We spent two weeks down in the south of France on the Côte d'Azur, between Toulon and Marseille. Eti's family have a couple of sites in a private camping ground, so it's a great place to spend the summer holidays...especially when many of the wider family on both sides also have sites or bungalows in the same place.
For the trip down I was keen to see the lavender in Provence. I realised it was quite unlikely as the flowering of the lavender normally happens earlier but I had heard that this year the season was later, so I was hoping! Thankfully my dream was fulfilled in part. The flowering season was over and most fields had already been harvested. But there were still some fields in which the lavender hadn't yet been cut...and we stopped to drink in the wonderful scent, the sound of a thousand bees still busily humming at work, and to let the girls stretch their legs and have a run around. I can only imagine how stunning it must be in full bloom. Not to mention the wonderful sleeps that everyone in the region must enjoy with the scent!
The rest of our holiday was spent in and around the camping ground and with frequent trips to the seaside, squeezing in among thousands of other holidaymakers who fill the beach with their brightly coloured towels and umbrellas (wow, we have it good in NZ!). It was hot, we didn't see a drop of rain, only a cloud or two every few days. Cicadas are the soundtrack during sunlight hours, and sunscreen is the scent of the summer holidays.
We spent our first breakfast at the beach, with a fresh baguette and pots of jam, chocolate spread and honey. We quickly realised this was the best time of the day to be out and about. We spent our last morning at the beach, too, and wondered why we hadn't done that every day!
The South is buzzing with activity during the summer months. Markets in the mornings and evenings. Eti and I were grateful to be able to sneak away during the girls' naps or during the evenings to go and explore the markets, enjoy icecreams beside the port, go for a refreshing swim in the sea and canoe to a nearby island. Eti's parents happily obliged to keep the girls occupied once they awoke!
If I stopped here with describing our time and left you with the photos you could be forgiven for thinking 'What a wonderful place to go to on holiday' or 'How lucky you are to get to enjoy a time like that!' You wouldn't really see the reality of the 'holiday' or know that our first week was occupied with two sick little girls, multiple trips to the doctor and the pharmacy, being advised not to let the girls be in the sun or swim in the sea, very hot days, a sick husband, going through several little outfits of clothes each day alongside the day-to-day routine of figuring out what to cook (not my strength or love!). Several times I found myself thinking "This is NOT how I imagined our holiday to be!!!" and had to remind myself that camping and small children don't always equal 'holiday,' not to mention night-time crying and close tent-dwelling neighbours! Who was I kidding to think I could sit back in relax!? ;o) I don't know that I've ever felt so tired and actually feel more on 'holiday' at home :o)
BUT we had many wonderful moments! The girls, despite feeling awful with throat infections, an allergic reaction the antibiotics and breathing problems, were generally very good-natured. They spent most of their time between the little playground beside us and the water tap, which was a wonderful incentive to get them drinking enough!
There were plenty of outfit changes but the main thing was that they were happy, refreshed and occupied in their explorations! Living outdoors does wonders for little souls. And they loved making new friends...
There were days of tears and pale faces (not only for the little people!)
But thankfully they were interspersed with moments of fun to remind us that it was worth it all to be away from many modern conveniences and to enjoy our time together with family and friends.
We loved being around cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Many we won't see again before we leave, so it was a precious time to be able to spend together.
Grand Grand Papa was a hit. We loved seeing him!
Breakfasts were in true French holiday style - baguettes still warm from the boulangerie with jam...miam!
Accompanied by a little alphabet singing practice with the morning milk bottles :o)
Pentanque...the quintessential holiday game of which I only observed this time around!
Grandpapa's moto, an object of fascination and the odd ride around the camping ground!
Quite a few 'batons' were collected over the two weeks
There was a lot of water play!
Many a dirty face and body to clean after tumbles in the dust
And a boat trip to the Calanques, a beautiful part of the coastline between Cassis and Marseille to top it all off...
Et voila! Back home again. After flooding the laundry twice and 6 machine loads of dirty washing life is settling back to regular pace...apart from the fact that we're moving to the other side of the world in less than three months and all that needs to be done before then.
