Now, most people decide to go somewhere warm and tropical, say, Hawaii. Our original plan WAS to go to one of the islands, but instead we decided to take a trip near family. Tom’s mum Charmian has a friend with a house in the South of France, and she graciously allowed our family, along with Charmian, and Tom’s brother Sam’s family, to stay in her holiday home. So for two weeks this March, the Hobbs family vacationed in Montazels, France.

There was a risk that the weather in France would be equal to Spring in Seattle. In fact, on our arrival we were met first with a torrent of rain, but a day later it turned warm, sunny and clear, and stayed that way for the duration of our visit. This allowed us to spend a lot of time outdoors, which was wonderful for the kids.

Montazels is in the Aude region of France, with the nearby Rennes-le-Château made famous by popularity of Dan Brown‘s bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code. In fact, we were told that the actual house we stayed in was the house the 19th-century priest Bérenger Saunière lived in.

Rennes-le-Château:

This is the Aude region of Southern France:

The village of Montazels is a quiet, small town with epic skies, mountain views, and a peaceful river running through the valley. The local grocery and shops were a perfect distance for a morning stroll, and the nearby hills and mountain terrain challenged Emily and I with our hikes and runs.

The house was connected to a row of houses so it was three levels tall and had a long back garden. It was a great environment to house 2 full families and grandma, and still allowed for a sense of privacy as well as communal gathering spaces. Since the weather was so beautiful, we spent a large part of our time out in the back garden.

Emily out the window:

The back garden, view from the back fence:

Jen gives Evie a tickle:

Uncle Sam gives Jacob a tickle:

Jacob helped out with the weeding:

Grandma Charmian only spent the weekend, but had a great time with the kids:

Evie was unsure about Cora in the beginning, but they were fast friends by the end of the trip:

Jacob received many surprises from Grandma Charmian and Sam and Emily:

Typical Evie posture (her current motto: ‘I don’t want to’ as an answer to everything):

Auntie Jen eating breakfast with Cora (Evie allowed it this time):

Here is a video of Jacob and Evie playing ‘Round and Round the Garden’ with Cora:

Breakfast in the house (lots of croissants!):

Jacob took photos too. Here is a self-portrait:

The highlight of the evening (or morning) was running around the (dry) fountain in the center of the village:

Feeding the ducks in the river:

At the ‘hippie’ market Esperaza. This was our Sunday event. Lots of people watching. It has a very Johnny Depp-vibe to it (I was waiting for him to show up actually).

Filing up water and playing in the paddling pool at Alet-les-Bains:

Visiting the the fortified Cité de Carcassonne:

Swimming and playing in the lake at Puivert:

It was a loooong day:

We spent a lot of time in Rennes-les-Bains. They had an outdoor public pool, a walk along the river where we picnic and play in the water.

We were so sad to leave Sam, Emily, Cora, and Charmian. The kids still miss them weeks later. I am already eager to plan the next trip…maybe Portugal next time (at least I will know some of the language this time). Luckily, we returned home to amazing weather. Seattle is doing it right this year…lots of Spring sunshine with small bits of rain to keep the plants satisfied.

Now we are gearing up for a busy month. Next weekend Jacob and I will receive a Capoeira cord at Fenix Fintess’ Batizado. Anyone can come and watch. It’s at 3:30 on Saturday the 28th of April. This week I have workshops with guest artist:

The week after the batizado Tom’s dad Andrew will come for a 3 week visit. The kids are so excited to see grandad and are talking about it all the time. There is also another BIG EVENT that week. Jacob is turning 4! I can’t believe he is a big little guy now. We are having a birthday party at the Mt. Baker Community Clubhouse on Sunday, May 6th. Yay Jacob!