Because travel is better with two - By writer/editor/photographer Melanie Wynne
View of the Cevennes foothills from the front steps of the Salamander gite
What we call a “rental condo” in America, the French more musically term a “holiday gite” (pronounced jheet).
The Salamander gite, way up in the tiny mountain village of Usclas-du-Bosc, in the southwestern Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, creates its own music. The song involves rainbows, a grass-ruffling breeze and the crackle of a woodstove…just in case you like those kinds of things.
“Barging” is a strangely aggressive term for enjoying gentle, tree-lined waterways with a glass of rosé in your hand. Sadly, though, we have no better word in English.
In French, barging is called peniche (pen-EESH), which I feel more aptly conjures a sense of joie de vivre…with a glass of rosé in your hand.
This past spring on the Canal du Midi in Southern France, I stayed on a barge named the Peniche Oz, and now have an even deeper appreciation for a cozy room with a view of the water. I feel I could make it work for just about the rest of my life.
While tooling around southern France on a sunny day in May (as one does), my dear friend Christine and I stopped off to explore her home turf, the small city of Montpellier. Her boyfriend, Cal, greeted her with kisses and proudly squired us around, showing off the highlights of this magical town that few foreign tourists ever see.
I had no expectations that while I was there, I’d fall deeply in love — with a toy store.
Le Petit Hôpital near Avignon, France, one of my (delightful) European destinations
Bon voyage — to me!
I’m off to Europe for a month, and to say I’m excited would be a hilarious understatement.
This trip will take me to France for two weeks, Italy for eight days and Croatia for nine days.
This is the longest trip I’ve taken since about 1985 — and here’s how it’ll all play out:
My dear friend Christine Cantera has agreed to share why traveling couples would love Montpellier, her home in the Languedoc region of southern France. In her own voice, I present Christine’s compelling case.
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Somewhere in the basement of Condé Nast, locked in a glass case strewn with rose petals and compiled by the same experts who create Cosmo quizzes, there must surely be an official list of Europe’s most romantic destinations. It glorifies places like Paris and Positano that attract the lovers in us all, and there is no room for Montpellier, France.
But I moved to Montpellier for love, and because I have a skewed sense of the romantic, I’m stating for the record that I’d put it up against those towns any day of the week. Here’s why.
