TRAVELING

I just took one of those life altering trips-you know, the kind that inspires you to evaluate your life and motivate change. The kind of trip that actually may be life changing-may alter your current path and decisions going forward. See I traveled for two weeks with my ride or die, with my soul's sister, with the one person (outside my marriage and family) who totally gets and loves my quirky self entirely.

It all started when I was invited to a dear old friend's wedding in the gorgeous wine country outside Sitges in Spain. The wedding (actually the party after a Covid wedding) was to be small so kids were not invited which is totally understandable but meant that it was nearly impossible for my husband and I to go together. So, instead we decided I should bring along my best friend for the journey. When we sat down to book the airplane tickets and all the logistics that go along with travel, what was supposed to be a 6-8 day trip turned into a 13 night adventure.

The only direct flights from Seattle (the closest international airport to the small Island we live on) to anywhere reasonably close to Barcelona was to Paris. Normally we wouldn't care to make a stop or two but you have to remember it takes us an hour + ferry to get off our island then another 2 + hours to get to the airport so it's already a long day before we even get to the airport (same coming home). So, shucks, we were going to Paris!

PARIS-I mean it's everything it's promised to be and more. The cafes, the patisseries, the wine, the people, the smoking! I think that is what surprised me the most, nearly everyone still smokes cigarettes (or vape pens) and are allowed to do it in the cafes when seated outside. At first I was bothered by the smell and then by day two it was just part of the ambiance.

We had exactly 70 hours in Paris and we filled those hours to the brim. Well, mostly…we landed at 4pm after our direct red eye from Seattle and naturally had to stay up to eat and drink before going to bed at a reasonable hour only to accidentally sleep in until the room service knocked and woke us at 1:30 pm ! We then hustled out into the rainy (which made it very romantic) Wednesday and walked to the Louvre (didn't go in-lovingly not that kind of tourist) then to the epic vintage shops with many snacks and meals along the way. I had no idea what I was in for with vintage shopping in Paris-a lot of the shops had staircases to underground stone rooms filled with bins of clothes that you pay by weight so they were incredibly affordable. I got a floral quilted vest, an embroidered button up top, a wool blazer and a knit hat all for under 11 euros! See friends I am not the type of person who does a lot of research before traveling as I like to stumble upon things and ask locals for advice. I am sure we missed some great shops but I definitely feel we got the full experience. Here is a quick video of me no longer containing my excitement vintage shopping after a song I couldn't resist came on (yes there were other people in the room).

That night on our walk back to the hotel, tired and arms full of thrifted gems, we stopped for a superb dinner accompanied by some delicious local wine. I haven’t talked about it much but I stopped drinking in early May-I had reached the point with alcohol where I felt like it wasn’t serving much (if any) upside for me so I just kind of gave it up and didn’t really miss it. I always figured I would drink again because I love traveling and sampling local offerings but as I found out again in Paris, alcohol just doesn’t carry much upside for me. I got a bit sick that second night after dinner and sadly had to cut off our evening plans to go dancing. I then decided I would stop drinking again and felt great about my choice.

The next day on our way to the Musee de la Chasse (excellent recommendation from a friend!) we stumbled upon the most beautiful piercing shop where Jessie wanted to pop in and get some more studs in her ears. It took maybe three minutes of being in the place (and talking to a gorgeous tattoo artist with hers done) for me to decide I was ready to get my septum pierced so we gifted each other a piercing for our birthdays :) for the record, the septum piercing doesn't hurt in the least and immediately makes you feel like a badass.

Another quick thing I recommend to do in Paris is a perfumery. We went to the place that was close to our hotel called Nose and essentially they sit you down and give you a test to then come up with 5 scents at a time for you to try. I smelled literally over 40 perfumes and of course landed on an Australian scent called “Pacific Moss”. It really does smell dreamy-or did the marketing just work to target me perfectly? Maybe both!? 

After Paris we boarded a 6 hour train to Barcelona where we checked into our hotel in Sitges, a small coastal town about an hour from the train station. We were there for my dear friend’s wedding and packed the weekend with dancing, swimming and lots of celebrating. It was warm and beautiful and to say the least, stimulating. I got to see some great old dear friends from my early Seattle chapter of life and stayed up later than I think I ever have for several nights in a row !

From Sitges we trained back into France and rented a car to explore the French Riviera. What a beautiful adventure. We had three nights booked about 3 hours from where we got the car so we stopped halfway in a “random town off the freeway” (to us) called Arles. Holy Arles. It was a historical town (with a coliseum) so beautiful in nature and buildings that Van Gogh spent a year there getting inspired for his paintings. Outside the coliseum there was a photographer with a camera box set up where we got our photo taken and developed on photosensitive paper in real time. It all feels surreal looking back and I’d like to go back to explore way more of the town (we were on a time crunch to make it to the hotel before dark and had a hiccup in our rental car...apparently you have to lift a knob on the manual clutch to put the car in reverse and it was not indeed broken as we reported it to be hahaha...thank you Google...).

After Arles we checked into our hotel in Antibes, a grand building that was once the home of Scott Fitzgerald with a pier over the water where a lighthouse with a green flashing light stood and is said to have been the inspiration behind the Great Gatsby. We spent the few days there walking around the town eating fish, croissants, hitting the laundromat, swimming, and shopping at the eccentric little shops (where I got that epic purple velvet evil eye coat and purple quilted vest....seems I too enjoy the color purple more and more as I age ;)). 

Before we got to our last and final stop, Eze, we dropped into the Matisse Museum outside of Nice. To be honest, I didn't know much about him before the visit and left feeling super inspired. I had no idea he worked in so many mediums including set building/costume making for ballets. We exited the museum in a wonderful state of bliss, perfect for our arrival in Eze. Eze is a medieval town clinging to the side of a mountain overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It offers heaps of little artisan shops as well as excellent restaurants and on the very top of it all there is the Exotic Gardens-literally a garden on the top of a mountain with exotic plants, old ruins, statues and breath taking views in all directions. Totally worth the trek up if you ever have the chance (and a great day trip if you're in the area).

After we felt like we had seen all Eze had to offer we drove down to the waterfront and discovered a boardwalk that we strolled until we came upon another town (still do not know the name) where we enjoyed our last meal among locals and the seaside. I will never forget cruising the boardwalk back (rather quickly as our parking expired) after dark in a dreamlike state pinching myself for being so lucky as to experience this place in my one beautiful life. 

To end our trip we took a train back to Paris and holed up our last night in an airport hotel (space themed-very unique and as you would expect an odd experience) before our morning flight back to Seattle. It was hard to leave but I also really missed my family and was excited to get back and form new habits. I have been home a few days now and still a bit jet lagged but so insanely grateful for that opportunity. I have so much more to share on the personal side of this journey and what it meant for me as a mother traveling without my family but for now I will leave you with the photos (apologies for all the selfies) and little blurbs. I'd like to also end by expressing my immense gratitude for my husband who not only supported everything about this trip but held down the fort (superbly I might add) at home!

p.s. don't waste your money on neck pillows ;)