Returning to France just about a year after our experience of living there concluded, was something we looked forward to quite a bit. The anticipation grew stronger in the final weeks leading up to our departure and although a year may seem like a long time, it went by fairly rapidly. The girls were very excited about reconnecting with their old friends and while Olivia held on to her french, it seemed Luna would be starting from scratch (a situation I too identified with).
Coming back to the places we loved (La Londe-les-Maures, Bormes-les-Mimosas, Toulon and the general Var region), made us feel very welcome and reminded us of the things we longed to re-experience. Summer is especially memorable here and is often defined by a pack of sensory stimuli including the unabated crackling of cicadas, smells of pine, lavender and sweet flowers, and humid laden air driven by the Mediterranean Sea. These are the quintessential souvenirs that conjure up that Provençal summer feeling along with the blazing heat, tempered at times by the famous Mistral wind. This is the Provence we were longing for, full of vivacity, color and scents.
During our first few days settling in, we spent time with old friends in Toulon and tapped simple pleasures like grabbing fresh croissants from the local boulangerie each morning, or trying various charcuterie at apéro every evening. The girls didn’t miss a beat, they quickly readjusted and kicked right into true summer mode, primarily balancing time between swimming pools and the beach. Ah, to be a kid, in the South of France in summer!
The next three weeks would see us in Bormes-les-Mimosas (12-min drive from La Londe-les-Maures where our old house was), which afforded us the opportunity to reconnect with friends we made during Our Provençal Year. With school letting out for the summer during this period, Olivia and Luna benefited from seeing their old friends on several occasions. This was also a great opportunity to delve back into the language and see Luna progress with each encounter. We know people who send their kids to France for the summer (to stay with relatives), and while we’re not ready for that, we do wonder about the positive impact on their lingual development (not to mention all the fun they have).
Even though I was working during this 3-week stretch (mirroring US East Coast hours), I was able to join the girls in a various activities including some of my favorites: roaming the scenic countryside, doing wine tastings and going to the sea.
A day on Île de Porquerolles
Going to Porquerolles is always a treat as each time there’s something new or different to discover on various parts of the island. Although we did revisit some of our favorite beaches (Plage Notre Dame and Plage de l’Alycastre), and dipped into the azure waters to stave off the heat, we also carved out moments for new discoveries. For lunch, we tried L’Escale in Porquerolles village, whose setting overlooking the marina gives way to a calming sheet of marine blue. Afterwards we headed to the modern Villa Carmignac for the current Inner Island art exhibit (through Nov 2023), a funky indoor-outdoor space dedicated to contemporary art. The vill’s barefoot policy (footwear must be removed before roaming the halls), offers the benefit of cooling off while checking out works from Anna-Eva Bergman to Jean-Michel Basquiat (and many other notable artists), before strolling the gardens’ verdant environ to admire the open air installations. The girls had fun experiencing the majority of artwork while the outdoor mirrors maze seemed to captivate them. Always rewarding, we savored the day on Porquerolles and look forward to the next visit, whenever that may be.
In our final week in Bormes les Mimosas, we had one of Olivia’s friends from New York visit for a few days. With day temperatures holding steady in the mid 80-90s range, cooling off at the pool became part of the daily routine while limiting most other activities, except for a visit to Hyères, a medieval town with defining history and a notable castle perching its hilltop. During Our Provençal Year, we enjoyed bringing our friends (who visited from back home), to Hyères for a number of cultural, culinary and other historical experiences. After the climb up to the castle where the views brought the sea into perspective, we were quickly reminded by the girls that our tour would soon be overtaken by the desire to go swimming. I suppose there’s always a time and place for history however just not on a beautiful beach inspiring day. Luckily our proximity to beautiful beaches on the Côte d’Azur enabled this endeavor with facility, and we made the best of it at two of Le Lavandou’s dozen scenic beaches, over the next couple of days.
Next up, vacation, vacances, vacaciones!
Our Provençal Year 