It Takes A Village

After logging 250 blogs, I took a little break. After all, not much was happening beyond daily life in a sleepy village… but once I dusted off my keyboard, I realized there was much to share about this sojourn.

In the blog I posted last March, we were returning to the Modern Elder Academy in Baja, Mexico, for a week-long workshop. Afterward, we returned to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, before heading to France for a three-month stay in Samois-sur-Seine, the small village where our daughter lives with her husband and three children.  

The Modern Elder Academy campus is so beautiful. A true seaside oasis in an otherwise dry and dusty area of Pescadero.

MEA is often called a Mid-Life Wisdom School. Its programs are dedicated to helping people of a certain age contemplate their “second or third act” in life. In our case, we were looking at Reframing Retirement: Thriving in the Next Phase of Your Life. Altogether there were 28 attendees. We were surprised at how quickly we bonded with this diverse collection of “wisdom seekers.”

Every group becomes an MEA Cohort. You give yourselves a name and hopefully stay in touch after the session. We left with the moniker “Staying Alive” based on a dance party we had one evening and our hopes for a long and fulfilling life.

Our week with twenty six other wisdom seekers at MEA also felt like a “village” experience!

We didn’t experience a “retirement epiphany." But we did leave Baja with a renewed commitment to our nomadic way of life. We’ll just be staying longer in fewer places. The upcoming trip to Samois was the perfect next step.

 We learned through the Samois grapevine that the owners of a small cottage in the village were moving to the South of France for a year and needed renters starting in April. We reached out with an offer to stay for the first three months. Best of all, we are just a three-minute walk from Bouron’s front door.

We love our temporary home. The kitchen is great - and we even have a little garden to putter in.

 The offer came with the use of their car which has allowed us to help the family even more since driving kids to various practices and appointments is a universal part of what parents do all day! And, of course, it has allowed for some great day trips and a few longer excursions for Michael and me. More on those in the next blog.

Samois-sur-Seine is a picture perfect village along the river Seine. It is surrounded by the Fontainebleau Forest where “boulderers” - those who love to climb boulders, convene to clamber to the top of some of the largest rocks in the world.

Samois is like a movie set. It’s narrow lanes and stone buildings date back to the 1500s. There are Victorian mansions that sit high about the Seine. And barge traffic that meanders along that same river. There are acres of forest on all sides and the little town square is delightful. And to top it off, right now the entire village is drenched in flowers. (visit our Senior Nomads Facebook page for some great pictures.)

But it is a small village with a population that hovers around 2,200 residents. There is just one boulangerie that happens to be just around the corner. So warm baguettes and other delights have become a daily treat.

 Did you know that the French government regulates the production and price of a baguette? They must be made on-premise using only four ingredients and cannot cost more than €1.20. And if you have more than one bakery in your village, they must coordinate the day of the week they close and negotiate holidays so the denizens always have access to fresh bread. In our case, the bakery is closed on Wednesdays, so the Superette (mini-store) has large canvas bags of fresh baguettes brought in.

 The Superette is a treasure trove of goods and the only place to fill in the gap between car trips to the supermarket. It is owned by a Moroccan family who works tirelessly to keep it stocked with fresh fruit, vegetables, dairy, candy for the kids, and whatever basics a self-respecting French person would expect. From Cornflakes to Camembert, Flip Flops to Foi Gras, and an entire wall of wine. They are also the default hardware store!

Hussain is the youngest of the Moroccan clan that run the Superette. He loves to have visitors share where they are from on the map in front of him.

 There is a village school, an excellent pharmacy, a busy dental and medical clinic, a postage stamp-sized post office, a butcher, a Tabac that serves as the local watering hole, a mediocre Italian restaurant, and a lovely boutique coffee and lunch spot whose hours we have yet to figure out. There is a magnificent medieval church. However, there is no bank, ATM, stationery store, hairdresser, or single shop other than a very strange (and rarely open) antique store.

The town square filled with residents during one of several summer jazz concerts.

 On Thursday afternoons, a few traveling vendors arrive with fresh seafood, meat, and poultry (not available at the Superette), fruit and vegetables, and a range of organic wines, honey, and cheese. Sometimes there is kitchenware, clothing, and potted plants. And sometimes, if it’s pouring rain, nothing at all. 

As you can imagine, the school drop-off gate is the community hub. If you want to know what’s going on, including houses for sale, who's getting divorced, who’s moving, schoolyard best-friend-break-ups, and the general village gossip, this is the place.

There is no train station in Samois-sur-Seine. That makes housing in this bucolic hamlet on the Seine more affordable. To reach Paris from here, you drive ten minutes to the Boi le Roi station. From there, the journey to Gare de Lyon takes just 35 minutes. We have taken that journey many times to enjoy Paris and beyond.

The big city is not far away! It’s amazing that you can get from the middle of a forest to Gare de Lyon in just 35 minutes.

And lest you think Samois is boring, there always seems to be an intimate concert, a fete, an art show, or classes to take in pottery and painting, as well as pilates, Tai Chi. In fact, Mr. Campbell has cracked the nearby Bridge Club. Not easy with his basic French, but he is charming and willing to learn, so the stylish ladies of a certain age have taken him in.

And you can walk forever in the forest (just watch out for wild boars!) and also along the river. And there is plentiful shopping, nightlife, and great restaurants in Fontainebleau, just 15 minutes away.

We used to swoop into Samois from far-flung corners of the world for two or three weeks at a time. With this longer visit, we’ve been present for two birthdays, countless family dinners, school events, football matches, and just hanging out. It’s been such a joy!

 Mary continues to be booked solid as a food stylist (someone who makes food look pretty for television commercials), and her husband Gregoire has begun a career as a Rick Steve’s tour guide! As I write this, he is on his third two-week tour, so our being here has been more helpful than we imagined.

Gregoire in action. He leads Rick Steve’s “My Way” tours around Europe.

 Before we depart for England and Wales on July 12th, Mary, granddaughter Colette and I head to Lyons for a long weekend. Michael is taking a fast train to the beach in southern France. And the two of us have been offered respite at a friend's charming cottage in Normandy. A few days before we leave Samois, the Bouron clan will head out for a summer holiday in Denmark and beyond. We are so grateful we’ve had this opportunity to spend time with our family - it’s been amazing.

It’s been nice to have a space to plant a few flowers, knowing we’d be here to enjoy them!

 At the beginning of our nomadic journey, we raced around the world. Ten days in a city was almost too long! Then Covid curtailed our travels, and we lingered in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for a few months. We’ve returned to SMA for January through April for three years now. After this three-month sojourn in France, we might just re-brand ourselves as The Senior Slowmads!

Thanks as always for following along,

Debbie and Michael Campbell

The (for now) Senior Nomads  

Three years ago, we started a Senior Nomads Facebook Group. It started with 200 followers who agreed it would be great to have a place to swap stories, share advice and ask questions. We are now 7,000 members strong! If you are a nomad or nomad-curious, or just want to keep up on our travels, please join the group!