tap out at one point or another and just want to stay local, so Chateauneuf was the adult wine tasting day. Also ate one of the best meals of the trip there at a restaurant called La Mere Germaine. This region is where Van Gogh was inspired to paint Starry Night (and also checked himself into an asylum), and Cezanne painted many of his works. It’s clear to understand why this region inspired so many incredible artists with its gorgeous colors and landscapes. St. Remy was a much bigger town/city - tons of stores, restaurants and streets to explore. It was market day in both Gordes and St. Remy when we went. The thing about these markets is that they are the same vendors that travel through the different towns on different days. Market times are 8am to about 1/2pm depending on the vendors. If you are in this region, google the towns you want to visit and what days the markets are there. What we didn’t do but would have had we stayed longer is go to the beaches at either Marseilles or St. Tropez - will have to save for next time. We didn’t want to overwhelm the kids with too much travel and think it was the right move - we balanced exploring days with a pool day the next one. We would casually walk to town every night for dinner and walk home after a gelato at our favorite local spot La Quille (legit some of the best ice cream I have had).
Where We Ate
Most nights we ate in Lourmarin - there were so many amazing little bistros and restaurants. Le Bistrot was a great restaurant with a kid friendly menu, and pizza was on the menu a few times with Pizzeria Nonni (it was a 10 - the spicy salami pizza was chefs kiss). Every morning I went to La Maison du Gibassier, a local bakery that baked everything fresh on site - the kids were obsessed with their pain au chocolat, their Nutella croissants and lemon meringue. I, for one, ate a butter croissant every damn morning and sometimes some quiche to go along with it. In Paris we took the kids to EL+N in the Galleries Lafayette - we were strategic about our shopping and knew if we took them to a store with food and toys, we could buy ourselves some time to shop for the mama’s. We did a picnic at the Eiffel Tower with some Mickey D’s (Lily missed her American food lol). One of our favorite meals was a very local spot for some Japanese food - it was amazing. Shokudo is a little restaurant within a gorgeous Japanese grocery store. The food was insane - the freshest sashimi you could imagine but also fried chicken for the kids. The funny thing about eating out this whole trip was how inexpensive it was - it’s more expensive for us to go out for dinner as a family of 5 in Summit, NJ than it was to feed 10 people in France. It’s kinda nuts. Our last night in Paris we ate at Clover Grill which was ridiculously good (the best spicy marg I have had). It’s a traditional steakhouse - Gracie was craving a good old Ribeye!
Where We Shopped
Ahhh, the shopping. Guys, it’s just too good. Between the market finds in Provence (nothing was over 49 euro which is about 50 bucks) to saving money in Paris on French brands it’s impossible to not go bananas. We were there during their sale period - which for those that don’t know, Soldes is the government approved sale period in France. It happens twice a year and it’s when stores are allowed to mark down their inventory. I went wild buying a new wardrobe for the girls. We went to Bon Marché in Paris and their kids section is insane. All the French brands that are marked up beyond belief in the US are not only cheaper there, but then 50% off during Soldes. Think Bonpoint dresses for $50. Isabel Marant is also so much cheaper there - and then with the 50% off it’s criminal to not purchase. Ok, so let me go back. The markets and shops in Provence - I now know where Doên gets their inspiration from - but the prices are about 10% of what they charge. Great shirts, in solids or prints are 20 euro, I fell in love with a skirt and bought it in all colors (3 skirts were 60 euro). Little shops in Lourmarin are gems. Gris Piedra is gorgeous - for both women and kids (their kids is a separate store around the corner). In Paris, I learned that Goyard is a good 30% cheaper if you get your VAT back. I bought a bag and love her so much. I also bought a bag at Chanel which is pretty much the same but you get your VAT back which is 13% so it saves you a little bit but not like Isabel, Goyard or Celine do. The bottom line is you can justify plenty of savings here in exchange for a trip to Paris. Full disclosure - I required 2 new suitcases to bring my finds home. I didn’t even touch home stuff which feels like it would need to be a separate trip. The home stuff is SO good - if you are decorating a new home, I truly think you will save so much money and have a beautiful vacation by going there and shopping and shipping home in containers. I didn’t have the bandwidth to do so with the kids, but I think down the road one day I will be dragging Mimi Brown with me to help me figure it out.
Ok, I am getting alerts that this email is too long - so maybe I will babble on in another post this week. Feel free to ask questions in the comments below!
It was truly a trip of a lifetime, and I am so grateful to have made these memories with our family. France - you were a dream and we can’t wait to be back. Xx Em
Travel is one of the absolute best gifts you can give your children
Amazing recap! I am saving this for future travel! 💙