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A New Chapter: Sacrifices RewardedWe arrived in France on 16 August. After being married to someone who was married to a restaurant, we both desperately longed for “quality of life”. No more setting my alarm late at night to be…
It was a warm Sunday and Olivier and I decided to spend the day in the charming towns of Tournon-sur-Rhône and Tain l’Hermitage. Just a short drive from our home, it was a pleasant change of pace. Tournon-sur-Rhône is a…
What do puppets and tooth extraction have in common? Imagine a crowd has gathered on the street in Lyon, in about the year 1797; people laughing and clapping. You push forward to see what it’s all about and you see…
On a winding road from Lyon toward Saint-Étienne, hidden in the high craggy hills, sits a magical little stone village called Malleval. Although this area isn’t famous for shopping and glamorous fashion, what you will find is the picturesque charm…
Joyeuse is a medieval village in Ardèche, France. It’s hard to believe that its population is about 2,000, because on Wednesdays the village is bustling with visitors attending the largest market in Ardèche. The market is held every Wednesday and there are over 500…
Aubenas was our first stop in Ardèche. It’s a town in the southwest of France, with a population of about 12,000 people. We parked at a outdoor parking lot on the outskirts of the city center, and walked just a few…
Vogüé, which sits next to the Ardèche river, is officially one of the “Plus Beaux Villages de France”, or “Beautiful Village of France” and I found out why. If you love hidden passageways, charming little shops, castles perched atop hills and…
Sanilhac in the Ardèche is what we’d call “in the boonies”. It has a population of about 300 people and the setting is just beautiful. We stayed at La Bastide de Sanilhac and it was beautifully renovated, relaxing, and it had…
I love to go to places that are off the beaten track and are not on necessarily on the usual list of “best places to visit in France”; not because they aren’t worthwhile, but perhaps they are small or very local. The Ardèche…
On a drizzly August day in the Haute-Loire region of France, we drove through the Auvergne hills and reached La Ferme des Frères Perrel. One thing I love about visiting this type of place is that it is off the…
