The South of France - La vie est belle!

We had such a wonderful time in the south of France last month. Travelling with a 19 month old turned out to be easier than we expected (though the overnight flight was rough… more on that later).
Because of the time change, Zac was staying up late, and sleeping in until 10:30am (!!)…. we couldn't have asked for a better daytime schedule. It meant that we could go out for dinners AND sleep in!

This trip was a family vacation to celebrate my mother-in-law's 60th birthday. We all stayed in a rented house in a small fishing village called Cassis. It was perched on a hill, overlooking the Mediterranean. Who could possibly ask for more?!

It was so beautiful that I took an obscene amount of pictures, and I'm only just starting to find the time to sort through them now.

If you are curious to see (plenty!) more photos from our trip, read on after the jump…

 ^^ Fig trees! And the beautiful beach in Cassis ^^

 ^^ exploring Cassis - it was truly a charming little village ^^

 ^^ Visiting the famous calanques around Cassis by boat ^^

^^ the best part of renting a boat for the afternoon? Jumping off the back of it into the bluest Mediterranean water. But man oh man, was it ever cold!! ^^

^^ The fresh farmers markets are always a major highlight for me whenever I'm in France. The organic produce! The cheese! The pastries! I want to spend all my money there… who needs souvenirs when there's food like that to eat?! ^^

^^ the pain au chocolate - quite possibly my favourite thing in the world ^^

^^ We ate out a lot, but we also made a lot of wonderful meals at home too. We bought fresh food from the market and cooked up some rather incredible feasts. ^^

 ^^ and with a view like this, it was hard to resist eating at home every night ^^

^^ exploring Aix-en-Provence. What a gorgeous little city! ""

 ^^ Eating a luxurious lunch with the fam at a vineyard in Chateauneuf du Pape. Zac insisted on drinking his water out of a wine glass just like everyone else! ^^

^^ wine tasting in Chateauneuf du Pape - so good! ^^

 ^^ My lovely sister-in-law, Natalie, around 7 months pregnant. Isn't she a gorgeous mamma? I must say, travelling with family when you have a little one is such a welcomed change. There was always someone willing to play with Zac, which meant I got to take long luxurious showers in the morning, and even naps in the afternoons. ^^

Travelling with family was also a huge help on all the plane rides we had to take to get to the south of France and back. Zac is very used to flying, but only for relatively short distances. Overall he did incredibly well. Except for that one overnight flight on the way over, when he adamantly decided that he would not sleep that night, and would not sit still for a single minute. Seriously, my boy sprouted horns that night. And I may have cried on my husband's shoulder when I felt completely helpless and there was seemingly nothing I could do to change the situation. But other than that he was an angel ;)

 All in all, a most glorious vacation indeed, and I feel so incredibly lucky to have experienced it.

 I highly recommend visiting Cassis and the surrounding area. It is just breathtakingly beautiful!