Love being Swiss tourists

This is only our second summer that my parents' have had the family chalet,

so we are still getting to know the area.  We love discovering new outings.

This one is to St Leonard Underwater Lake, the biggest one in Europe.

Very cool to take a tour in a boat undergound.

The kids LOVED the Swiss Vapor museum, you can ride all sorts of MINI trains

....old steamers, modern Golden Pass, traditional red mountain finuculars etc. 

You can get off various train stops and visit different parts of Little Switzerland. 

Everthing is just the perfect size for my kids, but especially Niko.

Who knew that being a tourist in your home country could be so much FUN!

Family time at the Chalet

We had a great first week up at the family chalet.

We have had lots of bonding time with the Hiatt cousins.

These ponies are just up the street from us and the kids insist on feeding them apples everday...

Good thing Uncle Tom was around to help us up some very steep climbing on our family hike.

The kids loved Forest Adventure, Ethan was TOO BIG for the kids' course

and went solo on the adult area.  He did so well!

We love being outdoors all day long in Switzerland....

Here is a photo of the village of Ovronnaz, a few minutes away from the chalet

where I pick up our daily bread and yummy picnic treats.

I love being a "local" as we discover the great things to see and do in the Valais region.

Cassis France

We discovered the seaside town of Cassis a few years ago.  

We love this place because it is small in size, quaint as can be and so very local...  

perfect for a family with young kids.

Twice a week the town has the most charming food and flower market:

 

 

Every night there is an arts & craft market along the waterfront:

 We took a historical tour and it was interesting to note

the influence of the Roman Empire on this town and how

it became somewhat famous because Antoine de St Exupery's plane crash was nearby.

The area of Cassis is famous for its limestone formations "Les Calanques"

that are wonderful to visit by boat

 

Kids loved the Cassis beach of course....

 

 

...and I loved the North African influence in the area.

We always have to eat our traditional meal of Moules Frites when

we are in this area (mussels and fries)

Nice Cote d'Azure

 

Nice is one of my favorite cities in the Cote d'Azur because I grew up

going to this area every summer.  You get the beauty of Provence

just inland a little and the beauty of Mediterranean living.

 

Mateo & kids at the Baie des Anges

 

 Trying out our favorite beaches....Villefranche sur Mer is so pictoresque:

 

Antibes has the best sand:

Nice is too rocky for us, but a GREAT place to people watch:

 

The Old Town are of Nice has a lovely daily market:

And a great Pietons Zone to walk around, watch troubadours, eat ice cream and just enjoy life.

We ended up at the Place Massena almost daily b-c the kids loved watching the street dancers.

I am not ashamed to say we breakfasted, lunched and dinnered on desserts all week long:

Zadian was delighted to be our pizza boy and bring us pizza to our Nice apartment.

Great outings in the area....here we are in Monte Carlo - Monaco,

we were able to see some royal wedding festivities.

Mateo & I went to check out the Matisse Museum,

one of our earliest European dates together