SUMMER HOLIDAY STORIES, LAST PART

Fourth and last part of this Summer Holiday Stories, that took us to lots of different places and landscapes, from Washington State to Fiji Island, through Mallorca, Corsica,Morocco, etc. Today with Jess Brown, Lila & Tom, Nonchalant mom,  Lmnop and Les Petits Chapelais we explore, Lake Tahoe, Navarra, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Bali (again!) and Bretagne.  

I had a fantastic time working on these holiday stories and I got good feedback from you readers. If you like family travel, I highly recommend the blog bozaround.com (for who don’t know it already), where Vanessa Boz, the author,  publishes travel stories of inspiring people, travel-related topics and wonderful travel tips.

Jess Brown, Lake Tahoe and Bloomville

Where did you spend your summer holidays? Lake Tahoe(CA) and BLOOMVILLE (NY)

Why this choice? Bothe destinations have been family destinations since I was a child.

Tell us more ! The best part of being in Tahoe is just the absolute beauty of it all! So incredible!! About Bloomville, the property has been in my family Since I was around 3.  It’s 100 acres and only Teo Houses and a barn to be seen. We hadn’t been in almost 10 years. It was brand new for Stella and Tiger . So fun to watch them explore and fall in love with the farm.

What did the children liked so much about the place? I think the fireflies won for the bloomville trip, and swimming in the lake won for Tahoe.

www.jessbrowndesign.com

Lila & Tom, Navarra, Spain

Where did you go on holidays this summer?  We went to a hotel which was literally in the middle of nowhere called Aire de Badenas. The closed town is called Tudela in the region of Navarra/ Spain.Beautiful landscape, a peaceful ambiance surrounded by modern architecture and delicious food from their own garden.

A first time there? Yes. We were on a roadtrip from Barcelona to Cantabria and as we always wanted to discover this particular hotel, that was the occasion. It was right on our way.

The best about it?  The outstanding views of the landscape combined with this stunning minimalistic architecture. Our room had an exterior bathtub right in front. Like a mini pool. Gorgeous for the kids.

www.lilatom.com

Nonchalant Mom, From Los Angeles to Colorado

What did you do this summer? We were in Los Angeles for a while, my husband was the Artist-in-residence at ESMoA and very beautiful modern museum in El Segundo, CA. He was there for a month and me and the kids jumped in on the end. Then we were off on a ROAD TRIP from Los Angeles to Colorado, there is nothing more beautiful than driving trough the National Parks of Utah (hwy 70). We visited and hiked in Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and just missed Arches National Park (left something for next time!). But really the entire drive is really a whole big National Park… it’s the most amazing vista!

Was it you first road trip? No, we have gone the southern route, on the South rim of the Grand Canyon, but this was our first time through Utah (we didn’t go to the North Rim, but you could easily add this onto the trip). We are BIG FANS of the family road trip!

What will stay with you from the trip? Don’t laugh… but it’s spending a bunch of time with the family in the car, playing games, singing and joking. It’s really a lot of fun and makes for great memories. It would be funny to write a book on the places we have pulled over for pee breaks. But Bryce Canyon is so VERY magical.. I loved it!

What the children liked the most?  We had the kids do a journal, they are at the age where it works finally (we have tried before but never followed through, at ages 8 and 11 they were pretty good at it now) so this was a question that came up in their journal:

Franny – “I liked tha mountains and rocks. My favorite purt was loking at the roks thet were shapd liyk castles and it loked like a kingdom. it was awesome.” (I help with some of the spelling…) – I think she liked Bryce Canyon too!

Sander – This will take some explaining – The kids and I hiked in the water on a trail in Zion, he LOVED this part… it’s kind of a hike in a river… it’s pretty crazy but fun at the same time. Obviously my son thought this was great!

nonchalantmom.com

lmnop, Bali

Where did you go on holidays this summer? Bali, Indonesia.

Was it your first time there? No. I’ve been holidaying in Bali since I was a child. However, it was my eight year-old son’s first ever trip to the island.

What was the best about it? Seeing how much Bali had changed since I was last there in 2000. It’s so much more developed now, but still has a special magic about it. There’s some really fantastic restaurants on the island, (my absolute favourite is Petitenget in Seminyak) and plenty of eclectic boutiques to shop. I love too, that children hold a special place within the Balinese culture – so your kids are welcomed everywhere by the locals.

What did your son like so much? Waterbom Waterpark; The pancakes at Petitenget; making traditional Balinese offerings for the Gods; Gusto Gelato; and the waterslide at The Grand Hyatt, Nusa Dua where we stayed.

www.lmnop.com.au

Les Petits Chapelais, Sicily and Bretagne

Where did you travel this summer? We went to Noto in Sicily and Plogoff in Brittany, France. The pictures are from Plogoff.

Do you go there regularly? It was the first time for my children. We took a week before my brother’s wedding with his fiance who is from Plogoff. Plogoff is the most western part of France. its coast is breathtaking, long white sanding beach, high cliffs, secretive small harbors with waters aqua color waters, abundant wildlife, coastal paths with panoramic points and many typical fisher villages or exquisite town such as Audierne….We stayed in an hotel of “La Baie des Trepasses.”  We had 7 lighthouses facing our beach at night with island such as l’ile de Sein.  Since it was big high tides, the waves were magnificent and that beach is well known for surfing, indeed plenty of them from 7am to 9.30pm.

What did you do with the children ? With Heloise and Paloma, we horseback rode in a natural park, where was supposed to be a central nuclear.  When i was 17 year old i came on this ground with boyfriend to protest against the central nuclear.  it was a huge protest that lasted a whole week end. The Trees that we planted at that time are grown and slightly bent with strong winds.

With Tristan and Heloise we surfed & body surfed. Paloma went every morning to a sailing school. We went to many beaches and water was not as cold as expected but aqua blue and lovely. The sand in high tides is perfect for building projects & the team gets to be efficient fast clever to try to prevent the returning waves.  Even parents have to help carry rocks, dig deeper etc…I love seeing them immersed in fantasy projects just with sand and shells and rocks for hours.

lespetitschapelais.over-blog.com

 

 

 

 

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