After two weeks in France it's a little tough to get back to the grind. If not for the legally binding need to write a big check by tomorrow and my vanity-driven desire to hit the gym and work off the extra lbs I put on (smelly cheese and foie gras for lunch? Mais oui s'il vous plais!), I may never have come back! So now that I am back....while the New York Times was busy reporting on the very region I was visiting and pirates were running rampant (pirates? really??), I was enjoying both the fashion of Paris and the more fashionable charms of country living. In the hopes that I can help take your mind off taxes and channel a bit of my vacay your way, and because my brain is too warped with jet lag and two weeks worth of emails to come up with anything else, a couple of things I learned on my trip:
Both in Paris and in the country, being green is where it's at! Since the stores in the country don't even offer you a bag at the check out, I was exceedingly pleased with my usual habit of always stashing one of my many stylish envirosax in my sturdy Ellington handbag. People grow their own food, make verses buy and generally just spend a lot less money on things that, at the end of the day, they don't really need. I'm not saying that shopping is bad or that I didn't NEED the new pair of Frye boots I got for my trip, I'm just saying in the first few days after arriving in the country, I noticed I had this inherent compulsion to go to the store to buy "stuff" before I realized, I didn't really need anything. It would be a lot easier to save up for that really spectacular piece of jewelry or handbag if I wasn't constantly running to the Key Foods around the corner to get "stuff" that I definitely don't need!
Secondly, time spent with friends and family, eating, chatting and visiting, is time well spent. In the country, work begins promptly at 8am, lunch begins promptly at 12pm and lasts for at least an hour, and then everyone takes a nap. Stores close between 12pm and 2pm to support this habit. Then you work for a few more hours, eat and drink and visit some more, and then go to sleep. These simple pleasures are, sadly, some of the first to get gobbled up by the hectic pace of our lives, but having just got a big healthy dose, I'm feeling the need for a steady diet of work/life balance (I wonder how Jessica will feel about me napping in the middle of the day.....).
And lastly, because I think this jet lag is really getting to me and I'm starting to wax poetic, good red wine is good for the soul, especially when it's cheap.
You can nap in the middle of the day anytime. I'm in full support!
Posted by: Jessica | April 15, 2009 at 03:28 PM