Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Hyères Part II

I'm about five days late for this post, but our excursion was held up by rainy, windy weather...and a birthday party for a certain four year old : )

But today, with our beautifully warm sunshine back, I told the kids it was a hiking day. I threw Zachary on my back in the Ergo (the most necessary child holding apparatus for any parent with a child between the age of three months and two years old!), and we headed out the door. I was a little worried that Lily wouldn't make it all the way to the top of the hill on her own, but she did fabulously. We walked uphill for about forty minutes, and she didn't complain once.

The goal of the morning was to make it to the top , explore around the castle and take some pictures. It was our second time climbing up to the castle. The first time we did it, Phil was with us, and it was only our second day in Hyères.

The ruins of the castle date back to the 13th Century. And there is a beautiful park situated on the hill famous for its collection of rare and exotic plants. But in my opinion, the best reason to climb to the top of the hill, is for the spectacular view of the city and the ocean just beyond. There are small islands just off the mainland coast, and they are very visible as well from the high vista.
Shedding layers during our climb
Some of the walk was through this steep, rocky terrain
The ruins at the top
This picture does not do justice to the spectacular view...Hyères in the foreground and the Mediterranean in the background
The houses on the hills with incredible views. This is where we ideally wanted to live, but we couldn't find anything available in this area.
Lily snapped a shot...modeling my adorable boy and who can daily be found sucking his thumb in this Ergo...of course with the blue blanket blowing in the breeze.
How to do you bribe a four year old to go on an hour walk? With a pan au chocolat...it worked for this girl! I told her she had to exercise for her treat this morning.


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