loire valley, part one

So, picking up where I left off...After we left Stockholm, we flew to Paris and immediately grabbed a car to drive out to the Loire Valley. This was absolutely my favorite part of the whole trip. I discovered that I would much rather wander the countryside than be in a city. I loved the city, but the Loire Valley was the stuff of my travel dreams.

Half the fun was being stuffed in a car together, road-trip style. We got so lost on the way to our b&bs, but it totally wasn't our fault. There was a crazy road block that had no detour and we couldn't figure out how to navigate it! We also hit some sort of small animal, accidentally drove on the wrong side of the road, and arrived in the sleepy valley at midnight completely delirious and giggly. The towns were dark and still, and I couldn't wait to see them wake up the next day.

This was the "romantic getaway" portion of our trip, where each couple got their own b&b in separate towns. Our b&b was just outside of Monthou-sur-Cher. The valley is scattered with these tiny towns nestled up against limestone hillsides. Most of the homes are built of rock carved out of those hillsides, creating caves that were closed off and used for storage or living. Many of these caves have been restored into the most beautiful, little cottages- we found ours on Airbnb! We arrived around one in the morning, so we didn't really get to see just how beautiful the place was until the sun poked through the cottage windows in the morning. It was so charming and French, and the perfect introduction to this beautiful country. Since we arrived so late, we never met our hostess, but she was great at answering our messages and left us a cute picnic breakfast of local pastries, orange juice, and hot chocolate. 

I imagine I could be very happy living in a place like this. Sometimes I wonder how much more fulfilled I would feel if I let go of the idea that I need to be fulfilled. I have such an annoying subconscious desire to fill up my life to the very brim. It sure does sound nice to wake up and walk to some tiny bakery to pick up breakfast, sit in my little cottage with my family and that fluffy cat that showed up outside our door that morning, and sip orange juice. You know, out in a place where my phone doesn't work and I can wander around those rolling hills with Eliza with no particularly pressing thing on my mind. But, I guess the real challenge in life is finding that peace no matter where you are. (Berkeley does have some pretty delicious pastries and orange juice!)

Mmmm, I wish we could have stayed an entire week in this dreamy, little place...