A Hike

My first full day in France was equally the most relaxing and the most exhausting experience.
I am staying in a small villa in Nove, France. It is in Provence and is a two hour drive from Marseille.

I woke up this morning to the smell of fresh air and lavender. Because of how hot it is here we sleep with the doors open. The morning breeze feels so cozy while cuddling a quilted blanket and pillow.
All day we stayed around the estate. We sat by the pool, swam, played cards, ate French baguettes with oil and had much needed joyous and playful conversations.

Around 5pm my Mom and I both wanted to venture out and hike behind the property. Gee (the name of the man you owns the estate with his wife, Gabby) gave us a hand drawn map of different hiking routes. My mother and I were feeling adventurous and decided to hike the longest route which is 7 miles total. The beginning of our walk was glorious. The fresh air, beautiful wooded areas and vineyards. Beautiful homes and farm land. It was ideal. Up until we took the wrong turn…

We missed the path that we were supposed to take (which may I add in our defense was very difficult to decipher as an actual trail) and ended up waking 6 extra miles, completely out of our way from the trail we needed to be on.

My 8pm we were completely lost. Two women in the woods is not a good mix when you’re out of water…and in a foreign country.
But if I were to get lost in any country it would be France. And also, let me set a persona Americans have of the French straight. They are not mean harsh at all! They are incredibly nice and helpful. The only place in France that have some short tempered people is in Paris. But even my travels through Paris were very pleasant. I think Americans just need to break the mold of what the French think of us. What is that? Well I think it’s when Americans act too hoity toity and are not willing to meet the French people & experience, learn and respect a their culture. The moral of the story to this tangent? Be nice and flexible when traveling! People are way more willing to help you.

So by 8:30pm the sun was going down and I had just about had enough of the maze we were hiking in. So I found a road to a subdivision and my Mom and I walked around suburbs until I got reception on my phone.

Thank the Lord for cell phones!

I called my Dad and tried to give him directions, unfortunately I have no gift for speaking or sounding out French words. And you would think spelling it out would be easier. But no such luck. He couldn’t find us. Plus my GPS on my phone didn’t work… Awesome.

The gift that my Mother has with meeting people and asking for help is beyond anyone I’ve ever met. She walked in the middle if the street and stopped a moving car and asked them to drive us to Nove’s main plaza…and they did.

We finally reunited with my Dad. Who said he was so sad to have missed a great hike (every word was covered in sarcasm by the way). It was 9:15pm when we got back to our villa.

Once we got back we ate croissants with oil, a banana, trail mix and wine for dinner. Super fancy, I know.

But you know, all in all it made for an adventurous day. And despite getting ridiculously lost it was so special to spend it with my Mom.

Talk about quality time!