wish i were there

feeling french?

when i lived in manhattan, i managed to make a few weekend trips up to the hudson river valley.  during one detour, i discovered a gem of a shop called basic french in a tiny town called red hook.  it's full of great french imports, mostly everyday items like elegant housewares, comfy pj's, lovely children's toys, frenchy books and paper goods, and great smelling soaps and toiletries.  now that i'm in california, though, i really love their well-edited website - i go there whenever i'm pining for a little paris or provence.  the owner also created a blog (which hasn't been updated in a couple of years - oh well) about some of her adventures while summering in a house in the french countryside... it's good for a little vicarious vacationing!

rural cottages for rent...

found on fodor's message boards, from some spain experts...... a recommendation for toprural, a website that offers a search for country and rural lodging in spain, portugal, and france.  another site, nekatur, also gets a shout out for offering rural guesthouses and accomodations for the basque country.  casas rurales are akin to the gite in france.

and here's some more chatting about northern spain...  i love the posters on the fodors message boards!

hotel sous les figuiers

this 3 star hotel in provence, hotel sous les figuiers, looks great - really affordable (ranges from 75 euro to 125 euro in the high season), very charming decor (every room is unique and they all seem to have great style), and well located in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence for exploring the provence reigon (this is supposedly a lovely town where a lot of prominent but unpretentious parsians vacation).  they also have classes on how to paint trompe l’oeil, patina, or frescoes.  and it's a top contender for our upcoming trip to provence!