I’ve just returned from a peaceful and pleasantly stress-free week at the Clocktower Cottage in Duras. My goals were simple: to spend a week wandering the village lanes, eating simple dinners curated from outdoor market finds, popping into local brocantes to see what’s “new,” and, in the evenings, sitting with a book and a glass of Duras wine and drifting off to sleep listening to the sound of the wind blowing leaves along the rue.

I was successful in meeting all of these goals. I made sure to walk on every street in the village either in the daytime or as the sun set. I visited the boucherie for their homemade goose rillettes, some country paté and rabbit terrine. I bought wine from Molhiere, arguably the best producer in Duras. At the Monday market I found the chicken guy and walked away with a pair of spit-roasted quail and potatoes cooked in the chicken drippings then ate them on my balcony–only stopping to say “merci,” when passers by called out “bon appetit.” At the brocante I found some exquisite handmade lace doilies and a set of bone-handled fish knives. I stopped in to the pottery shop and walked out with a beautiful bowl. I did some reading and caught up on the Poldark series on my iPad.

My vacation was exactly what I was hoping for. I did nothing extraordinary, but I lived the French village life we all dream about.