House swapping a family treat
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 Sensible traveler Destinations Where they went Get in gear Going Strong All Along
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We had wanted to vacation in France, but didn't relish the thought of sharing a hotel room for two weeks with our two children -- nor did we relish the expense. So we took a deep breath, snapped a picture of our house in its most flattering light, and submitted it to one of those international house-exchange agencies.
The result? A wonderful, affordable French vacation. And, as a bonus, new French friends who held down the fort chez nous.
The company we used, Intervac International (www.intervac
us.com; 800-756-4663), offers an alphabetical listing of countries in which homeowners are looking to swap their digs for yours. It operates a bit like the personals. Once the ad runs, it's up to the parties to make their own match. Our catalog arrived in the winter, a perfect time to start envisioning ourselves in France, drinking wine amid sun-dappled vineyards (or, in the kids' case, riding Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris). The offerings are also online. One of our first e-mails came from Jean Michel in Paris. He and his wife had two teenage boys and a 2-year-old girl. More importantly, they had an apartment in Paris and a home in Burgundy. Both would be ours for two weeks. And so we found ourselves, in mid-August, handing over our house and car keys to strangers and taking a leap of faith to Paris. As it turned out, our cars were identical minivans, down to the color, purple. We also exchanged survival lists: how to operate the washer and dryer, the location of the nearest supermarket, the phone numbers of neighbors, favorite local spots.
We arrived in Paris at 8 a.m., dropped our bags at the compact, three-bedroom apartment, and, map in hand, set out for Jean Michel's favorite boulangerie. Two baguettes, three croissants, and a lemon tart later, we felt fortified enough to tackle the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Champs-Elysees.
The first night, jet-lagged, we stopped by a neighborhood grocery and bought dinner: bread, cheese, pate, fruit, and cookies, which we ate at "home." Meals like that -- simple, cheap, and authentic -- were a staple of our stay, something we would never be able to pull off in a hotel room.
Our apartment was in the 13th arrondissement, one of the few sections of Paris that has no tourist attractions. But our neighborhood had one important benefit: It was in Chinatown. Staying there was wonderfully sensuous: The air smelled of soy sauce and rice wine, our park hosted elderly Asians practicing tai chi, store windows were filled with bright porcelain dishes and fitted satin dresses, and we sampled some excellent Chinese and Thai food.
After a week of sightseeing, we decided to take some country air, so we eased the van out of the garage and made our way to the Peroux home in Burgundy. The village of Villon is so small it isn't even on most maps. We loved it from the instant we could see the stone church rising in the distance, just past the fields of sunflowers.
As small as the Paris apartment was, this house was huge. And as noisy as Paris had been, Villon was absolutely still. With only 100 people in town, we quickly became a curiosity. Our neighbors across the road advised us where to go for the best wine-tasting. The old couple in the corner house waved each morning as I jogged by. My kids spoke shyly -- in French -- to village children, who replied -- shyly -- in English.
Best of all, the country gave the kids some needed space. They scaled the stone walls, played tag on the church green, and helped fix the trays of food that we carried out to the garden each evening.
Burgundy is, of course, in the heart of wine country. When we were there, vineyards heavy with grapes lined the roads around towns with famous names such as Chablis, Beaune, Gevrey-Chambertin, and Nuits St. Georges. During our country stay, we visited Dijon, famous for its mustard, hiked in the Parc du Morvan, and stopped in medieval towns with their abbeys, chateaux, and half-timbered houses. We watched house barges make their lazy way down canals. We (adults) tasted a lot of wine.
Five days later, it was with real sadness that we stripped the beds, cleaned out the refrigerator, and returned to Paris for our last two days. Back in the city, the woman at our corner boulangerie greeted us with a grin and a baguette. We put in a call to Jean Michel to make sure everything was OK at our house. They had had a great time, too.
In the end, the benefits of exchanging houses were multiple. Besides the obvious financial savings, we enjoyed living among French people instead of being surrounded by hotel clerks and concierges. We got views of French life not visible from a hotel room. We had much more space. And instead of standing empty for two weeks, our home had been cared for by a nice family.
We recently received our renewal form in the mail from Intervac. This year, we're thinking Greece.
The pal problem
Some of us live for our family vacations; others consider the term an oxymoron. But sooner or later, we will all hear the dreaded question: Can I bring a friend? My family has wrestled with this one, from weekend jaunts to weeklong trips.
What's a parent to do? Bringing a friend along definitely changes the zeitgeist of a family vacation -- not to mention the cost. Will your other child(ren) feel left out? Do you really want to share a hotel room with another child?
Sometimes we say yes; other times, no. Here are some tips we've come up with, through trial and error: Consider the compatability of the friend to the entire family, plus the cost and nature of planned activities, the duration of the trip (the shorter the better), the need for "family" time. It's good to say yes when everyone feels OK about it, but it should also be clear that there are some times that are just for family, and children need to respect that. On the plus side, friends can take the pressure off so that parents don't have to constantly entertain. And, if you take their friends along, your child may get similar invitations that will offer her or him fun experiences.
Bella English can be reached at english@globe.com.
