Family summer holidays - The Cottage

Our last stop on our family summer holidays was an idyllic place in the middle of France, near Monclar-de-Quercy. This is our view. 

There are fields and fields of glorious sunflowers everywhere. Reminds you of summer doesn't it?

Here, we could invent our own cocktails - this one dad created for us.

We dined 'al fresco' (means eating outside) most nights.

 Dad stoked up the BBQ almost every night.

 And he perfected the toasted marshmallow.

 There was a pool on the property that was almost exclusively used by us. 

Getting use to this relaxing malarky.

More time at the pool.

We did venture out from our little haven to visit some very pretty French villages. So pretty in fact that some of these are actual winners of France's most beautiful village competitions.

This one is called Puycelsi. Looking from the outside, you just know it is pretty on the inside.

Indeed it was.

And this one is called Bruniquel. There are actually two castles built side by side in this village.

We did also venture out to a big city. This one was a Space Museum (Cite de l'Espace) in Toulouse.

Sarah got to meet an astronaut!

We learnt how big some of the other planets were compared to Earth.

I think we spotted some stars in the galaxy.

I got to present the weather on TV!!

We're dressed up to take a space flight. What, where's the spaceship you say....?

... why, here it is!! The Ariane 5!

It stands 53 metres tall, in case you are wondering.

This is how they sleep in space. We had to try them out. They are not particularly comfortable.

Another day, we went to visit Albi. This is a very 'brick' city.

We did find a fun shop though.

Why is it a brick city? Because this cathedral is one of the biggest brick buildings in the world! This was built in the 13th century. All with bricks! Did I mention bricks?

Inside, was pretty impressive too.

 Some fountains to cool off.

Alas, summer holidays can't go on forever. On our way home, after a glorious week with my family. 

Au revoir!!

Family summer holidays - Clermond Ferrand

Our next stop, Clermond-Ferrand. This part of France is quite volcanic, so we visited the museum. We had to dress up in the correct attire of course.

Then we could jump on the volcanic rocks.

 A geyser building up within the ground.

An impressive structure, just for show really.

There is also a wild-life animal park nearby. Complete with all the usual suspects, ones that you wouldn't want to face without a fence between you.

 And some goats to pet.

 Who knew that there were great contraptions for kids to play on too?

Bonus!

We also visited another medieval chateaux, very popular around France.

This one is pretty impressive, being built around the 12th century.

Someone got in trouble during our visit.

 But that was okay, she turned out to be someone very important.

The castle, how it might look as you tried to attack it.

Just another crazy day on our family summer holiday trip. 

Family summer holidays - Lyon

Family holidays - a big part of it is eating out!!

And visiting Castles.

In Lyon, there is a mini-zoo in the middle of their park, complete with giraffes!!

And these strange long-horned creatures!!

The deer are just relaxing the afternoon away.

There is always time to do a bit of horse racing.

Our cosy 1-bedroomed apartment. Time to fit in some screen time! 

Some necessary pictures in front of impressive fountains.

Lyon even has its own mini-Eiffel tower.

And an incredibly huge cathedral on top of the hill.

Some roman-style amphitheatre ruins to show how old the city is.

Making tunes along the streets.

Our reward!