Our 2018 Family Vacation to France South of France
Wow, it’s never taken me this long to blog a family trip. #newbornlife But better now than never, right?! I’m so excited to share with you all our amazing trip to the south of France this past July. Ellie was a mere 6 weeks old and after so many people reaching out to me about traveling abroad with a baby, I’ve decided to write a blog post all about how we did it, what we brought, and my tips for a smooth trip. More on that soon!! We traveled with several of our family members and decided to rent a home in a tiny town named Grimaud, France. It’s only a few hours from Nice and it was so charming! The home fit all of us – about 15 people plus several visitors. It came with a huge backyard and pool, gated entrance with parking, and quite the view! Ellie experienced MANY firsts on this trip. First flight (first 4 flights acutally!), first swim, first vacation, first boat ride, first uber/taxi, first road trip, first beach day…and more. France is one of my absolute favorite countries and I jump at any chance that I can get to visit it. There’s so much to explore, eat, and take photos of – literally a photographer’s paradise. On this trip, we visited Grimaud, Valensole, Eze, Cannes, Nice, St Tropez, and even ventured over to Monaco! We didn’t do a whole lot of STUFF just really focused on exploring, eating, and drinking our way through the south of France basically. And it was glorious. I don’t want to ramble on too much, so I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. Do keep in mind that this is a mixture of cell phone and professional quality photos 🙂 Enjoy this little tour de France! à bientôt!
Here we go!! Ellie did amazing on her first flight. We had a layover in Ireland and then a connecting flight to France.
Home for the first week – Grimaud
Ellie’s first swim. Don’t let her pouty face fool you – she loved it!
A few days after we arrived, the world cup was on in the town square. France won!!!
Port Grimaud
Valensole, France – Lavender Fields
This was a bucket list item for me. It was totally worth the 2 hour detour!
EZE – a super small town located on top of a hill. Stunning views with lots of shopping and restaurants.
Cannes – Where the Cannes film festival is located every year! It was cool to see where the festival is held, the beach, famous hotels, and take a bus tour of the area.
Monaco – worth the drive! We loved it so much, we went twice! Vince got to gamble inside the famous Monte Carlo casino and we got to see all sorts of amazing cars. In case you didn’t know, this is where the Grand Prix is held!
The view from the Prince’s palace! Unreal.
The harbor was filled with cruise ships and luxury yachts. 
Nice – We stayed here and did days trips to the other cities throughout the 2nd week! Nice had a rocky beach but it sure was pretty!
Ellie with her uncle Keith!
2 weeks of travel had us totally pooped at times. We slept in most days!
St Tropez
Absolutely stunning photos! What a blessing! I am so thankful to God for all your wonderful experiences! I am so happy for you and your sweet family!
Oh my! These make me want to go there like STAT! Love this!
Unbelievable pictures!! So awesome!! Wish I could go there! The lavender fields were gorgeous!!!
Thank you Dottie! You should definitely go if you ever get the chance!
The photos are just beautiful! And I can’t wait to see your tips and tricks list for traveling with a baby. I tried to convince my husband, Justin, to travel not only for me to work at a bridal show, but also to vacation after said show that was in Spain. But apparently he thought me being six weeks post was “too much” haha. He was probably right….but maybe with the next one 😉
And how much did you love Monaco?? It was probably one of my favorite stops in France and I made sure to bring along one of my hats to wear around. Every view was just so perfect and you captured it beautifully . Agh, now I want to go back!
Thank you so much, Gretchen!! 6 weeks post c section was definitely hard, but I did surprisingly well. It was a bit of a shock with a newborn but I don’t regret it 🙂 It made me feel like I could do anything now LOL and traveling with her doesn’t scare me anymore. I LOVED Monaco!! It was so much fun!