Here’s another travel review blog – very enjoyable type of blog to write because you get to document and relive your travel experience!

I’ve just come back from a wonderful long weekend stay in the Sajarank villa, which is close to a village called Tourrettes sur Loup, near Nice, France.

My husband Anders and I (pictured above) live and work in London – and are used to a hectic and busy life. It’s amazing how the different environment made me actually relax. I think we got started on relaxing a mere 10 minutes from leaving the airport car park – driving towards the villa. The weather was great (even in March) and it’s just gorgeous everywhere you look.

I am generally not that good at properly relaxing but I still managed to while here – even though I was still just as connected to work and life via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and email. I did bring my laptop as there is Wifi at the villa, and managed to do some useful work during our stay – so I felt productive!

The villa is surrounded by beautiful scenery, secluded enough to feel peaceful, but located close to lots of gorgeous areas and villages. It’s an extremely well equipped and comfortable living space, with a barbecue, lovely bedrooms, en suite bathrooms, a fantastic kitchen and beautiful garden. There is plenty of natural light and a great indoor/outdoor combination.

Here are some pictures from the villa

Some things I noticed while there:

One shop for each item

Strangely I rather like that we could go and by bread from the boulangerie and croissants from the patisserie and meat from the boucherie (or is it charcuterie?). Is it because I am charmed by things that one would take for granted if one lived in France? It’s fun that we would make the rounds of the different specialty stores to get food. We did also go to the “Casino” a few times for groceries. I suppose food was a big part of our holiday (which is normal, right?)!

Trees

The Cote d’Azur has exceptionally beautiful trees which I kept taking pictures of. We don’t get trees like this in London!

A time for everything

Being in the area requires some adaptation of our habits. If we wanted pain au chocolate, we needed to get to the patisserie early, or it would be gone. Lunch has to be at lunchtime – so if you arrive at 3pm there will be no food at any restaurant. We did cook at the villa quite often.

In a way you need to plan your routine around when things are available. Which is fine – in London I tend to forget to eat at the right times, or I just eat throughout the day, and this lifestyle teaches me to eat when you are meant to. I guess the French way is to properly break for food and not just expect it non-stop.

Abundance of scenery

It’s amazing how great France is at designing living spaces. They have a knack of making man-made structure look good within surrounding nature, and there really isn’t any ugliness anywhere. I took so many pictures wherever we went – and we visited many areas – Valbonne, Mougins, Eze, Antibes and St Paul de Vence.

Shopping

There is plenty to buy as well – and you may want to pick up locally produced soap, olive oil, spices, perfume, chocolates – or shop in one of the many clothing boutiques (I bought myself a new scarf – pictured below). And the area is full of art galleries, worth a look just in case you fall in love with something!

A new kind of holiday

In the past I have mainly gone to stay in places where I have family living (Tel Aviv, LA, Sweden) or on ski trips.
This wasn’t a beach holiday, or a city break, or a ski trip. It’s a whole different type of holiday, and much more relaxing – without being boring as there is plenty to see (and eat!).

I highly recommend you have your own version of this holiday. The villa sleeps 6 and is ideal for families/trips with friends. Have a look at The villa’s website for more information and let me know if you go!