My family just got home from a week and a half in France. We're all still reeling, very tired and perhaps a bit sad but incredibly fulfilled. The trip was a bit of a last hoorah if you will; some quality time for the four of us to be together before Rosie returns for her third year at Boulder and Grace leaves for her first year down in Ohio. Both of them. Gone. Which means there will be no kids in our house this fall for the first time in 18 years. Which I am not thrilled about. But, I digress. During college, Jeff studied and lived in France and then two of us went for a short trip together to celebrate our 20th anniversary but the girls had never been prior to this trip and, for obvious reasons, had always wanted to go. We began planning our adventure about a year ago so to say they were excited is the understatement of the year. We all were pretty giddy by the time June rolled around. We flew to Paris and spent four days doing all the things. Museums, tours, tuk tuk rides, boat rides, crepes, gelato. Our days were packed and we soaked up every second. Aside from the first morning, I ran every day before the girls woke up. After months of running in Winchester, running along the Seine with the sun shining on the Eiffel Tower was pretty surreal. Paris is definitely a hot spot for running. People were going at all hours of the day, primarily in the morning, but I'd see them out there until dinner time. It stays lighter much later which is weird for going to bed but not at all if you're running at 9pm. The first time I headed out I waved or nodded at runners coming in the other direction, as I tend to do at home. I quickly learned that this was not how it's done for most locals. People were in their own worlds mentally; no waving or smiling. All business. After that I just did my thing, absorbing the beauty of the city and trying to avoid tripping on the cobblestones. After Paris we made our way down to St-Rémy-de-Province where we stayed for the rest of our time in France. We rented a house and did lots of day trips to all the little towns in the area. Again, I ran every morning before the girls woke up and every run was bliss. These were not workouts, mind you. None of that on vacation. Just miles where I explored the town and beyond with no agenda other than to be in the moment. Running in St-Rémy was a totally different experience compared to Paris. Each day presented something new and different and, not to be cheesy but wonderful. Easily some of my best runs of the year and, in my humble opinion, worth sharing. Perhaps seeing and hearing more about it will inspire you to add it to your own list for visiting and/or running. Or maybe you've been there as well and it will bring back pleasant memories. And if neither of those are the case, well, I'm hoping you'll just enjoy the experience from my point of view. Either way, St-Rémy is now officially my favorite place in the world to run. Here's why.
RUN ADVENTURES IN ST-REMY-DE-PROVINCE
~ The highs would be in the 90s and low 100s every day we were there. But I was up around 6am every morning and the air was cool and dry. Perfect for running. It would be pretty hot by the time I was getting home but those first few miles were always so nice.
~ The landscape of St-Rémy is stunning; borderline surreal. Fields of lavender and sunflowers, trails with rolling creeks alongside them. Everywhere I went I was blown away. I also found that a lot of the areas I explored looked the same so I got lost almost daily. Which was totally fine. I always found my way back.
~ It’s quiet and peaceful but on a totally different level. The town was almost asleep as I began with no one in sight. I saw maybe a total of 10 runners during the week that I was there and most of them were my age or older The young folk clearly had other priorities in the morning. I would say they probably thought I was nuts but they were likely still asleep when I was out there so it didn't matter.
~ There was all sorts of terrain to explore. I found a lot of trails; usually single track which is always a little tricky. It just required me to slow down and respect the footing so I didn't face plant. To the left of our house was straight up a mountain. Literally. I probably ran about 1.7 miles up before finally turning around as I saw no end in sight. And then there were several bike paths from one town to the next. These were my favorite as I'd be passing farms and animals for miles.
~ Despite the fact that there are several crosswalks in town, no one seems to use them. I learned this very quickly. That said, I didn’t get honked at once. People were very polite as they slammed on their breaks to keep from hitting me. After a couple days I felt safer stopping and letting traffic roll by rather than attempting to use them.
~ The town is so ridiculously rich with history. Two steps to the left of our house was the path that lead to Van Gogh's asylum where he painted and spent the last years of his life. Then one street over we could walk to authentic Roman ruins and envision the things that used to unfold. Just mind blowing.
~ Dog owners very rarely use a leash. I would be running on the bike paths and a dog would come barreling toward me with no owner behind it. Always friendly, I found. Then the owner would be casually strolling in, perhaps with a friend, not at all concerned about the dog and where he or she was. Dogs have it good over there.
~ The overall vibe was just much calmer and simpler. And that made every run such a personal experience. Just a very different way to look at running and all that it can provide. Such a gift.
