South of France (Vias to Saint-Remy)
This family trip was a bit different when planning compared to our normal route, as this destination was chosen based on an event rather than a bucket list destination. Earlier this year our friends invited us to join the Rugby World Cup Tournament. This is a sport in our home country that we grew up with and we love watching it. The first rugby game that South Africa would play would be in Marseille. Therefore our destination was planned based on the proximity to Marseille and availability of accommodation during this time.
We flew to Montpelier a couple of days ahead of the group to spend some days alone as a family as well as celebrating my birthday. We rented a car at the airport for our duration of the trip. We stayed in the town of Vias, which is a popular holiday destination with many camp and caravan sites. This was a very centrally located destination for us. This town had such a nice vibe, with lots of small beach shops, restaurants and of course ice cream shops. We could easily go to the beach for a swim or do a quick day trip. In our time traveling with our daughter we have come to realize that the best approach to keep both toddler and parents happy is to make sure that we have a good balance between doing sightseeing for us and also making it fun and enjoyable for Amber.
We visited the town of Narbonne for a day trip. Once we arrived by car, we could easily find parking and headed to the old town where our first stop was at the bakery. We sat outside soaking up the sun and watching as people passed by. Amber ran around chasing the birds. Narbonne is a historic city with lots of beautiful sites to see. After walking around, we hopped onto the Petit Train. This way we could see all the historic sites that Narbonne had to offer and Amber could enjoy the excitement of riding on a train.
A day trip to Le Salin de I’ile Saint-Martin de Gruissan ( https://www.lesalindegruissan.fr/ ) left us breathless seeing a pink lake that was created by a salt.
After this we made our way to the charming and idyllic town of Sainte-Remy-de-Provence. This area is known for its wine and olive farms. We met up with our friends and stayed in a farm house built out of old limestone that is the typical charm of the area. We used this as our base to keep stability for the kids, as this was a toddlers dream vacation home, having a swimming pool, a play area, trampoline and even a doll house. We walked around at the Sainte-Remy market and just savored what the time had to offer. We walked into art galleries and had quick coffees while enjoying the scenery of the old history that Sainte-Remy still reserve.
From here we visited old towns like Gordes, Avignon and a lot more that we drove past and stopped for a quick photo or drink. Each of these towns had its own charm and it was easy to fall in love with this part of France. We visited wine farms in the area, some of the cellars in the caves of the mountain as well as an olive farm. This was a new experience for us, walking round the orchid and tasting olive oil. Even our 3 year old had a taste of every single olive oil that we learned about.
As this part of France has so much to offer, we had to find a balance between keeping our kids engaged and entertained and also experiencing the most of the area. Below we will leave a list of recommendations of what we would recommend doing for both kids and parents.
