Et alors ça commence!

Four years ago we decided to uproot our lives in Los Angeles.  

In 2018 we took a wonderful trip to Croatia for a friend’s wedding.  After a dinner we walked around by ourselves through the residential streets of Split at dusk.  We watched families of all ages on the dirt lots playing soccer.  Fathers, mothers, and grandparents sharing a drink and a laugh while playing pickup games with their kids.  We walked past old women sitting on their stoops watching the sunset and people wandering around tattered buildings meeting up and sharing stories.  There was a general feeling that life was just supposed to be slower – more connected and present.  

Meanwhile, our lives back home were in a frenzy – summer camps, kids’ sports demands, work travel and financial stress, our kids’ school that just didn’t fit right.  We were up at 6 in the morning and on the go until we collapsed at the end of the night.  We were exhausted and the moments to savor life were reserved for vacations and planned nights out.  The contrast was stark…when was the last time we really stopped to sit and watch the sunsets, or let the day unfold without an agenda?

Whatever the reason, we felt like we were outgrowing our container, and something had to give.  We wanted more, but not more “stuff”.  We wanted to be present more.  We wanted to be in nature more.  We wanted our children to see and experience more of the world.  We wanted to take more time to love each other and really enjoy the people in our lives. 

A dear friend of mine (love you, Mia Togo!) told me that sometimes you just have to take a stick of dynamite and blow up your life to be able to grow.  It isn’t for everyone because the explosion can rock your whole world.  But for those who have that feeling like they are wearing a suit two sizes too small it can mean freedom.  So we lit the wick and slowly watched it burn. 

It’s unusual to have a partner like mine who is ok blowing things up in his life with you.  But at the end of August 2022, when we had sold or donated almost everything we owned, bid farewell to our friends and family, and boarded a plane to France with a one-way ticket, his eyes were the ones I sought. 

Not that things are rosey all the time (they’re not…I just cried yesterday because I couldn’t understand a thing my son’s teacher said to me!) but I thank my lucky stars every day that we’ve started this journey with our family. 

So where are we?  France – but not just any place.  We have landed ourselves in Mougins, which is in the south of France in a region called Les Alps Maritime (the seaside of the lower western Alps).  Basically, the Alps make a fishhook with the base in Austria (think The Sound of Music!), the middle running through Italy and Switzerland, and the hook part wrapping around the eastern boarder of France. 

Mougins is in the foothills just above the Mediterranean, so it is also in the stunning Côte d’Azur region (think Nice, Cannes, St. Tropez).  If you’re wondering if it’s gorgeous?  Check-done.  Yes! 

With a population just shy of 20,000, Mougins is an ancient village situated on the top of a tall “colline” or hill.  Originating in the 1^st century BC, Mougins was a staging and supply point on the old Roman road that led along the coast.  In 1056, monks from Saint Honorat were given the village and it was fortified with stone walls.  In the center the monks built the old parish church of Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur. She is exquisite – and the narrow streets spiral out from her like a the petals of a rose. 

During the 20^th century it became home to many, including Pablo Picasso (apparently a distant relative of ours according to my great grandmother…don’t ask me how), Winston Churchill, Yves Saint Laurent, and Christian Dior.  It is a center of gastronomy (which explains why my waistline is growing!) and was the home of the late chef Roger Vergé (a favorite of Julia Child) and now the incredible Denis Fetisson (we have reservations at his La Place de Mougins in 40 minutes!).  This creates a culinary stronghold in a country already known for its cuisine.  Yum!

But enough about that.  What is the purpose of this website?

I want to share my story.  But I want these pages to be honest.  As Henry David Thoreau says in Walden or Life in the Woods, “I…require of every writer…a simple and sincere account of his own life.”  No one needs another Instagram-filtered photo journal of how great life can be for the lucky few (I’m rarely that lucky!) and yet missing all the ups and downs of real life.  As much as I might do my fair share of hustling and grinding toward some fictitious model of unattainable perfection, I am nothing if not messy. 

I would like to use these pages to focus on how this country affects me and affects my family at our core.  How do our days here begin to alter how we see ourselves. How does a renewed focus on creativity and family begin to open us.  And how do the trials and mistakes show us where we still have wounds that need healing.  It’s a journey, that’s for sure!

Ok, and I can’t help myself from showing a few pictures of the incredible purely French countryside, lifestyle, and delectable food! 

So read on if you wish – and for those who do, thank you for sharing these moments with me.  I hope you can laugh with me at my mistakes and enjoy a story or two.

Bisous,

Hanna