White areas disappear as years go. Unforeseen network coverage, they inspired a new travel trend: that of disconnection. Unplugated vacation portrait.
The phone rings, the vibrator sounds. Notifications rain, reminders too. If it is enough to lock the screen to cut off a few bit of the digital world for the benefit of the present moment, it is often complicated to get rid of it. Today, dinners with friends lose in conversations, while concerts live through a screen. We almost no longer turn off our phone, and consult it as soon as we wake up has become a reflex. In this context, it is difficult to fully live the moment, to return to the essence of the moment.
Yet more and more people tend to disconnect. Far from this world that never sleeps, the trend is now to the taste of the true. Enjoy the trip, we take you to the discovery of a disconnecting experience.
Life without phone to life without nothing
The adventure, far from everyday, is the promise of a full experience. But then, what does the trip start? Before taking the wide without a network, here are some ideas of disconnected alternatives, the story of getting into the bath.
Easy...
Here we are at the Hotel Westin Paris-Vendôme. Perfect first for a disconnected stay, the hotel gives the tone as soon as it enters. Here, safes are at your disposal to deposit your smartphones, tablets or anything that could bring you back to the hyperconnected world. Once this step passes, direction the well-being space. Care, massages and outdoor escapades are on the program to free your mind. Enjoy the instant without phone.
Photo credit: Facebook – The Westin Paris – Vendôme
In the same mobility, you can move to the Vichy Spa Hotel Les Célestins. However, you will not be alone to fight your addiction to connected objects. A medical and nutritional consultation awaits you from the beginning of your stay as well as a psycho-behavioural coach. Another important aspect: personalized meals. Exit junk food and other poisonings in small fire, place snacks that allow you to regain your balance and shape.
Photo credit: Facebook – Vichy Célestins Spa Hotel – Vichy-France
To go further, direction the Château de la Gravière. If it opens its doors to people in search of disconnection, you will be the engine of your stay. Here, disconnection is seen as a therapy: digital detox. The goal? You're getting hyper-connected, and you're going out. But above all, you learn to enjoy! On the programme of this retreat, the discovery of the Médoc region. Here, it is enough to taste great wines to forget the time. And as a detox stay must prolong in time, you will finish your therapy by establishing a plan of actions. So you will not fall back into your crosses.
Photo credit: Facebook – Château La Gravière, Charming guest house with pool and spa – Médoc
... But surely
If some see disconnection as a therapy, others consider it a full holiday mode. This is the case of disconnected tourism. More immersive, he invites freedom and promises to discover a destination outside the beaten paths.
Combining a break unplugged alone, with a family or two, is creating its own experience. From the simple frame disconnecting to the famous white zone – where in the digital desert nobody hears you shout – everyone sees noon at his door.
From the Cantal plateaus to a trek in Sardinia, and to the border of India, be sure of one thing: the disconnection has no border. Once on the spot, just let yourself be carried. It takes time to (re)discover a place by traveling otherwise, it slows the step away from daily frenzy.
Photo credits: Shutterstock – Twinsterphoto / happy_contributors
Indeed, in addition to the screens, disconnecting is also synonymous with fullness and immensity. And it passes through all the desires, from dreams to challenges: a stay on horseback away from any signal, a few days of walking to the discovery of secret verses, a freshwater weekend aboard a barge or a week of farniente in the Provençal secret lands... You see that? Wait, you're almost there.
Example proof is one of the best ways to show you the benefits of a disconnection. For this, we propose you to go in the footsteps of the mimosa.
The road to mimosa: portrait of a disconnected journey
From the country of kangaroos to the Riviera
Originally from the Australian continent, mimosa is brought back into the cargoes of a long and costly Napoleonic expedition to man. His first French flowering occurred in 1811, in the park of Malmaison under the emerrated gaze of Josephine de Beauharnais. But his Parisian escapade will be short-lived and it is in Provence that he settles permanently. So to learn more about him, direction Bormes-les-Mimosas, one of the "capitals" of the little winter sun.
Photo credit: Shutterstock – Marina VN
As the previous word indicates, to make the most of the shimmering colors prepare your stay between January and March. Legend tells us that mimosa has kept in memory its period of Australian flowering. In the country of the kangaroos, it takes place in September or early spring. Change of hemisphere forces, so the dates are 6 months away.
To put you in condition from your departure, study your journey on a Michelin map. Once all road or highway changes are transcribed on a sheet of paper, it is time to leave.
Arrival on site, leave time to time and only worry about the present moment. Why not find the original habitat of mimosa? There is no need to go to Australia, only to meet in the city centre of Bormes-les-Mimosas. A magical place awaits you.
Gonzalez Park, Australian Mediterranean parenthesis
Take a trip for a Napoleonic explorer and go to the conquest of Gonzalez Park, former residence of the French-Spanish painter Roberta Gonzalez. Only your eyes will witness this unique wildlife in Europe. Between flowers with improbable shapes and bushes that stand up to heaven, you will be transported to another continent.
Take a maximum of the places so that many mental photographs remain engraved in your mind. On the heights of the park, you will see the sea color azur. It will be an excellent destination to pre-fill once your getaway is complete.
Photo credit: Wikipedia – Tangopaso
The Corso de Bormes-les-Mimosas
Sublime when it grows on the trees, the mimosa is magnified when it dresses tanks. Each year around the end of February, Bormes-les-Mimosas organizes its "Corso". A gigantic parade – built around a theme – devalues the main avenue to amaze locals as tourists.
Find the right location and pay attention to detail to enjoy the show that takes place under your eyes. You discover that the yellow color of mimosa gets married with an incalculable number of flowers and that it can dress the least bouquet. After the passage of the flowered constructions and performers, you will be sent to mimosas. Try to catch one for her perfume to get you a few days.
This little breeze will only be your companion a few days because the mimosa with the unfortunate tendency to fade quickly. So what do we do to keep it on a perennial basis?
The quest for a souvenir
To keep a trophy of your past adventure, head to the Cavatore nursery. More than 200 species of mimosa are stored! But how do you choose the one that best suits you? Each plant with its particular color or different leaves but all are more beautiful than each other. Let yourself be guided by the owners' advice to find the variety that will survive once you return home. But be careful, the goal is not to expose it to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or other social network!
This totem will be the symbol of your new life. A life less regulated by technology and placed under the sign of continuous wonder.
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