Staycation Summer: A Week in France!

When we asked this little man where he wanted to go if he could go anywhere in the world, his answer was quick and precise.

"Disneyland, Paris"

Of course, this may have been slightly influenced by the fact that we really did go to Disneyland, Paris last summer... but regardless... his mind was made up!

We broadened to France and spent two glorious days exploring our favourite French things - lavender and Disneyland!

So first to the Lavender Fields!

Having been there now, its absolutely crazy to me that we have lived within 20 minutes of such a gorgeous lavender farm and never been before! I think I had a slightly ridiculous concern about the children and the number of bees - and trust me, there were a lot! But the fact is the bees are so ridiculously over-excited about the lavender surrounding them, that they really couldn't care two hoots about the people!

This little lady was cautious at first, but very quickly became comfortable!

You could literally get lost in it!

We spent a gorgeous morning at the Lavender fields... walking up and down the rows (or running if you're my father or children!!), examining all the bees, trying lavender lemonade and lavender cupcakes (both of which were delicious by the way!) and grabbing some dry lavender from the shop! It was just a lovely, relaxed morning, in this beautiful place and it felt like quite a milestone. It was the first "day out" in a public place for us since March. It was lovely! 

We sniffed, and scurried and stared and crawled through the lavender fields. It was such a sensory experience - the light scent of lavender (we were surprised the air didn't smell stronger), the feeling of it running through your fingers, the sight of fields of lavender on each side!

It was just a fun morning absorbing nature in all its sensory wonder. The sight of the green and purple stretching out in vibrant beauty, the faint scent of lavender on the air, the happy buzzing of busy bees and the feel of those little seeds rubbing between your fingers.

If you never made a visit to lavender fields, I highly recommend you go!

For us, it was a particularly educational visit, because lavender has become part of our every day. As we have sought to transition to a more natural way of life over the past three years, lavender oil has become a staple in our home. We use it to promote rest and relaxation as the evening approaches, diffusing it in the children's bedrooms as they nod off and using it to calm fraught emotions. I love making up a natural face serum which contains lavender for its fabulous skin loving properties and we also carry it everywhere with us, using it to sooth sore knees and respond to bites and stings. It's such a versatile botanical... it was fun to see where it all stems from!

And get a family picture of course!

I'd be being dishonest though, if I pretended that everyone loved the experience for the entirety of the time we were there... life with three year olds, hey?!

Thankfully, he was quickly cheered up with a lavender cupcake and some lavender lemonade!

And then the next day we headed to "Disneyland"...

We had a wonderful time, enjoying virtual similutions of each of the children's favourite rides (thank you Youtube!) and then the children prepared their parade for us - complete with costumes, decorated floats (their bikes!) and doughnuts! It was fun! To round it off, we watched Toy Story (Elias' favourite!) with popcorn and all the trimmings.

It was a fun-filled end to our "trip to France" - 

Next up, we were off to Holland!!

Where would you go if you could "visit" anywhere while staycationing at home??