The Art of Slowing Down...

VIE DE LUXE TRAVEL Curated. Considered. Unforgettable.

Growing up, some of my happiest summers were spent in St. Émilion with my cousins — a fifth-generation family tradition that has now become a sixth.

We'd race our bikes through the narrow lanes, raid a neighbour's cherry tree on the way home, and settle into long, meandering lunches where the afternoon light seemed to bend around the vines. Our parents would linger over glass after glass of wine, the conversation drifting lazily between French and franglais, while we children were allowed the tiniest sip , which felt, at the time, like the greatest privilege in the world. Straight from the barrels in the barn.

Time, in St. Émilion, simply stopped. And nobody seemed to mind.

I think about those summers often - not because they were grand or spectacular, but because they weren't. They were quiet. Unhurried. Rooted in place. The kind of afternoons that take up very little room in a photograph but a great deal of room in your heart.

Those memories are what I come back to every time I design a journey.

We live in a world that applauds the itinerary with the most stamps, the most sights, the most ground covered. And there is joy in that, certainly. But the moments that actually stay - the ones that surface years later over a dinner table when someone asks "tell me about a trip that changed you" — those are rarely the ones that were scheduled.

They are the unplanned 3 hour lunch in a Burgundy village. The morning in Provence when you had nowhere to be and walked until you found a market, and then stayed. The train journey through the Alps where you put your phone down and simply watched the world move past the window.

This is what I build into every journey I craft for you. Not emptiness — but space. Intentional, beautiful, breathing space. Room for the unexpected moment to find you.

Summer 2026 Is Almost Here

If you've been thinking about a wonderful journey this summer — whether a bespoke week in France, a Rhine river cruise, a slow meander through Tuscany, trekking the jungle in Bali, or something else entirely — now is the time to begin. The best rooms, the finest small ships, and the most sought-after experiences are going quickly.

I'd love to help you design a journey with moments worth remembering. The kind that come back to you, unbidden, years from now — the way St. Émilion still comes back to me.

Let's start planning.

With warmth,

Christina Monk Vie de Luxe Travel Luxury & Bespoke Travel Consultant | Evanston, IL 503-333-3444