My Ultimate Vacation

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Cheerios® is giving you the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, your ultimate family vacation. As part of a paid promotion for their “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, Cheerios® is sponsoring my post today about what my ultimate family vacation would be. Read mine, Enter the Sweepstakes for a chance to actually win your own fantasy family trip or one of a bunch of other great prizes.

When I was in my 20’s, I had no desire to travel to Europe.  I thought that there was so much to see in the United States, that there was no reason to travel to Europe.  Now, it is all I can think of.  Paris. France. Cheese. Wine.  I have become obsessed.

I have been to Paris three times.  The first time I went with a friend who was fluent with French and France.  I saw a few of the required Paris monuments and got a small taste of Provence.  On my next two visits to Paris I was busy showing my boyfriend, and then my mother all of the required viewing for someone’s first trip to Paris.

Now that I feel I have gotten most of the ‘required’ viewing out of the way; I am dying to get back to Paris and France and to really discover it.   I would love to take my boyfriend and my mom, and spend a week in Paris with no visits to Notre Dame or the Eiffel Tower.  I want to wander for hours without a destination and just let the day happen.  I want to have happy accidents and discover as many sites, sounds, and smells as possible.  I want to have a serendipitous adventure.

I want to wake up in the morning without a plan.  I want for us to venture out of our rented apartment and stumble upon a café that is calling our name.  We can sit at that café for as long as we want because there is no schedule; we will stroll along the streets without a care in the world because there is no place we have to be.  We'll be more relaxed and more courageous in using our limited French (and by the end of the trip, we'll be close to fluent).  We will have wine with every meal except breakfast, and cheese with every meal.  Crepes with Nutella will become my new best friend.  And the best thing about this trip is that I won't gain a pound.....the pounds will actually melt off of me from sheer delight.

After a week in Paris, we will to travel to the south of France.  We will take the TGV (high speed train) to the south of France, then rent a car and drive to a small village and stay in a very old castle.  We will go on hikes and bike rides and walk through lavender fields.  We will eat goat cheese from the village goat(s) and drink wine from the nearest vineyard. 

We will also take a day trip to St. Tropez and dip our toes in the Mediterranean Sea.  We will explore the small villages we happen upon all the while breathing in the fresh air that smells better than any air we've ever breathed.

I swear, this trip is sounding so good to me that I know I am going to start dreaming about it.  I think I'll spray some lavender linen spray on my pillow just so I can have the full effect.  I am also going to start working on my French lessons; I need to know how to order my wine and cheese with confidence.



Don't forget to enter the “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, for a chance to win your own ultimate family vacation. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

April in Paris? Nah....everyday

Fall agrees with me; Summer and I have argued for months.


Growing up, summer was my favorite season. Wasn’t it every kids’ favorite season? It meant the end of school and the end of ‘worries’.  If only we had those kinds of ‘worries’ these days.

When I got older, I fell in love with spring. The end of darkness finally arrived, and I could smell spring. There was/is always such hope during spring. The days get longer, hibernation ends, and the city slowly, but surely, starts to come alive.

In the past few years, I have fallen in love with fall. One of my favorite words and feelings is: cozy. Fall is cozy to me. I can finally pull out the sweaters, socks, sweatshirts, and scarves. (Hmmm…fall’s clothing all starts with ‘s’, I never noticed that before.) I can sit on our terrace with a sweater and scarf and knit and feel so cozy. The pressure of trying to fit everything into a Chicago summer has come to an end, and I can finally relax and take a deep breath of the crisp air. And, I can hide under looser, bulkier clothes, and really breathe because I don’t have to suck in my gut anymore under the less forgiving summer fashions.  Seriously, it is so hard to take a deep breath when you are sucking in your gut.  Whew!  What a relief to let it loose.

Last year my mom, Ignacio and I were in Paris (my favorite place in the world) in October. It was beautiful. Well, hell, when isn’t Paris beautiful? It was my mother’s first trip to Europe. It took a little coaxing, but she finally agreed to go. (I know! Who needs to be coaxed to go to Paris?) She loved it like I knew she would.

In the middle of our trip, we took a bicycle tour to Versailles. It was a perfect fall day and we rode through the grounds of Versailles and picnicked on the bank of the canal (or whatever that body of water is). It was breathtaking and amazing and pictures never do justice.

my mother...on a bike...in France!!

For our picnic in Versailles, we went shopping at a huge farmers' market and bought cheese, wine, bread, sausages, and did I mention cheese and wine??

Here is what happens after I remember I have my FLIP video camera with me after a few glasses of wine.  (now keep in mind:  I'm tipsy, I'm riding a bike with one hand while filming myself....)

Fall in Paris from Natalie Mikolajczak on Vimeo.

If I had my way, I would visit Paris every fall.

And every spring.