I have used this forum extensively to plan trips to Italy and France. My husband and I love to travel and the information I have gathered myself from this site has made planning the trip myself a breeze. We will be traveling to Paris/Lourmarin Oct 31 - Nov 9. We own an outdoor/travel outfitting business and I love to read about other peoples adventures to help me prepare our customers for their travels. Thanks for the great forum and travel resources!
Hi, and welcome to SlowTravel. My husband and I made the same trip just 6 months ago, with a week in Paris and a week in Lourmarin. You can read about it in my trip report link under my name/signature, and as the title says, we fell in love with France.
If you like the outdoors, the Luberon is a great area to explore, with an abundance of hiking available. If you haven't discovered it already, check this out, prepared by Kaydee, who has extensive experience and intimate knowledge of this part of the world.
Will look forward to seeing more of you on the Board.
Welcome Jennie. I also love Amelia. I think that is where Bob the Navigator (one of our great contributors to this board) lives isn't it?
Deborah Horn In a previous life I was an Umbrian sunflower farmer. I want to do a past life regression and stay there. ----------------------------------- www.petsburg.com My blog: Old Shoes - New Trip
Posts: 5111 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: 04 September 2001
Welcome to ST. I've found this community to be a wonderful resource of information as well as some budding friendships. I hope you have a great time on your vacation, France is really beautiful this time of year and there are very few tourists. I was in Normandy several years ago at the exact same time you'll be in France. The sky was a beautiful blue with wonderful, puffy white clouds. The air was clean and crisp. And my appetitie was insatiable! Bon voyage!
If you will be in Lourmarin and around it, in Luberon, a useful source of information is a recently updated brochure issued by Bob and Sue Winn: "Guidebook to the Luberon Region of Provence". It was recommended to us by the owner of the B&B where we stayed for one week, and it helped us not only in deciding where to go but also how to get there.
It can be ordered on line (http://www.provencebyways.com/guides.htm and bobnsue@mcn.org) Or just look up their web site.
You will have a great time in the beautiful Luberon.
Thanks for all the kind words. Amelia Island is a beautiful place to live and work but one still has to wander the world occasionally! I met Bob the Navigator when using this forum to plan our trip to Italy several years ago. He was a tremendous help in "navigating" Italy! When we decided to visit France on this trip, I immediately signed on to ST to read up on the best places to visit. The first trip report I read was "We Fell In Love With France". I too fell in love with France while reading Terry's account of her time in Lourmarin. I booked us into Les Olivettes for our time there and have in hand a copy of the Winns guidebook. Thanks for all the info and I look forward to reporting back when we return from our trip.
I'd like to hear more about your biz...sounds like a fun business.[/QUOTE]
Jeff, Thanks for the interest in our business. We have a great time helping our customers get ready for some really great trips. We also do regular outdoor apparel and footwear for everyday life. The customers in this type of retail are great and it is a pleasure to come to work everyday! I have a customer hiking and studying Buddism in Bhutan right now (hope spelling is correct) and yesterday worked with a young lady headed to Africa for a year! I get to travel almost daily through others adventures. If you ever have a question about a product or need advice on what products work for different travels, just let me know. I am happy to help.
...and you got your experience in this type of thing where? My assumption is you have outdoor travel expertise and it must have been developed over years of treks, hikes, rafting, climbing, etc. If so, you've done what most people wanna do...turn their advocation into a vocation. Congrats!
Posts: 507 | Location: New Hampshire | Registered: 12 September 2006
Jennie, I am flattered by your comments about my trip report. Thank you. And how fortunate indeed you are to work in such a field, with the opportunities everyday for fascinating interactions. I am sure that you will be a great resource and help for all of us travelers on the board, and I will look forward to your input on the many questions we all have about traveling products and the like! How did you get involved in your business?
My husband and I wanted to relocate our family from Atlanta to a slower easier lifestyle. Our life in Atl was fraught with stress and traffic. We decided to move to Amelia Island and open a business. I have had a business previously but not in this industy. My husband had visions of paddling a kayak and wearing flip flops to work(he is a mortgage banker by day). We felt like there was a niche in the market here for outdoor apparel and footwear. We discovered shortly after opening that a growing part of our business were travelers needing the right jacket for Alaska or a good pair of shoes for Europe or a piece of luggage that was unstructured and lightweight for Africa. My husband kept his day job (somebody had to keep paying the bills!) and I ran the store. Since we love to travel, we have evolved into an company outfitting for travel more than camping/kayaking etc. We set out to improve our quality of life 6 years ago and we have made significant progress. As all of you know, you just have to set your goals and keep your eye on that end to accomplish anything. It is amazing to do what you love and love what you do....
I'm a bit late to read your post, but the advantage is that I got to read all the other posts and learn more about your story. How great for you to pursue your dream, and I too will look forward to hearing more from you.
Our family lived in the Luberon for 6-1/2 months two years ago, arriving at the beginning of October. This is a beautiful time of year! I loved that you connected with this site through Teaberry's great report. You will enjoy Lourmarin! Aix would be an easy drive from Lourmarin too.
Enjoy your stays in Paris and Provence and come back and tell us some stories!
Topic Closed
