sweet stevens life: Southern France (2nd and 3rd weeks!)

Southern France was one of my favorite parts! There were lots of adventures, but also lots of relaxation time by the pool at our grandparents. It was so cool to see my grandparents after basically 12 years! We indulged on saucisson...

fresh baguettes, and tanning. :)

We kayaked, toured through castles (my faaaavorite part!!!) and experienced so many new things, including seeing the old church where Mary Magdalene was laid to rest. She had moved, along with others, to Southern France to spread Christianity after Christ's crucifixion.

One day while Silly Grandma was cooking a HUGE dinner, we all snuck out to go to the local McDonald's...haha we're terrible. But can you blame us?? We'd been in France for over a week without any kind of American food. As much as I love sausage, baguettes, and other odd authentic french foods, a Big Mac was MUCH needed! I ate so much I made myself sick.

Jonny enjoyed reading a book in the hammock by the pool while Caroline and I made lavender souvenirs for friends and family out of the fresh lavender from my grandparents gardens. Their property was full of lavender, olive trees, and berries. We learned quickly not to eat olives off the trees. They are actually pretty dangerous and will make you sick until they are cooked in a special process. My grandma makes her own olive oil from them. She's super crafty. She also thought of the idea to take us to an Equestrian theater performance--a very different but neat experience!

When we all went kayaking, it ended up being a lot more exciting than some experiences back home. We were just doing our thing, kayaking along, when we came upon about a 15 foot waterfall; which is pretty scary. I tried so hard to convince Jonny to get out on to solid ground and us just carry our kayak down, but he insisted we could make it. We did (barely), but some of our family members kayaks capsized. It was pretty funny to watch...I only wish we could have gotten a picture or video of the fall, but our electronics were in a tight barrel, so we didn't have time to stop and capture the evidence of our unique adventure.

The road trip to Marseilles was fun. Our grandparents rented a van so everyone could fit. Vans that big are very rare, which made it hard to find parking. Once there, we rode a mini "train" up and around Marseilles, getting to see from a distance the prison that is so popular from The Count of Monte Christo (Château d'If). We bought handmade soap there...even chocolate soap!

It was so neat to walk through medieval towns too--real ones of course! I loved soaking up how special that experience was; to walk along the cobblestone that so many others, hundreds and hundreds of years ago walked on; to see the arrow marks and dent marks from some of the first cannon-type devices on castle walls. That was just soooooooo awesome. There's no other way to explain it! Inside the castles, you could see everything! The kitchens, dining/ballrooms, and the little rooms that the archers would lock themselves into so they had as much time as possible to fight off intruders before they themselves were killed! WOW. I can't wait to go back again someday, since there's no way you can see everything in one trip! Enjoy the pictures of the last 2 weeks in France :) Again, they are out of order, but they're still fun to see!