Okay. Continuing to work backward regarding this past summer, our annual trip to Theoule-sur-Mer took place from the middle of June until the beginning of July.
What was slightly different this year was that nothing was planned except for dinner reservations at L’air du Temps. Other than that, it was a truly relaxing two weeks. The focus being on the word relaxing!
Twice we had dinner here. It’s our favorite restaurant in Theoule!
We left Philly for Nice on an uneventful flight that had us arriving early morning to extremely hot weather. We are getting a bit used to the fact that American Airlines lacks a hub terminal and that we must exit on the tarmac for a bus. My only solace was that at Nice, I can piggy-back onto my husband’s EU passport so I do not have to wait on a long line.
Almost there!
The wait for our luggage wasn’t long and we were able to board the tram to the car rental in no time. I am not gonna lie and not gonna sugarcoat the wait for the car rental. It was long. And I waited outside while Vincent was inside waiting. The car rental is always incredibly crowded during summer. I swear, I got a sunburn waiting for him to come out with the car keys but once we were in the vehicle and out of the airport—our vacation officially commenced.
How I feel at the car rental…
Finally able to hit the road!
There is something extremely comforting about returning to a place year after year. While I realize some think it might be odd to visit on repeat or adhere to the phrase “familiarity breeds contempt,” we think differently. It could be because with age comes wisdom. It could be because as we’ve gotten older we prefer a routine rather than a surprise. Or it could be that both of us work full-time, so we need to plan our time off in a pragmatic way. We love the area so we travel there.
It also makes me happy to pass familiar sights that haven’t changed—not that I don’t like change, but I happen to be a creature of habit and I find it comforting. When we pulled up to the apartment, a smile immediately spread across my visage. I couldn’t wait to get to the terrace and soak in the view of the Mediterranean. I couldn’t wait to spot, in the distance, the infamous Bubble Castle. I couldn’t wait to unpack and head to Auchan for our essentials and groceries. French supermarkets are the greatest. They don’t have cheese or bread “sections” but rather have those items in complete aisles of broad selections—it’s mind boggling and I love it.
Let us enjoy the overwhelming choices of the simplest of foods such as ham for sandwiches!
The apartment had little changes but nothing major. The bookshelf that I leave novels I’ve read was still in the corner and my books were waiting for new guests to arrive—and arrive they did because I did a lot of reading this summer! The terrace was the way it always was and the view spectacular.
Familiar but always that thrill when we get to the apartment..
Look to the back. My books are still on the shelf..
One of the additions from summer 2025! This book was fantastic!
The major difference this summer was the weather. In 2024 it was rainy and cool. And to be honest—with no pun intended, it left a damper on me. I almost didn’t want to return. However, this year things changed—and the weather was extremely compliant. This year it was incredibly hot and we had not a drop of rain! For two weeks!
Biew from the terrace. The weather was a gift!
And, as I stated before, we unpacked and headed to Auchan. Having made most of the list on the plane, there was still room for extras—which is always quite a bit. Might I add that at this point it was nearing late afternoon so there was a bit of oncoming jet lag. But it didn’t stop us from spending a long period of time at the supermarket.
Yes. We purchased goodies of all sorts–I picked up 9-euro espadrilles and the pureed gourgettes were absolutely delicious!
And when we arrived back at the apartment, we unpacked the groceries, and I started making dinner. It was time to enjoy our first aperitif of our stay on the terrace and overlook the Mediterranean Sea.
We traded in Kir Royals for Peche Royals. Tchin. Tchin Baby!
For the next two weeks, we enjoyed the doings of doing nothing except heading to the beach, reading by the pool and swimming. The excursions we made were purely out of guilt—but not in a bad way.
Where we spend a great deal of time!
We took a boat ride to Ile Saint-Honorat and attended Mass at the Church at the Monastery of Abbaye de Lerins. The island was beautiful and so incredibly peaceful. And on the boat ride over we ran into a Muslim gentleman with a group of people with a ton of food. He explained that every year a group of Muslims and Christians head to the island for a feast and to join and put differences aside. It was so moving that both Vincent and I got misty-eyed.
The trip to the monestary had us thinking why we hadn’t done this years ago? Moving forward, it’ll be done again. This was a fantastic day!
Another activity of sorts was to visit the Fondation Maeght in St. Paul de Vence. We’ve visited about four times and it is, hands down, one of my favorite places to visit. The exhibits are always unique and interesting and the grounds incredibly soothing and calm.
You never know what you’ll come across at Fondation Maeght. We saw a wonderful dancer and look at all the fun toy cars!
The same day, we headed to Opio to see where Vincent’s grandfather lived. Opio is charming—a bit inland to the back country but nonetheless, beautiful.
Vincent was thrilled to stand at his grandfather’s square. The maire’s building has quite a number of his grandfather’s paintings. I wanted to take one but my husband stopped me!
Oh yeah, we went to Cabris where I paid homage to St. Rita and we strolled at a leisurely pace.
Is isn’t an official drive to Cabris unless I stop to say hi to Saint Rita and offer my thanks!
We also played tourist and took the choo-choo train around Cannes. This was our second time doing this. And it is always a ton of fun. The driver stopped at the top of Cannes to allow us to disembark to take photos. I highly guarantee if you are in Cannes, do this touristy activity—you’ll enjoy yourself!
We played tourist and rode the choo-choo from the port at Cannes all the way to the top. We did this a couple of years ago and it was so much fun that we did it again! It was so stinking hot though that I cooled off by storing my cold water bottle in the top of my dress!
Naturally, it would not be a trip if we didn’t head to St. Tropez. I purchased my annual pair of Rondini sandals and, the weather was so hot that it finally became uncomfortable for me—not for my husband though. What was different about this trip was it being our only visit to St. Tropez.
More Rondini’s. A naughty fan I purchased at the flea market. A yacht we were not invited on and more. St. Tropez is always fun!
A return to Fragonard in Grasse, heading to Marché Forville for produce we also enjoyed.
It’s always a good time to load up on my Fragonard products!
The spices. The food. The flowers. THE MUSHROOMS. I could have kicked myself in the ass for not buying Morels and bringing them home. I’m a moron for not doing so because they are so incredibly expensive at home and in France are cheap–and they are my favorite mushrooms!
And., I made a friend at the pool. I heard a voice with an accent. It was a New York one so I followed the voice and luckily met Rena and her husband Jeffrey. Since our return home, we’ve been trying to find a weekend to get together but we both have busy weekend schedules. Hopefully, soon we will be able to see them.
A funny thing happened when we returned home. Co-workers and friends inquired as to why we keep returning to the same spot year after year. Why spend the money? Don’t you want to see America? Aren’t the French vengeful toward Americans?
Seriously. What’s not to love? I’ve never had ANY Frenchman or woman acting vengeful towards me. In fact, the reception has always been positive!
than my explanation at the beginning of this post—I will address other reasons why we head to France in the summer: Have you ever looked at the prices of summer rentals at the Jersey Shore or the Hamptons in New York? They are astronomical. For the same price or slightly less, we can fly to France, rent the apartment, and relax. And, quite frankly, if you’ve ever been to Stone Harbor, or Avalon, or the Wildwoods, the amount of Trump flags are sickening. I have no desire to spend more than a few hours at the NJ beaches.
I don’t have to explain further. We love it there. And while we are still in good enough health to get around—it’s perfect. The other thing is we’re over that age of needed to go clubbing at night. We go to bed early and rise early—and we enjoy that. It is the summer vibe.
Besides–where can you get such great food–whether at a restaurant or market–or swim in the sea that has no life-threatening waves, or buy the greatest sunburn spray on earth, or be overwhelmed by the wine choices?
Don’t get me wrong—when we are in NYC, it’s more conducive to be out and about later—much later—especially when we get to see the dress rehearsals or live show of SNL. But—everything has a vibe!
Even though I am extremely lucky to have seen SNL in person quite a few times, France is always a great place to visit.
So that’s it. It was a busy summer. From France to Santa Barbara. From a relaxing vacation to my son’s wedding which was a whirlwind of fun. I have wonderful memories to look back upon –and those memories get me through the oncoming bleak days of winter season after the holidays.
Do you have great summer memories to look back on? Let me know!
Lovely to hear from you again. Like you and Vincent, we like to return to many old familiar haunts year after year. Is it being older or just our natures? Whatever, it is what we like and no need to apologize. It’s hard to imagine that people aren’t better versed about the French! Those comments by your colleagues surprised me a bit. But, then I’ve traveled to France a number of times. I wonder what stereotypes we all carry around with us.
Glad you had such a good time. The heat would be my undoing, for sure.
HI Bonnie, At times I think it is an age thing but at others I think that after working like a dog all year, playing it safe and traveling to where you love is better than a gamble of traveling to a place where there is a chance you might not find it that great!
Hey, at least my coworkers had a conversation with me about it. I’ve worked at other places where when I returned from two weeks in France all I got was crickets.Their silence speaks a million words.
True, your co-workers were asking for some feedback related to their anxiety about travel outside the USA. And how others think of us. Good that you could give a positive response
Hi Bonnie. It’s much better to give positivity than negativity when the subject of travel pops up. Besides, I can’t think of any negatives when we travel!
I would love to visit the area you are referring to one day. I was fortunate in that we did visit Nice, Lyon, and Paris a few years ago. Loved it!
We did visit Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Estonia this summer. Loved these countries! And people were so nice. I think Europeans have it figured out. As older established countries and a people, they have seen this type of authoritarianism before. They know that many of us absolutely despise this form of government.
As a fellow reader, if you haven’t, please consider reading “The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans. I would highly recommend it. It’s such a good story, told through the main character of 70+ years correspondence (letters, emails). Ann Padgett recommended it on her TIK TOK page. I just finished it, and it did not disappoint.
Teresa–if Ann Padgett recommended The Correspondent–I’ll be heading to Barnes and Noble to get it. I’m looking forward to heading back to Paris this November because I can’t wait to get into a conversation regarding our disgraceful administration. People in the South of France were great. But being a born New Yorker, I have an affinity to Parisiens. I can’t watch the news anymore because of that dictator without a brain…I’m getting triggered and I stopped taking meds because I gained weight so I need to stop. But my son went to Norway and loved it. He travels for his job and has never not enjoyed any place he’s gone to!
Hi Catherine- I STRONGLY second Teresa’s rec. of The Correspondent. It is a wonderful book and so unique in the way the author crafted it. I returned it to the library and immediately checked it back out again to read a second time. I find seeing new places fun but maybe as you say, as I age, going to familiar and happy places is the best.
Nancy–WHOA. Now I really need to get that book!
What an awesome trip you had! I can see why you return each year. First and foremost, you won’t see any damned Trump signs over there. Ugh, that guy.
We stayed here all summer and it was fabulous. Took a break from entertaining people and so it was a calm, relaxing summer. Best time of year to be in Oregon, too. I did have a college friend visit and we went to Crater Lake, took the boat trip, and ate at the lodge up there. The next day it was a white water raft trip down the McKenzie River, just east of town.
Contemplating a trip to France next September. We have three young cats and so if we can figure out a housesitter to stay here with them, then it will be ‘all systems go’!!
Hi Vava. Ohhhhhhhhh I hope you aren’t near the warzone known as Portland. That filthy pig of a Nazi is hell-bent on destroying this country state-by-state. Regardless, sometimes a stayvacation is what we all need!
We just bought a share in a co-owned apartment in Paris because I’ve wanted to have my ‘own place’ in the city since my first trip there in 2003. While I have had rentals that I’ve stayed in more than once, that market is volatile (and even more so, lately), and there’s no guarantee that a place will be available from year to year. So, I’m thrilled to have my own spot in the city that I can return to twice a year – our first stay is in December.
I’m not that much of an explorer but prefer to instead ‘live somewhere else’ while traveling…it’s fun to jump from my California life to my Paris life a couple of times each year. Since our new place is located in a neighborhood we know well (again, snce 2003), soon as I get into Paris I can hit the ground running – I have my markets, my restaurants, my tabac for topping up my Metro cards, my preferred morning walks, etc. Having our own place will make that jump much easier. And while the apartment is shared, we even get to store some personal items in the cave so I won’t need to haul everything back and forth. It will be nice to not have to sacrifice bag space for some of the comforts of home, like my walking shoes, my exercise kit, my robe, and my slippers.
I love reading your accounts of your trip to the south of France and your visits to your husband’s heritage sites. How neat to have a personal connection to another country! One of my great great uncles founded a city in the Midwest and it’s always cool to drive through the place named after him (my sister lives nearby so we drive through all of the time). I believe that it’s one of the best things about being human – that quest for connection and belonging. So it makes me happy to see you and your husband find that in the Côte d’Azure sunshine!
Debra. YOU ARE SO LUCKY–I HOPE YOU ENJOY EVERY MOMENT IN YOUR APARTMENT! My husband spoke with a French real estate agent last year when we were in Paris. It’s horrific to even find an apartment and you lucked out. What arrondisiment is the apartment in?
I totally agree with and understand visiting a certain place on repeat. Next year will be our fifth trip to Paris. I know friends and family are thinking- what, you don’t want to go anywhere else? But the thing is, I’ve been a lot of places, and traveled all over the US. And had great times there. But there’s something about Paris (and Venice) that calls me back. At 73, if I hear the call, I’m taking the trip.
HI Susan, Exactly. I love California and as a native New Yorker, would move there if it was affordable. But it isn’t–the weather is perfect and I love the vibe of the Californians–so unlike Floridians. But you are correct, Paris has a draw that is indescribable. It’s magnetizing and while we are able to visit–we’ll keep returning!
I love to see all the photos of the south of France. I have many happy memories of holidays with a French exchange family in La Napoule when I was 13/14 years old. It left a vivid impression on me and I would love to go back for a longer period. How difficult would it be to hire a similar flat to one that you use, as it seems perfect. We are now in our 70’s so clubbing is also NOT on the cards.
Hi Gillian. I’m the same age as you–evenings are for enjoying a great meal, watching TV or reading but certainly not clubbing. We rent directly from the agency at the community. No AirBB’s for us–it’s too risky with the negative comments read regarding many apartments.
I’m sorry but your coworkers that don’t understand the lure of France probably voted for the one I will not name. Seriously, I could visit France once a month if I could afford it. After over 30 trips, I still want to go back. I’ve lived in three countries and visited many many more including Russia and China…France will always have my heart. Would love to know how you found your apartment to rent. I would have checked Airbnb but they donate to the one I will not mention.
Hi Susan. Actually……..working in a State Hospital, the majority of my coworkers despise that Temu Orange vulgar monster. I think it’s just that people in the States don’t venture from domestic trips. The funny thing is that people will question why we go to France all the time when they practically live their Disney obsession with repeated trips to Disneyworld!
Ive never understood about returning to an old haunt being a bad thing. My husband would keep on going to new places but I love going back to places I’ve loved (I mean if I was clever enough to find a good place why just go once…). I think one of the things about repeat visits is that you get to really explore the nuances and the quirky rhythms etc of the place rather than the obvious or tourist facing vibes. As for French supermarkets…. well I’d happily take a week long vacation just to one of them, I proper love them.
HI Juliet. Yes. There is something about those French supermarkets from the huge Auchan Hyper-marches to the small ones like Carrfour on Rue de Buci. They are fascinating and not chock full of garbage!
I’m afraid I will have to live vicariously through you when it comes to going to France. My husband has had two hip replacements, and let’s just say things are not going well. I have become a full-time caregiver…something I never thought I’d say. We are both still young, but he can barely get around. If, however, you decided to say, guide a trip to France, sign me up! When we could still travel, we often returned to the same places and heard the same things. Why would you go there when there are so many more places? Well, I love it there, and that’s all you need to know. I must say there is one person who lives a few miles from us who has has tRump flags on his fence for years. It now says, “Make America Great Again.” So, I’m thinking his fervor for the orange blog has lessoned. But, that slogan still pisses me off so much. America, wait, the United States of America because Canada and Mexico are a part of America, the United States of America, while not perfect, has always been a good country to live in. This whole make it great again was just coded racism and misogyny. But, away from that because your lovely post doesn’t deserve that. I am so glad you and your husband are able to travel and go to such lovely places. And, I am more than glad you share them with us!
Marsha! I hope your husband heals and heals well enough to be able to move around. Oh. MY and YOUR America has always been great. The States is a shitshow now. The vocal minority of MAGA got what they wanted. Hopefully the lazy f*cks that didn’t bother to vote will help to vote him out next time. It gets worse by the day.
I hear ya about returning to the same place as we get older. It’s not that we’re lazy. It’s easier to navigate in familiar territory, you know the stores, what times places are open, the best restos, where the best selection of wine can be found. I had a friend who used to go to Cuba every winter and I thought ‘Why not go somewhere else’? She and her husband stayed at the same resort hotel and I thought B.O.R.I.N.G. but she said ‘We don’t like surprises, we know the staff and the type of food. We love their beach and we can count on good weather’ I didn’t get it then but I do now. That’s why we finally bought a place in our favourite place, might as well have ALL the comforts of home. Loved the memories of your trip…France is on my bucket list BEFORE I need a walker. Next year is our 50th so looking to go to Europe. Maybe.
Hi Al, it’s so true. It isn’t laziness at all but it is routine. And as I age I have less patience–for people, for driving–and it isn’t that I’ve become a curmodgeon –it’s just that my patience levels have aged with me. Oh…and I despise leaving the house anymore except to go to work–and I don’t even care for that! Since the Covid lockdown, I just want to stay home–I guess that’s also a combo of aging and the effects of the lockdown. Although I will say, since that Diapered pos has become dictator, our USA has become increasingly unsafe so I’m better in my little bubble!
This wasn’t a good year for vacationing in the US; lucky you to be on holiday in the South of France. At the Jersey shore: scorching temps and lots of rain. The national parks were understaffed and poorly maintained, thanks to Trump.