Practical Wanderlust

Off-Beat Couple's Travel Blog

What not to do on a France road trip through Bordeaux, Avignon, Seillans, Provence, and the French Riviera!
Europe, Travel Stories & Fails

Winter Road Trip Through France: What Not to Do

Our off-season road trip through France was always doomed. It’s not just that Jeremy and I seem to attract disaster like magnets made of whatever the opposite of disaster is. But we have particularly awful luck when it comes to cars. But here we were, renting one in France in January. What could go wrong? … Everything, of course. This is the story of our doomed French road trip. Or as I like to call it, the story of the time we ran a BMW into into a medieval castle.

by  
27 Comments

ABOUT

Meet Lia & Jeremy

Recent Posts

  • October is a crazy month for us. When I was growing up, October was my favorite month. It was the month of crunchy leaves, Halloween costume shopping, scary movies and pumpkins. But now, without actual fall outside our windows to remind us of the changing seasons, it just feels like a stressful, busy month. . All month long, I'm frantically pumping out 3 posts per week (KILL ME) trying to get everything ready for the shopping sprees I know are coming in November. I'm still behind on posts from trips we took recently (Sorry, Bali and Italy, my bad) and I'm scrambling to stay on top of everything. . October is also one of the hardest months for teachers thanks to the end of the first quarter. Jeremy's struggling to stay on top of his grading and lesson planning, keep up with his own schoolwork (he's studying for his teaching credential) AND manage his team - he's in a leadership role this year. It's a LOT. . Most of our evenings look like this: Jeremy gets home at 6pm. I'm still working. So Jeremy sits down next to me nad works for a while too. Then we make dinner - er, I say "make" but lately we tend go out because we're too stressed and busy to cook. After dinner, the laptops come right back out and we continue working until 10pm. Rinse, repeat. Living the dream? Hardly. (Oh, in case you're wondering - NO, we don't live in this awesome cabin. This is a vacation home up in Guerneville where we spent a relaxing weekend last year!) . It's a struggle. We keep talking about crazy things like taking weekends off or enforcing a "no work after 7pm" rule, but we're not there ... yet. I've been searching for people to hire to help me with the blog (psst, know anyone??) but I'm still in WAY over my head. We've resorted to outsourcing basic household tasks, so now we're those Bay Area a**holes who pay a service to do basic chores for them, like laundry and the dishes (cringe). But it's the only think we could think of to stay afloat without going completely insane. . Do you have any suggestions for establishing a work/life balance? How do you cope when everything is insanely stressful and overwhelming and you can't seem to dig your way out? Drop me a comment below!
  • After we returned from our year-long honeymoon, Jeremy and I decided to change our lifestyle to be more sustainable. There's kind of a catch-22 when it comes to travel: the more we explore the earth, the more we risk harming it - travel isn't exactly environmentally friendly. And IDK about you, but I plan to live for few more decades, and I'd kinda like the earth to be hospitable. . So, we went full on granola in the name of Captain Planet. For the past year, we've focused on becoming a zero-waste household - a far-off goal, but still one worth striving for. It's a work in progress, but it's something! We're also making an effort to vote with our dollars by supporting sustainable brands and companies and purchasing environmentally friendly travel gear. . One of the biggest challenges is finding sustainable travel clothing. We have high standards for our clothes: they have to be able to handle the challenges of constant travel AND actually look and feel good. Even with a degree in fashion design, it's not always easy for me to find clothing and textiles that are up to that task. . But, GUESS WHAT? We recently discovered the joys of hemp and we're low-key freakin' out about it, y'all. First of all: no, it won't get you high, which is a bummer because here in California weed is taxed all to heck (JK we don't mind cuz we can buy it in stores whee). . But hemp is a magical plant in its own way: it's anti-microbial (aka you can get away with washing it less often on your trip), cool to the touch, soft and cozy, and WAY more sustainable than most other textiles, requiring little water and almost no pesticides (!!!) to thrive and grow. It's even able to clean up polluted soil. Heck yeah! . prAna sent us a few items from their hemp line to try, and no joke, we've been wearing them every single day (and fighting over who gets to wear the Cozy Up sweatshirt every night). Use the code PHLG18 to get 15% off your purchase from prAna (link in bio)! . Have you changed your lifestyle or habits to be more sustainable? ♻️🌾 We'd love to hear your tips or product recommendations! Drop us a comment below. . #prAnaHemp #prAnaFall18 #sponsored
  • At this point in my life, I never go anywhere without a day bag sitting on my back. Driving into the Sierra Nevadas to explore fall foliage? Day bag. Backpacking through South America? Day bag. Going to the grocery store? Day bag. Running out for coffee? Day bag. I may not be a Boy Scout (because for some reason we still have gender-specific scout programs in 2018?) but I follow the mantra to a T anyway: Always Be Prepared. . Like I mean, what if the zombie apocalypse occurs while you're out exploring? With a day bag on your back, you'll be able to run and jump and kick butt AND carry the essentials on your back. It is incredibly practical. And we here at Practical Wanderlust LOVE things that are incredibly practical. It's our ~~~~~~~brand, after all. *Please, join me in a massive eye-roll* . Also, guys: practical doesn't mean "not f**king gorgeous," as this stunning Corbin Backpack I was gifted by R. Riveter CLEARLY demonstrates. This thing is pure beauty and class and it also has plenty of space for a water bottle, a first aid kit, a compass, and like, all your other zombie-killing supplies. Plus, each bag is handmade by USA military spouses, providing economic stability in the midst of the ever-changing, constantly moving demands of military life. You can use the code PRACTICALWANDERLUST for 15% off any of their beautiful handmade bags through Dec 31 - link in bio. (Um, by the way: we don't get get anything if you buy a bag. But you do get to support female entrepreneurship and military families - and also hello they are gorgeous). . Do you carry a day-bag everywhere you go? Or are you a Purse Person? Or maybe you've discovered the joys of GIANT POCKETS (I am forever hoarding pants with legit sized pockets)? Drop me a comment below! . Disclosure for Extreme Clarity: I did not get paid for this post, and I don't get any commission from any bag sales using my code. R.Riveter did, however, gift me this beautiful bag, and I dig it a lot and I think you'll probably dig it too, so here we are.
  • For a brief, shining moment in my life, I was going hiking every single weekend. It was just before we left for the year-long honeymoon and I was training like my $1,600 Inca Trail fee depended on it (which, spoilers, it did: RIP, $1,600). . Every weekend for 6 months straight, I laced up my trail runners, filled up my CamelBak, called a Lyft - because this was also during the time we were car-free to save up for the honeymoon - and headed out to hike in the redwoods 10 minutes from my house in Oakland. Some weekends, Jeremy and I would rent a car and take a day or weekend trip to tackle hikes further away, like Lake Tahoe or Big Sur. One of the very first blog posts I ever wrote was about my favorite hikes in northern California (psst, link in bio). . I thought I'd finally achieved it: I was a Hiker. Hiking was my sport, and I trained for it in the gym with powerlifting (my other newfound love). I felt athletic for the first and only time in my life. When I flexed, you could see my brand new muscles. I felt strong and healthy, like an athlete. It was the best I've ever felt. Important note: this transformation did NOT involve weight loss. #strongnotskinny . Then the year-long honeymoon happened. Failed hike after failed hike, Jeremy and I came to the bitter realization that we weren't actually prepared for hiking in the Andes Mountains or the Sacred Valley. From the terrain to the altitude, we were defeated time and time again. And so we stopped hiking. We changed our plans, went to Europe and gained 30lbs of croissant weight each..And I haven't hiked since. Well, once or twice, but we're talking 3 mile hikes when I used to do 12-15 every weekend. . I don't have a happy ending to this post, y'all. I've been trying to get myself to go hiking for months and there's something holding me back. I'm not sure what it is - fear of failure? Fear that all the progress I made has been erased and I'm starting from scratch? But it's kept me from something I love and I want to change it. It's time for me to get back to my hiking roots. . Have you ever fallen out of practice with a beloved hobby or sport? Did you ever get back into it? I'd love to hear your stories and tips!
  • Sometimes the place you stay makes you fall in love with the destination you're visiting. It's like, a certain vibe... maybe it's the lack of WiFi or the family style meals, maybe it's the sunsets or the board games or the friendly owners or the pets. Maybe it's all of the above. . We're forever seeking that vibe, which is harder to find here in the States (we usually find it in hostels). We've tried glamping and camping, boutique hotels and b&b's. But last month, we found this adorable Inn located in Mendocino. We booked it as last minute as possible - literally the day before Labor Day - and we didn't expect much other than a surprisingly decently priced place to stay. (Psst: this post isn't sponsored in any way whatsoever, BTW.) . The Andiron Inn blew us away. We happened to walk in just as the friendly owners were putting out their daily Happy Hour snacks with local wine and beer - we're suckers for free food, tbh. As we gratefully stuffed our faces and chatted with other guests, we admired all the weird sh*t in the Inn lounge. We're talking like, WEIRD sh*t. Wonderfully weird sh*t. Old vintage weird sh*t. Dollhouses and space age ephemera and old movies and cool books and vintage board games. We could have spent hours by the flickering fire just looking at stuff! But we didn't have to, because our whole CABIN was full of weird sh*t, too. Turns out each of the rooms at the Andiron Inn are themed - ours was like a funky space-age discovery theme, complete with a telescope, old newspapers celebrating historic moments in space exploration, and even creepy old 50's TV shows playing quietly in the background. It was perfect..It wasn't just the Happy Hour or the weird ephemera or the goats outside (but Jeremy really loved the goats). There was a certain vibe at this Inn - the kind of vibe that makes us fall in love with a place. The Andiron Inn made our Mendocino weekend trip amazing, and we can't wait to go back and stay again! You'll find our guide to Mendocino linked in our bio..Have you ever found an accommodation that made your whole trip? Tell us about it in the comments! . #visitmendocino #cabinfolk #boutiquehotel #visitcalifornia
  • Jeremy and I fell in love on long car rides through California. We fell in love on the 5, the 405, the 1, and the 101. We fell in love kayaking in Monterey, hiking in Big Sur, surfing in Morro Bay, snowboarding in Lake Tahoe, and camping at the Avenue of the Giants. We fell in love at the In N' Out by UC Davis, stuffing our faces to a soundtrack that we compiled just for these adventures called Driving in California (lmk if you want the link). .Taking off on a Friday night to see some new, beautiful place in California and returning late on Sunday was the backbone of our blossoming relationship, way back in 2015 when Practical Wanderlust was just an idea and the year-long honeymoon was still a question mark hanging above our heads. . One of our favorite trips was up north along the Pacific Coast Highway. We drove up to Fort Bragg to see the famous Glass Beach and met a pig named Ollie frolicking in the waves during sunset (we've both wanted a pet pig ever since). . The next day, we ventured to Mendocino to go tidepooling. But when we arrived, we were shocked to find the parking lot full ... of Porsches. And not only was there like, 200 shiny, expensive Porsches just chillin' in this parking lot, but the air above us was filled with kites. And the park itself was stuffed full of rich people gleefully flying them. It was some kind of Porsche Driving, Kite Flying convention for rich people, and we'd stumbled upon it in our very not-fancy compact rental car (at the time, we were living the car-free life to save for our honeymoon). We gawked. We stared. We Googled. We could not figure out what the heck was happening. . And so for years, we associated Mendocino with rich people flying kites. .We visited Mendocino again last month and were disappointed to find out that this was, in fact, a fluke event - Mendocino is not always covered with Porsches and kites. But it is beautiful AF with plenty to do, see, and explore! There's wine, otters, sea caves, hiking, kayaking, delicious food, and yes, tidepools. We've got a full guide up on the blog - link in bio. . Have you ever experienced something like the Porsche Kite phenomenon? Tell us your weird stories in the comments!
  • Fall is here! Er, well, at least everywhere else it is. Here in Oakland and San Francisco we don't really get fall. In fact, September and October are usually the warmest months of the year, thanks to the Indian Summer heat wave that the Bay Area suffer sthrough while the rest of the country is flipping their collective s**t about Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Hocus Pocus. It's extremely disconcerting to me (Lia), a transplant from the land of seasons, but Jeremy - a born and raised Californian - seems completely unaffected by the fact that the passage of time here is marked by absolutely nothing whatsoever. . Every year, the minute the calendar turns to October, I start itching for crunchy leaves and crisp, chilly weather and apple cider and pumpkins. I layer on more scarves than usual in the hopes that somehow this will make it feel like autumn and not just cause me to overheat at midday when the temperature predictably rises to over 75. I book our Thanksgiving flight to the East Coast, praying that there might still be an apple I can pick or a brightly colored leaf that hasn't yet fallen to the ground for me to frolic underneath. . But this year was different: this year I went and sought out fall foliage right here in California. YES, apparently California does in fact have some truly stunning fall foliage! You have to drive 6 hours or so east into the Sierra Nevada mountains to find it, but dammit, it's there and it's beautiful and it made me SO HAPPY. I've been posting about our trip in our stories and I'll have a blog post up later today with 8 Eastern Sierra day hikes to ease your fall foliage cravings, so stay tuned! . Do you get fall foliage where you live? Or do you live in a season-less hellscape like us? Post a comment below! . . . #travelcouple #travelingcouple #coupleslovetravel #globecouples #couplesgoals #coupletravel #creativetravelcouples #traveltogether #travelmassive #adventuretogether #adventurecouple #sfblogger #sfguide #westcoast #norcal #passionpassport #livefolk #cabin #cabinfolk #cabinlife #cabinlove #cabinfever #modernoutdoors #weekendgetaway #russianriver #sonomacounty #guerneville #couplesofinstagram #northbay #beautifuldestinations
  • My mom made us climb this. This stunning white cathedral perched on top of a hill, she informed us, was once a haven for hermits. In fact, she told us the entire history of the Santuario di Santa Maria dell'Isola di Tropea (from hermits it eventually passed to the monks) AND the weird legend of the statue of the Virgin. Legend has it, she said, the statue didn't fit into the cave where the monks REALLY wanted to put it, so they tried to saw off its legs. But the instant they started sawing, they immediately died because nobody f**ks with the Virgin. She told us the history, and the weird legend, and then she made us climb it. . Why did we have to climb it? Because knowing about a place and seeing it from a distance wasn't enough for my mom: she needed to EXPERIENCE it. It didn't matter that once we got to the top, there was nothing to see other than the same stunning coastal views as before. It didn't matter that after we climbed up huffing and puffing in the heat, all we did was say "huh, it looks smaller in person" and then we climbed right back down again. She needed to see it up close, to know its story, and to experience it. . I realized, over the past two weeks in Italy with my mom, that when it comes to travel I'm just a (much taller) version of her. . Sure, she researches her trips with books, and I use blogs. She'll go well out of her way to look at a weird statue or art installation she read about in the New Yorker; I'll go well out of my way for a specific street food cart recommendation I found buried deep in some TripAdvisor review. She loves weird, quirky backstories and I - well, no, that's the same. . Even though I may have a few different preferences, I realized, the way I travel is EXACTLY the way my mom travels. And my mom and I make great travel companions... well, except when it comes to getting lost (we're both really bad at navigating). . Have you ever traveled with your mom? Who's your favorite travel companion? Leave me a comment below!

Follow Us @practicalwanderlust

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.