When I first told my family that I was traveling to Vichy, France, they gasped and said, “But you’re not interested in World War 2 history!”

Confused, I replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I do know that I love to visit unique spas all around the world.  Haven’t you ever seen Vichy skincare products at the pharmacy?”

I quickly learned that Vichy means different things to different people.  To my parents, Vichy, France was the the capital city of the French State during the middle of World War 2, when the Nazis were occupying most of northern France and Phillipe Pétain set up a new, conservative government that quietly collaborated with their Nazi occupiers. To me, Vichy, France was a spa town with mineral waters promising to cure every ailment and leaving me looking like a fresh-faced teenager by the time I departed.