Grand Canyon of Europe

We're spending 4 days at the Gorges du Verdon, the largest canyon in Europe. It's only a 2-hour drive away from us, and I can't believe we've never gone in 10+ years! (Well, I can believe--soccer makes it hard to get away).

Unfortunately it's been extremely cold and rainy and today was 100% rain all day long. That didn't phase us, though. We still got out and even did a little hike. We drove past Lac de Ste-Croix (brilliant turquoise water, even in gloomy rain and mist) and caught a glimpse of the canyon as it opened into the lake. We visited a charming perched village, Moustiers-Ste-Marie, set alongside dramatic cliffs. There was a chapel up the ravine, just a 15 minute hike up.

This village is a center of faïence (white-glazed pottery, often then painted with decorative designs--there's even a museum dedicated to it!

Once we'd seen the village, it was time to check into our lodging. We both reserved little townhouses in another charming perched village on the Rive Gauche. Ours is tiny and cozy. Downstairs is a living/dining/kitchen and upstairs is a sort of sleeping loft, accessed via a ladder/staircase. Once you're upstairs, there a bedroom for us, a bathroom & WC, and an open room with a double bed and another sleeping loft above it with a double bed and a single bed. The kids love it.

My sister and her family are staying down the street in a Hobbit house! The doorway is only about 4' tall and you climb up into it, like you're climbing through a window! But once you're inside, the roof slopes up and it is a spacious apartment with vaulted ceilings and exposed rock walls.

Some of the cousins are house-swapping. Dio is staying over with the oldest cousin (Inga's age) and his next younger sister is staying with us. She and Ivy and Inga are giggling away.

Tomorrow we'll be exploring the Rive Gauche, working our way to Castellane (weather permitting). Then on Friday it's supposed to be sunny so we'll do a big hike.

After dinner we all gathered at my sister's place and played games, including the winking murder game, whatever it's called. I even got them to play a few rounds of the "1 minute game," where everyone lies on the floor with their eyes closed and silently counts to 1 minute, then raises their hand when they think it's been a minute. The littlest cousin only made it to 25 seconds! Eric's parents used to do this game all the time, probably to get a break from the noise of 7 children.

We have shoes drying on top of radiators...jackets hanging up to dry...hoping for a bit less rain tomorrow!