Last month, on my trip to the Northwest of France I had the fortune to stay in the most enchanting Airbnb in my seven years of traveling across four continents. My family and I all agreed that it was among the best if not the single best experience we have encountered.
From the cleanliness of the place, and warmth of the hosts, to the peace and beauty of the house by the Bay, everything was spotless. There were small thoughtful touches everywhere. We had a tea station with ready-made hot water, and high-quality local (and I mean local from the region we stay at and not just made in France) tea available all day. In one of the bedrooms, they provided us with similarly, locally made butter cookies and caramels.
As pictured below is our breakfast every morning. We had croissants and pain au chocolat from the local boulangerie. The host Claudie, asked us about our drink preferences, whether it is hot chocolate, orange juice, or tea, and prepared them to our liking. Not stopping there, Claudie presented us with homemade yogurt and three types of jam each morning: strawberry, peach, and plum. On the last day, she offered two pastry specialties of Bretagne: kouign amann and far aux pruneaux, totalling twelve pastries between the four of us all before nine o’clock. If you peek closely, you can see the names of the pastry in the note card on the front plate.
One of my favorite spots to sit and ponder during the stay is their backyard. As I sat in the garden and looked at their house, I couldn’t help but notice how neat and thoughtful the entire house is organized. Hedges were cleanly cut, benches placed optimally for comfort and aesthetics. No traces of dirt were found nor a random tool strewn about. I am not a home interior or landscape design aficionado but their house made me wonder how a beautiful space can one, transform your everyday life and two, reflect who you are as a person.
Personally, I see decorating as a good-to-have but not necessary. Read: I don’t sleep without a bed frame but the art in my room doesn’t share a theme. In my own home, I keep things fairly minimal so this experience felt like a game changer.
As we spent more time in their home, we learned that Claudie used to work as a secretary and her husband JJ is a well-decorated French Marine. I was curious about their background as they did a wonderful job hosting and everything clicked when I learned about their career pre-retirement. As a former secretary, Claudie has to be detail-oriented, thoughtful, and good at predicting what people need. She perfectly illustrates those traits. I could sense a strong discipline and punctuality in the couple’s lifestyle, which is likely influenced by the husband’s career in the military.
What this couple does with their home reminded me of the saying:
“How you do anything thing is how you do everything”
It is the essence of who they are that bleeds into everything, from work to home life. They are meticulous, thoughtful and great at planning. The way they set up their home and subsequently perfect the guests’ experience reflect their personal and indirectly professional qualities. What they tell us about their career indicates how hard-working and conscientious they can be. What they do with their space as we experience confirms it. They exemplify the model of hospitality I aspire to if I host people in my home in the future. I realize that how one puts effort into the smallest thing is how they show up for the bigger feats in life.
Instead of focusing on what is in the future, take care of what is in front of you. It can be most tempting to want to escape reality and expect a better alternative. Ironically, the answer is to get your current situation right (whether mentally or literally) and the next life chapter will organically open itself to you. If you do good work in your current job, you can get a promotion or raise. If you keep your living space pleasant, you will have a nice home to live in. You have to start somewhere and save if you want to travel far away, buy a house, open your own business, etc.
Down the road, you might encounter a chance that allow you to drastically drange your life. In the meantime, all you have is the now. What you have is your current job, living space, city or town where you are, the friends you keep, and the family you have. Get the small things right and the bigger things will fall into place.
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Loved this piece. The hosts are someone to aspire to. And the breakfast spread was so thoughtful! All the pastries look really yummy haha.