I got my regular newsletters from Forbes today and, among the others, there was this article about what and how women should pack for a weekend trip. Apparently, the author had never really tried to look stylish in a dress which she wore on the beach. It may be only me, but after a few hours on the sand, my dresses look like I took them straight from the garbage can. Any suggestions about using them with high heels and hitting the bars in the evening make me giggle. No doubt I would attract quite a bit of attention. Not the attention I'd like to though.
Then came the advice for the sunscreen. It says you should not trust only your cream/foundation SPF but use regular sunscreen under the make up. I would say: don't use foundation on the beach at all. From my experience, for some reason unknown, foundation on the beach not only makes the skin dirty and causes black spots (no matter what the manufacturer says) but also makes the tan uneven, and can grant you with spots which resemble the aging stains. Not nice at all.
Next I found this article about Provence: http://www.forbestraveler.com/provence.html . This is written by a/someone who had many bad things happening to him/her in Provence or b/has never been there.
Please, don't trust him/her. Avignon is absolutely beautiful but you have to know where to go. Reading only brochures doesn't help. One has to follow the locals and read tons of reviews to get an idea about a city/village. Aix-en-Provence is great but by no means greater than Avignon. If you go to Aix having read only tourist brochures, you can find it impersonal too. And there are so many beautiful villages in Provence which are never listed in these articles or brochures! Skip the Saint remy and Gordes, look for a detailed advice according to your own preferences! Or ask me!
Now, having said all that, what would you pack for a two week vacation to Provence? Would it be different from what you'd pack for Cote D'Azur? Italy? Spain? In other words, does the destination define what we pack?
I have built my own system for packing - I grab two things of each section of my wardrobe. It means I have two shirts, two tops, two pairs of pants, dresses, skirts, beachware, etc. The underwear, of course, is a separate category. Then I get flip-flops, day shoes, walking shoes, and two types of evening shoes. If I go to France, scarfs are my best bet! Sun hat - a stylich big one for the Cote D'Azur + big classic sun glasses. For Provence, Italy and Spain - a cute little panama hat + edgy sunglasses.
Another separate category is cosmetics - I always have tiny creams, lotions, toners in my hand bag. The rest goes to the luggage. I never leave without my usual shampoo as I find different types of water damaging my hair. I always get conditioner and one of the "stay on" conditioners for the beach. Sunscreen - I will disagree with the 30 SPF al the time. It takes away the ability of the skin to build up its own screen. I start with 25SPF for the first three-four days. Then I always switch to 20SPF. Gradually I reduce the number to 12-15SPF the last three-four days. The result is I never burn and always get an even, great looking tan.
And my baby's staff is a whole other story! :)))
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