This Isn't Paris; This is France

France is so much more than Paris and Provence. Paris is Paris, and then there’s the rest of France; a big beautiful country, extremely varied in climate, geography, architecture, topography, culture, and character.

There are 13 regions making up mainland France. Each region contains departments and each department has its own number. I’m in the Vendée (pronounced “von-day”)—department #85. We’re in the Pays de la Loire region, famous for wine, big sandy beaches, sailing, oysters, chateaux’s and salt. And that's just for starters.

I rarely hear American accents when I'm out and about in my neck of the woods.

Sidebar: The only American I've met since I've been here is Amy, who I bumped into in a bar/cafe/restaurant called Ateapick, which I kept pronouncing “ate-a-pick.” That is until I realized it's supposed to be pronounced “atypic,” as in “atypical,” but they inserted ‘tea’ spelled the English way to suggest a coffee shop, which is what threw me because tea in French is thé. French branding blows my mind!

Anyway, Amy was on her way to the loo when I met her. It was her birthday. We chatted until she really had to go, and we've been buddies ever since. She's originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, so we share a Cali vibe. She only lives 15 minutes away. When we met, she worked from home for a giant CA tech corporation right here in rural France.

Most of the tourists that come to this part of France are French. I think that's because not many people outside France know about this area. It’s still a secret. But if you love going off-the-beaten-track where you can enjoy authentic country life experiences at a slower pace, you will love it here.

I discovered this area because my mom – who’s English and lives in England – had a summer home in a tiny little hamlet called Le Coudreau, which I visited for the first time in 2013.

Le Coudreau is in the southern part of the Vendée, or Sud Vendée, as it's known.

My mom and her boyfriend like this part of France because it’s only a day’s car drive away from Eastbourne, East Sussex, their home in the south of England. The autoroute makes the drive easy, plus the climate here is mild because of the Gulf Stream.

Plants typical to southern California grow here, like, ceanothus (aka California Lilac); acacia; California poppies, and palm trees.

I loved this place the moment I arrived. The air is so clean; the streets are well maintained; there's no litter; the days are long; the pace is slow, and everything closes between noon and 14:00 (I don’t say 2 anymore). Few shops are open on Sunday. It’s very civilized. People seem genuinely kind and polite.

When I first discovered Sud Vendée, it was my first real vacation in nine years. I arrived feeling exhausted and burnt out. Turns out, I couldn’t have picked a more perfect place to recoup and re-energize for a month.

I fell in love with the creamy limestone 18th-century buildings, the abundance of canals and gentle rivers lined by tall shimmery poplar trees; the cows, sheep, and horses grazing peacefully in the fields; the enormous blue sky.

The natural, verdant beauty here still makes me giddy. Hardly a day goes by when I don’t think: “I’m living in a painting.” Even in winter, it's gorgeous. I liked it so much the first time I visited that I returned again in 2014 and then again in 2015, which is when I fell upon the mill, but more about that later.

For now, know that if you need a break, Mill on the Rock is here for you.

This Parsley Flying journal (I’ll explain later why I picked this title) will introduce you to some of the local characters, as well as to the instructors you’ll meet when you book a retreat. I’ll also give you a peek at some of the places you’ll visit and things you’ll see during your stay. Look at it this way: Parsley Flying will transport you until you get on that plane and come here in person.

Until then, take really good care of yourself. Bisous.