Another day, another coronavirus-related restriction. President Macron announced last night that a curfew will go into effect in certain cities in France— including my Lyon adorée— from Saturday until at least the next 4-6 weeks.
I adored Nice. Being there felt so easy, as if the palm trees and sunshine and salty air give the place a natural effortlessness. A swim in the sea is just as far away as it takes to walk across the beach separating the city from the Mediterranean.
Visualize electric blue water so clear it hardly seems real. Chalky cliffs that cut a jagged line across the sky. A dry landscape of rocks and scrub that meet the vast expanse of the Mediterranean. These are Les Calanques. The Calanques aren’t super well known outside of France, which is surprising considering their beauty and majesty. “Calanques” means “rocky inlets” in French, and this is exactly what they are— peaceful coves and inlets. The water is calm, and the hills…
A weekend exploring the French Mediterranean Friday night in Hyères, we arrived at the restaurant to the sound of live music as the sun was setting. We had to walk down a forest road for half a mile before finding the hip place, which sprawled over the beach and had tables a stone’s throw away from the water’s edge. I felt so happy: sipping cocktails, sharing tapas in the violet dusk, listening to a band, gazing at the twilit sea,…
Quarantined in France I’m delighted that my essay on my confinement experience in France was published by The Culture-ist, a wonderful online travel magazine. It is passionate about covering topics that inspire its readers to travel widely, give back, and live well. Check out my article at this link if you are curious about my reflections on togetherness during this difficult time. Feel free to comment below and let me know how you are doing, beloved subscribers!
The Facts When I imagined my year abroad in France, I never once pictured experiencing a level 3 nation-wide quarantine. But c’est la vie, I guess. It is day two of the official coronavirus quarantine in France, and life feels unreal. All schools, restaurants, bars, cafés, cinemas, etc. are closed— even parks. Only essentials are open: supermarkets and pharmacies (and the occasional boulangerie because it’s France and bakeries are vital). Everyone who can work from home is doing so. If…
I will never stay at a hostel again! (Jk I literally stayed in an 8-bunk hostel room days after the chateau, but you know.) Departure One Friday night in mid-October my host dad came home around 8 p.m. and told us to pack our bags: we were headed to the grandparents’ chateau. As one does. We hadn’t planned on leaving until the next day, but it’s a spontaneous household, so we took off in the night after an hour of…
“Marseille is… today the only one of the ancient capitals that does not crush us with the monuments of its past… It is not a city of architecture, of religion, of literature, of academies or fine arts… It is easy-going and jovial. It is dirty and rundown. But it is nonetheless one of the world’s most mysterious cities and one of the most difficult to decipher.” — Blaise Cendrars I read this quote in an exhibit at the MUCEM, and…
In Marseille, it’s claimed, the weather is always beautiful: il fait toujours beau. The rains are brief and chased away by the sun. Unfortunately, I caught Marseille’s sun on a rare weekend when it didn’t shine, much less keep bad weather in check. I arrived in the city on a Saturday morning around 9, and by 11 it started raining, and wouldn’t stop for another ten hours. So my luck was bad, and I didn’t even have someone with…
Instructions for an impromptu 10 euro picnic in France: Buy a baguette, a soft cheese, and a hard cheese. This constitutes your main course. Add a box of Petits Ecolier cookies for dessert. Pick out a bottle of red wine, as you won’t be able to chill a white or rosé. Don’t worry about not having a bottle-opener — it’s France, so most grocery stores have a courtesy bottle opener at the cash register that you can use after buying…