Ringing in my fourth decade in (French) style

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 Is this place gorgeous or what? A seafront view of Villefranche, one seen by cruise ship passengers who disembark here for day trips on the French Riviera.
Is this place gorgeous or what? A seafront view of Villefranche-sur-Mer, one seen by cruise ship passengers who disembark here for day trips on the French Riviera.

 

The compact Villefranche sur Mer train station that transported me around the French Riviera (or Cote d'Azur, as it's called in French) -- and even across the border to Italy. The local trains were on strike during my visit, making for some challenging travel!
The compact Villefranche-sur-Mer train station that transported me around the French Riviera (or Cote d'Azur, as it's called en francais) -- and even across the border to Italy. The local trains were on strike during my visit, making for some challenging travel!
Villefranche became my base for exploring the Cote d'Azur... and one train-enabled day trip took me to the charming town of Antibes (shown here), as well as the larger cities of Nice and Marseille.
Villefranche became my base for exploring the Cote d'Azur... and one train-enabled day trip took me to the charming town of Antibes (shown here), as well as the larger cities of Nice and Marseille.

I don’t usually get hyped up about birthdays, but it’s not everyday you turn 40. And since I’ll take any excuse to take a foreign trip, I wanted to ring in this Jan. 4 somewhere abroad. Of course, I love Italy to death, am newly fascinated with Greece after stopping there twice with my mom during a 12-day cruise in November… but somehow, my mind kept drifting back to France. Paris is my all-time favorite city, but I felt like I needed to kick off this new year somewhere new. Different, yet romantic and ideally, Mediterranean. While reading one of my favorite twice-weekly e-mails from Adrian Leeds’ Parler Paris newsletter , I saw a listing for “Riviera Experience ,” an assortment of vacation apartments in the charming French Riviera town of Villefranche-sur-Mer, owned and managed by a super-friendly American expat named Shelley Benton. I checked out her Web site, drooled over the incredible apartments – and was immediately hooked!

Those who know me well realize that while I enjoy traveling with family members and friends, I’m equally fond of setting off on my own. And from the start, this 40th birthday getaway felt like one I needed to take alone. I’m thrilled about turning 40 (even though I must admit, it feels strange to type out the number!), and see the start of my fourth decade as a great time for introspection. It’s probably my last best chance to figure out who and what I want to be when I grow up. Do-overs have pretty much run out at this point, so I thought two weeks in a gorgeous place surrounded by folks who’ve long ago mastered that whole “work-life balance” thing was just what the doctor ordered.

While my trip began in Shelley’s to-die-for “Artist’s Atelier ” apartment, right in the center of vieux (old) Villefranche, all roads eventually lead me to Paris, which is where I’ll spend the last four nights of my turning-40 adventure. I’m renting another one of Parler Paris’ stunning apartments in the hopping Marais district, a place I’m sure will inspire and dazzle me just as this city always does.

Perhaps 40 really will be the “new 30” for me – but only if I get to take the hard-knocks wisdom I’ve earned over the last decade with me into my fourth. One thing that’ll certainly go with me into my 40s – a never-ending sense of wanderlust and desire to experience life abroad as often, and as authentically, as possible.

Serendipity on a French afternoon

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The view of my Artist's Atelier apartment (on the 2nd floor) from Rue de May, the often-photographed pedestrian-only street in Villefranche.
The view of my Artist's Atelier apartment (on the 2nd floor) from Rue de May, the often-photographed pedestrian-only street in Villefranche-sur-Mer.
The harborside view from Le Cosmo Restaurant is gorgeous (as is the profile of my favorite waiter!).
The harborside view from Le Cosmo Restaurant is gorgeous (as is the profile of my favorite waiter!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talk about peaceful -- I'd never get tired of a Mediterranean view like this.
Talk about peaceful -- I'd never get tired of a Mediterranean view like this.

 

So I had planned to take a 9:36 am train to the gritty, rough-and-tumble Provencal town of Marseille …but being myself, I could hardly drag myself out of the bed this morning. So after rolling back over, finally waking at 11:30 and getting myself dressed, I traipsed down the lovely Rue de May steps (I’m renting an apartment in a pedestrian-only part of Villefranche-sur-Mer) to find a restaurant or brasserie still open before the mid-afternoon closing.

I settled on a place I’d dined before – the almost-waterfront Le Cosmo Restaurant – and decided to nosh outside since the afternoon sun was so warm. (Besides, the waiter was gorgeous in that gaunt Gallic way, tall and slender!) I found a great table with a view of the Mediterranean harbor, and locked eyes with a good-looking, dressed-in-black Frenchman at the next table. After exchanging Bonjours, he commented on my sunglasses and proceeded to start a brief conversation. This curly-haired homme – a cutie-pie for sure – asked if he could join me at my table. Turned out J.L. (leave it to me to meet a gorgeous Frenchman whose ancestors actually came from Italia! ) is also a writer whose pursuits include traveling, swimming in the chilly Mediterranean sea several mornings a week, and writing symbolic novels about an idealistic world where we all get along. Sounded pretty cool to me! 

Anyway… about 90 minutes of pleasant conversation followed, after which he charmingly invited me to his flat in nearby Nice for a meal some time this week. Who knows if I’ll take him up on it, but how lovely to receive such a tempting invitation! This would probably fall into my dad’s category of, “Don’t be over there [in Europe] doing nothin’ stupid,” but what an adventure, eh? I’m headed back to Nice on Sunday for church… so perhaps an afternoon lunch with a gorgeous Frenchman is just the way to kick off 2009!