And So It Begins

8/25 - 7:14am

The day is finally here. It feels like a snapshot scene from Snatch. Passport check. Bypass security. First Class lounge cocktails. Recline luxury seats.  Headphones on.  Wheels off.  Bordeaux. Filet. Sleep.

Milan.

There is never a financially justifiable time for a middle class human to fly First Class.  Alternatively, for Shiloh’s birthday and this once in a lifetime opportunity there isn’t a justifiable reason not to.  Chewing the reality and depleted bank account... it was absolutely worth it. 

I am writing this from the front porch of our plaster and stone villa in Provence (pronounced Pro-Vaughnce - only the French can make simple words sound snobby) where we arrived yesterday just as the sun was kissing the western hills, and the glow of the vineyard in our backyard at dusk beckoned an immediate family cannon ball into the pool.  Jet lagged and starving we walked into our tiny town to the only restaurant and in proper French tradition were denied, “no reservations”.  They did allow us to buy a bottle of wine, pasta and tuna to which Shiloh somehow turned into the most incredible meal, accompanied by tomatoes and herbs from the garden.  The wine was a classic Rhone (85% Syrah 15% Grenache) bold and elegant, and no doubt we will be having more of this again soon.

Sleep was kind’ish and waking up at 7am to Brody and Shi heading off for a village walk I was called to my computer to catch up on the work I’d ignored. 

So here I am, sitting at a wobbling metal table that shakes every time I hit the space bar, smelling the morning dew as it’s zapped from the lavender that surrounds the property visited by a chorus of birds and graced by an 80+ year old couple who is tortoise pace walking down the pebble road holding hands and clearly still in love, and I am reminded that the complexities of this life are a duvet, and only the lucky few who find joy in simplicity will live a truly full life.

And I am making it my mission to find that here on this grand Caffrey adventure.