Italy & France — Planning, executing and surviving an intergenerational vacation

by Betty Patterson, Largo, FL

Not only do I enjoy planning vacations, I love the idea of sharing some of my favorite European spots with my family. Perhaps togetherness seemed more important after my husband died, but I also felt that the younger members of my family would indeed have fun together, and I with them. I knew I’d have to cross my fingers taking one-, 6- and 8-year-old grandchildren along, but I felt it was doable.

The planning begins

I really enjoy the freedom of staying in a villa when visiting Europe, so step one was to find villas that could accommodate eight people, provide entertainment for all ages, keep step climbing to a minimum for me and give us the flexibility to spend one week each in Italy and France. I knew the drive would be long on the day we transferred from one property to the other, but I also wanted to dip far enough into Italy to give the young couple who had never before visited Europe a true feel for the country.

I chose the Dordogne (Perigord) region of France, knowing it would offer everyone wonderful touring and dining experiences and give the 6- and 8-year-olds (Matthew and Madison) the fun of exploring castles, canoeing on the Dordogne River and experiencing the wonder of the prehistoric paintings in the area’s array of caves.

I didn’t realize how many rental agencies specializing in villas exist, but what fun it was to explore catalogs and Internet sites! It would have been really easy to find a villa in Tuscany or Umbria that fit my needs, but my challenge was finding one along the coast in Liguria to satisfy my quest for an Italian experience that wasn’t too far from France’s Dordogne area.

Finally, on the Rentvillas.com website, the perfect property appeared. Granted, it cost quite a bit more than I had planned to spend (the current rate is $7,333-$9,333 per week, depending on the season), but I rationalized it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “Rapallo with yacht” was what the description read. It turned out to be a lovely property (actually, the middle floor of an aging but grand villa) overlooking Rapallo’s harbor, with a vintage yacht and a personable captain, Piero, at our disposal. The villa’s location, right next to the Old Town on one side and the harbor promenade on the other, allowed for easy access to afternoon gelatos and leisurely strolls after dinner.

A tiny public beach across the street (as opposed to the private ones with lounges) satisfied Madison and Matthew, even though it was a far cry from our Florida expanses.

When talking to the Rentvilla’s agent about the villa in Rapallo, I was told about a property in the Dordogne, Au Bord du Fleuve, which totally fit our needs — and at half the price of the one in Italy, albiet without the yacht. It was one of the very few I found in that area.

Villas can also be found in the Perigord Chamber of Commerce catalog, but it is very hard to communicate with landlords. (I e-mailed/wrote to several and received no replies.)

Transportation

With the properties located, flights had to be coordinated. Four members of our group were to fly from Miami (my son Matt, his wife, Kristen, and their two children) and four from New York (my daughter Rebecca, her husband, Robert, Baby Amelia and myself). I wanted us all to land at about the same time, since Matt’s gang hadn’t been to Europe, but the best I could do was two hours apart, with them landing first.

I underestimated their sense of adventure, though; they landed, stowed luggage, took the train into Milan to sightsee, came back to pick up their car and made their way down the coast to Rapallo, about a 2-hour drive.

Matt had purchased the modern equivalent of walkie-talkies — Garmin Rino 120s ($267), a combination GPS/FRS radio — and used the Garmin MapSource software to plot our routes. (For more information, visit www.garmin.com.) With a 2-car caravan, they were really helpful as we hunted for destinations (but they did eat batteries quickly, so extras were definitely needed).

I had thought renting cell phones would have been cheaper and also useful, but, despite publication advice to the contrary, there were none to be found in the Milan airport.

I had booked flights and cars through a travel agency that chose Hertz to handle our car rentals, which cost around €300 ($409) per week for the smaller car and €450 ($614) for the larger one. Although we did need the cars to drive to Rapallo and to use for sightseeing, my biggest mistake of the trip was underestimating the cost — both in money and tempers — of the 2-day drive to our French destination.

We had to spend a night in Avignon at a Novotel (not very pricey at €75, or $102, per night, but three rooms were needed) and drove at least six hours each day. Then, at the end, in Bordeaux, not only did it take 2½ hours to turn in the two cars, but we were hit with $750 in dropoff charges. We knew we’d have a charge for dropping off the cars in a different country than where we had picked them up, but no estimate had been that high.

In retrospect, we should have turned in the cars in Milan, flown to Bordeaux and rented a French car there. It would have been less tiring, too, if Hertz had provided the automatic-transmission cars we had reserved.

A final thought on the subject of cars — we found it helpful to prearrange parking at a nearby hotel garage (€16, or $22, per day) in Rapallo, where street parking, as in most metropolitan areas, is scarce.

Around Rapallo

Both villa locations turned out to be good choices. Rapallo gave us access to more than enough day trips.

Our first was the walled city of Lucca, whose narrow cobblestone streets were fun to explore and gave everyone a taste of medieval living. Matt’s family enjoyed the Leonardo da Vinci invention museum, then drove on to see nearby Pisa, where the leaning tower fascinated the kids. We shopped at a beautiful pottery, one of the few that far from Umbria and Tuscany, and had unique dishes shipped home.

Our second auto trip was to Genoa, which I deemed one of the most interesting cities I have visited in Italy. The Old City was a gem.

Through our Rapallo landlord we booked a young guide who made the fascinating city come alive. Its narrow streets and colorful history were captivating. Madison and Matthew loved seeing Christopher Columbus’ house and visiting the modern aquarium on the waterfront.

We had a good lunch along the old “butchers’ street,” at one time lined with butcher shops and still featuring several with accompanying cafés.

With the yacht we visited Portofino, with its multihued houses designed to give fishermen a bright beacon home in coastal fogs. Our yacht moored offshore (mainly because we refused the $75-per-hour fee to do so in town) and we maneuvered with a Zodiac-like dinghy to shore. Long a favorite of the jet set, the city was surprisingly compact, enabling us to enjoy many of its shops and streets for an hour before heading back for a picnic lunch.

Since we didn’t want six hours of cruising, we took the train to the Cinque Terre, the famous five villages accessible only by train, boat or hiking. Piero brought the boat to Vernazza’s harbor to pick us up for the ride home after we lunched and explored the area.

He and his wife prepared great lunches for us on the boat on other days. A talented and multilingual guitarist, Piero entertained us well while we ate and swam.

While it was hard to resist the tempting Italian produce and other foods available in stores, we cooked dinner in the villa only twice, enjoying instead the variety of restaurants in the nearby towns. Two favorites were Eden (Via Diaz 5; phone 0185 50553) in Rapallo and the trattoria La Primula (Via Madonnetta 81; phone 0185 288055) on the outskirts of Santa Margherita. At La Primula the cost for all of us was around $272.

One of the villa’s best features, though, was a huge terrace with a dining table and wonderful views of the harbor. It was a gorgeous place to sip morning coffee and watch the town awaken. And what a treat to celebrate my 70th birthday there with a delicious Italian cake!

The only negative of our summer stay was the absence of air-conditioning, causing us to have to leave windows open and endure noise and mosquitoes. However, in the French villa some screens had been installed as well as some unusual cooling units that used water and ice cubes.

On to France

Our French villa was well situated for enjoying almost all the sights I had wanted to share with the young people in our group. It was a beautiful property, with the central part of the house dating back to the 16th century when it served as a ferry landing on the river. (There was still a slit in one of the thick stone walls where chains had been used to haul boats across.) Not only was it comfortable and well equipped, it included an infinity pool, which gave everybody a wonderful place to unwind after a day of touring.

I loved my downstairs bedroom and private bath. Although we could have used one more bedroom with a larger bed, everyone made do.

While we visited almost all of my favorite spots in the area, we didn’t make it to Rocamadour, which is, as one guidebook proclaimed, “ostentatiously magnificent.” Clamped to a rock face, from the top it offers views of castle ramparts, church buildings, a colorful village and the river Alzou. However, it would have been a long drive for us and a difficult challenge with a stroller, so we chose to skip it.

We did, however, delight Madison and Matthew with two 12th-century castles, Castelnaud and Beynac, each about 30 minutes from our Siorac villa. Each exchanged tenants many times as the English and French traded victories in the Hundred Years’ War. Both crown their towns, which cling to the rock faces below and are separated by the Dordogne River.

Castelnaud features a fascinating armor museum, including a catapult and even an interactive video showing how the battles were fought. Beynac is less restored but is just as atmospheric and features some lovely tapestries.

Below the little villages clinging to the cliffs runs the Dordogne River, which presents the opportunity for boat rides and canoe rentals, both of which were enjoyed by our group. Make sure that your rental pickup arrangement lets you canoe past the castles.

Day trips

All of the towns in the area have market days, and the two we enjoyed most were in Sarlat and Domme. From food to clothing, they provide a wonderful morning’s entertainment. It’s very hard not to take home more cheese, bread and fruit than your gang can ever finish.

Another fine excursion was to the cave at Rouffignac, where we took the electric train to the main cavern, where lights illuminated the bison, mammoths, deer and bears painted so many million years ago. As in all caves, the air was chilly, so warm clothes are needed.

The train made the 8-kilometer trip much easier for the little folk and was the main reason we chose this cave over more famous ones like the reproductions at Lascaux.

Sarlat is the main town of the area and has been called one of the best-preserved medieval towns in all of Europe. Its ancient buildings are next to Renaissance mansions, and the narrow, winding streets and alleys reveal gems at every turn. Shops, restaurants, churches and galleries make you want to come back again and again.

The region is famous for its duck and goose products,with paté and foie gras featured in many stores which offer delicious tastings. Mushrooms, especially cèpes, and walnut and prune liquors can be found as well.

In our town of Siorac, one of our favorite restaurants was Le Trèfle a Quatre Feuilles. With a menu fairly typical of the area, meals here ranged from about $12 to $18. For example, dinner could include a walnut-roquefort salad, garlic soup, duck confit or fish with walnut sauce and crème brûlée for dessert. Its garden was perfect for dining with children.

Another top gourmet choice was La Pergola in Le Bugue. In restaurants, especially, we really appreciated Rebecca’s ability to speak both French and Italian. I’m not sure what some of our meals would have included without her.

Looking back

Our flight home left so early in the morning that we sacrificed another night at the villa to drive to Bordeaux, passing through manicured vineyards and tempting wineries. Again, we rented three rooms at a Novotel near the airport (€65, or $89, per room), one which welcomed children with free toys and a playroom.

Those of us who ate at the hotel even enjoyed French cuisine to the end, with our hamburgers secured between polenta and blue cheese instead of buns and catsup!

It is always hard to predict weather, but our mid-June ’06 trip worked out well. The temperatures got much warmer just after we left, and if we had gone earlier the water for swimming would have been a bit cool. As it was, we did pay to have the pool in France heated. Having spent time on another occasion in Italy in steamy August, I found June to be perfect.

I worried about entertaining the children, but it was amazingly easy. A few cars and toys kept Matthew happy in the villas, and both kids were surprisingly fascinated by the old towns of Lucca and Genoa. Of course, the occasional gelato or soda was more than welcome.

The yacht and beach were big hits in Italy and, as expected, the Dordogne sights were perfect. We also were blessed with a happy baby who traveled well and rarely cried.

While half the fun of a trip is the anticipation, how special it is when things really do work out well! My only regret is the trying drive from Italy to France.

I’m grateful, though, that our group, with babies and little people, recognized that we had varied needs and desires, and occasionally we had to enjoy different destinations and dining experiences. I totally recommend the multifamily adventure with a group who realizes that compromise and laughter are key ingredients for success.