Île de Ré.

For one glorious week in the middle of July, I was fortunate enough to be whisked away to a lovely old house right next to a port, behind a bakery, at the beach. Île de Ré is an island on the Atlantic coast of France, with six or seven ports around both the north and south shores. It has been a go-to for ages apparently, and has been fending off English battleships and tourists alike since the 1100's.

The house that Jennifer and Luis procured for us was old in all the right places. Fully updated baths and kitchens, but still with exposed original beams and floors; arched doorways and heavy wooden doors. My bedroom and bathroom must have been designed by a genius with a heart for either the single aunt, au pair or nanny. To access, one had to walk down a hall [with a door to close], through the laundry room [with a door to close], and into my suite [with another door to close]! What a wonderful sound barrier from a 3 month-old, 2 year old and 3.5 year old! The room was decorated with a good combination of lilac, lavender, pink, red, and blue; and the tub was wonderful for each and every soak that I took in it every night! When at the house, we all basically lived int he courtyard: eating breakfast, lunch and dinner there, playing on a huge orange outdoor cushion, and attempting to keep Alexandra from biting Sebastian, Sebastian from poking Luke in the eyes, and Luke from wailing all the live-long day.

Saturday, our drive down, consisted of 9 looooong hours in the car [a Volvo SUV] packed to the extreme. Alexandra watched no less than 6 Dora the Explorer episodes on the in-car DVD player, and at least 2 Little Einsteins, 1 Handy Manny and 1 Backyardigans on Jennifer's iPhone. Sebastian enjoyed the shows as well, and slept for an hour and a half [unfortunately, this was before the long lunch break]. We stopped and stopped and stopped for those road-side potty stops that I remember from my childhood, and stopped again for gas, lunch and nursing the baby...

Sunday was a great day for me, with having it off, I slept in, ate fresh pastries from our bakery neighbors on the sunlit but shaded courtyard and went to the beach for 6 hours with a good book and some found Elles and Vogues. I spent each morning with the kids for a couple of hours, and then just with the baby, Luke, while Jen and Luis took the older two to some fun sporting adventure. Lunch, then I was off. I alternated my afternoons either napping and reading at the beach, or napping and reading in my fabulously tucked away bed.

I had two delicious dinners out, Sunday evening and Friday evening. The first, at a tasty little restaurant at the port-side, Le Belem. I had a pot of mussels steamed in Charente creamy suace [basically cream. butter, white wine, maybe some lemon grass], a vegetable plate with broccoli, potatoes and stuffed tomatoes, and a nice local rose wine. The second, at Le Skipper [I almost didn't go due to the grade-A dorky name] I enjoyed another local rose wine, a yummy fish bisque, a platter of assorted fish on pickled cabbage, and a lovely frozen tiramisu.

The car ride back to Paris the following week consisted of one screaming infant, one screaming toddler and one major detour in which the appropriate highway exit was forgotten once, and forgone another. We made it back in 6 collective pieces [that's one for each parent, child, and yours truly].

Since returning, I have moved completely out of the bedroom I have called mine for the past year and packed all but two weeks of clothing and toiletries into those huge checked bags that can no longer weigh more than 23 kilos, and the second costs me 44€ at that. What a whirlwind it is going to be! Packing has been really overwhelming and stressful. I am having to ship an 11-lb. box back home, as I don't have space for the clothes that it contains. This is all after donating 3 garbage bags full of clothes and shoes, mind you. I have wayyy too much stuff! But to me, at this simplified point after the donation runs, everything I am keeping is 'that cute top from Paris' or 'that dress that I can where to work [from Paris]' or housewares and investments that I plan to enjoy until I have daughters, nieces, and granddaughters to give them to. With my three packed suitcases, I am now in the guest room for the next four nights before our vacation to Provence, and three nights after.

Sarah, the au pair for 2010-2011, arrives tomorrow evening! I am looking forward to meeting her, helping her to get settled, showing her around and walking her through logistical steps that I had to navigate on my own way back in September of '09.

More to come after Provence!

Recommended reading: A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle.