Coppingers in France

Last day in Paris

After 6 fantastic weeks in France, we head home tomorrow.

Went up to Sacré Coeur at Montmartre, walked the shops, ate in a café one last time and walked around a lot. Line up to enter the church was stupid long…vote was that we’ve seen our fair share of churches on ths trip.

Happened upon Van Gogh’s brothers bouse where he lived for 2 years.

Rounded a corner and realized we were at Moulin Rouge.

Made a quick stop at Les Champs Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe.

On the Eiffel Tower, Gavin was looking for ‘the big pants’…we didn’t know what he meant at 1st…he found the ‘big pants’ and his photo in front

Boys got to see a Lambo…finally (and a few Ferraris).

To the airport in the morning.

Paris

Much better weather this time around in la belle Paris. 20C and cloudy made for a perfect walking day.

Started with a few hours at Musée D’Orsay. Lots of great art that the kids recognized, specifically Monets pieces. Having visited his gardens and ponds at Giverney in July, it was cool to see the original inspired works.

Also cool to see some of Van Gogh’s works after our time in province. Also saw Rodin, Gaugin, Renoir, Cezanne, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, amongst many others…and the boys were almost patient enough through it all:) Isaac wasn’t too impressed when, through observation alone, he realized that this museum is acrually an art gallery…not ver excited.

We then walked along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower.

This time we stood in line (1.5hours of waiting) and climbed the 674 stairs to thw 2nd platform (didn’t take the lift to the top as wait was wayyy too long).

Finally across to Trocadero to watch a street performance, check out the Ferrari’s and of course more photos of the tower.

One more day in France….

On Top of the World

Maybe not, but it sure felt like it. Last day in the Alps so one more lift and hike. The French aren’t the best at communicating…and this is very obvious when it comes to marking trails. The trail to the summit of Pointe de Nyon is steep and tough…and kind of a free for all…with some pretty narrow sections and steep cliffs. We all survived:) amd got to some amazing views of Mont Blanc and all of the world around us. Mont Blanc is the big white peak behind us with a cloud at it’s summit.

And a million photos aren’t enough, click the link for the panorama of our view.

To finish off the stay in the Alps, cheese fondue for dinner!

Off to Paris in the morning…

Alps – Pointe des Mossettes

Took a few few more lifts and did some more hiking to get to Pointe des Mosettes. At almost 2300m it’s the tallest peak nearby that we can summit. The Swiss/France border runs along the crest.

Les Dents du Midi tower behind us at 3257m.

Short but steep walk to the summit.

Clouds were drifting in and out and we passed through a few on a lift into Switzerland.

Had some lunch in Swiss land

…ended up leaving this resto…$25 for koids chicken nuggets…no thx:)

Time in amd Alpine meadow…and Kendra got closer to a cool cow with bell:)

Clouds left a little space after our “not so lavish lunch”, to be able to see Mont Blanc in the distance.

Lac Leman et Châteaux Chillon

Started the day as usual with a coffee and some sunshine.

Then we drove to Lake Leman (aka lake Geneva) for the day today. Lunch on the shore in Evian-les-Bains (great water!)

We then visited le Châteaux Chillon which was built on the east shore of the lake starting 1000 years ago. After visiting many châteaux in France, including the Loire valley…this châteaux has them beat. Sorry France, but our day trip to Switzerland found us the best one yet!

Thw best part was that got to wait out a crazy thunderstorm in the heights of the castle. Totally added to the whole experience. Couldn’t see the snow capped mountains surrounding, but the clouds were pretty great.

Now sitting on the balcony enjoying the rainy mountain evening. Cheers

The hills are alive….

Lots of lifta and tons of hiking today. 4 lifts and hiked 14kms…the kids are tired:)

Found tons of wild blueberries…hard not to stop for at least a few…

And cows…had to say hi…the sound of the bells juat makes you smile:)

And of course we found goat village in thw next valley…its a ski village with a few shops, several restaurants and lots of goats roaming free…again with bells, and again, how can you not smile.

And some alpine meadow…more great views

From the beach to the Alps

Last few days in Provence were pretty chill with a visit to the market and lots of pool time.

It’s pretty crazy that a short 5 hour drive took from tropical, azur beaches with palm trees and cactus, to snow capped mountains. The weather here is still hot, but nights are cool and the snow is pretty high up amd patchy where we are.

We are in Morzine which is a hopin town much like Banff…but way less tourists. All the buildings are built in true Alps style with vertical wood paneling and large shutters.

Bought a week pass for the lifts which will guide what we do all week. 17 lifts connect up and down mountain sides and vallry to valley, with a few running into Switzerland.

Yesterday took 2 close ones for some pretty awesome views of the valley below, as well and many Alpine meadows. Kendra has already found several Aloine cows with bells:)

Avignon et Pont du Gard

Historic time travellers again today. Explored Avignon this morning. Saw the Pont d’Avignon (an old half-a- bridge). It isn’t much but we were ready for that. What’s neat is that it was originally built 800 years ago. But a flood took half of it out a few hundred years ago.

The cool thing about Avignon is that it is surrounded by a large wall with many turrets. The wall surrounds a huge space where the inner city is located. It is heavily fortified since this city housed the Popes from 1309-1394 in the Palais des Papes…the only time the Popes have resided outside of Rome. The gardens on the hill next to the Palais provide a great view of the area, the city and the half-bridge.

Had some eats, saw some shops and off to Pont du Gard. This place is awesome. 2000 year old aquaduct bridge (Roman built).

Had a refreshing swim in the beautiful blue waters of the Gard.

This structure carried water for over 50kms to Nimes… averaging a slope of 2.5cms over 1km… Even if I weren’t a Math teacher, that feature of Roman engineering is unbelievable.

The last cool thing of the day was this olive tree…planted in 908…that’s a pretty old living thing.

Kayaking Les Calanques

Today we drove to Cassis bright and early and started the day with a 3 hour sea-kayaking trek into the Calanques of the Méditerranée. The Calanques are tall white cliffs surrounding narrow teal-blue baus with picturesque beaches along the shore. The Calanques we kayak to are not reachable by car. Either a 2 hour hike in the heat, or by sea. Stopped for a swim and some beach time at Calanque En vau.

So many amazing photos….I’ll try not to post too many.

The winds were a little high today which meant for some rougher seas. Quite the workout as we battled the wind and some decent swells. But what a great experience.

Followed the morning with a walk around Cassis and lunch at a resto in the port recommended by our guide.

Had to at least wet our feet at the beach before heading back home. The water today was really cold, apparently the Mistral winds have stirred up the sea which makes it pretty chilly…similar to the temps we had in Normandy along the Atlantic. Not too cold for the hearty Canucks:)

Châteaux Cadenet

Spent the afternoon yesterday exploring a chateaux ruins in a nearby town that is a not a tourist site, but is totally amazing. Had the whole cliffs, ruins and caves to ourselves.

The chateaux was built about a 1000 years ago above the existing caves that have been used by people for many thousands of years. The chateaux itself was ordered destroyed by Louis XIV, and was taken apart brick by brick, so as for the ruins above ground there are only a few partial walls. But there are plenty of caves, grottos, tunnels and underground rooms. Free to explore! Kids had a blast!!!