One of the things our family loves about vacation rentals is that we end up having more contact with the natives and get to walk a few steps in their “moccasins”.
When we used to stay in hotels, I got rather tired of the tourist routine – visiting during the day, coming back to the hotel at night – our only real contact was with the hotel personnel. I’d go home feeling as though we could have been staying almost anywhere in the world because we weren’t able to get a real feel for the country and its culture. Although my husband and I like to “control” the type and amount of local contact we have – we don’t like to feel “invaded” and are always careful about whom we let into our lives – we’ve found that it truly adds to the quality of our vacation experience when we can make genuine contact with the locals.
One year, when we were staying in a little villa outside of St-Rémy in the south of France (Luberon area), our neighbors were extremely helpful and just friendly enough to make us feel welcome and safe and add a lot of joy to our lives. The monsieur shared some fantastic tips about what to visit in the area – we would never have learned about these places without him. A couple of days after our arrival, his madame brought us over an amazing dish she had prepared with local produce.
When I expressed enthusiasm about cooking and cheese-making, Anna offered to take me the next day to visit the president of the local cheese cooperative who, much to my surprise, greeted us with a huge lunch, wonderful wine, followed by a tour of his little cheese outfit. We left late in the afternoon, a little tipsy from the heat and the wine. I remember the lovely moment in the evening, “recuperating” with our neighbors in their vineyard patio, watching the sun go down, sipping a local aperitif, a wonderful piece of meat on the grill. I had sweet dreams that night – don’t remember living such an experience during my hotel stays…
The next day Anna took me to the local outdoor market and told me which stands had the best quality and best-priced produce. She knew all the farmers, of course, so every time I shopped there during our stay, I felt like I knew them too. That first day, we met my family for lunch in a little café near the market. Anna had to leave at one point to do errands but introduced us to the restaurant owner, a friend of hers. Every time we ate there during our stay, we were received like family. After dinner, the owner would bring us a free digestif and sit and chat with us for awhile.
My husband got quite friendly with Anna’s husband and enjoyed moments strolling with him in his vineyards, chatting about wines and politics. We had several dinners together, at their place and ours. And our kids had a much more educational vacation experience that year because our new friends’ teenagers invited them to different local events or just hung out (“chilled” as my son would say) at their place or ours. The whole experience just felt like “real life” – was very relaxing and enjoyable.
When we returned home, we all exchanged photos – many happy moments together. I’m sure we’ll stay in contact for years to come.
