Easter in Epinal, France

Our Easter long weekend away in Epinal saw us stopping off in Luxumburg for a play at an awesome Pirate Ship Playground, Parc de Monterey (on the corner Boulevard du Prince Henri and Avenue Monterey).

The slide here is HUGE! Unfortunately due to the weather it was wet and therefore "not very fast". We'll be back to try it again in Summer!

Mmmmm... French food! With a healthy salad on the side.

This is how we roll. Back on the road again, and on the way to Epinal.

And we made it! It's pesto pasta and straight into bed for the kiddos; stinky cheese and champagne for the grown ups!

We stayed in a lovely French farmhouse, with all the charming touches you would expect. Fire, boar's head...

...deer antlers and many, many stairs!

Josh and Maxie made a tunnel out of the antique furniture. How much was that surprise bond again?

The joys of being "above average" height in old houses. I'd like to say we only did it once or twice before we learnt, but we didn't. Ouch! Ouch! Ooouuuuuuucccchhhhh!

Ooooo! Thanks Maxie!

The view of the neighbouring countryside. Beautiful!

Exploring the food market at Nancy. We would like one of everything, merci!

Sunny day(s) in France, in front of St Sebastian.

Stanislas Square, Nancy. It's UNESCO World Heritage listed, and therefore requires serious faces.

The gate is certainly very impressive!

And just through the gate, another huge playground at Parc de la Pepiniere.

Exploring the castle ruins of Epinal.

The life of a toddler on the road. Show me the sights, Mum! Schnell!

View over the city from the castle.

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Budding photographer in the making.

And the shot. Very creative!

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The weekend playground trifecta: a playground WITHIN the castle ruins!

Thank goodness the bakeries were open so we could feast on French bakery treats in the park. Yum yum yum!

Lighting candle to remember my Grandma. You are loved and missed, Grandma Pearl. We light a candle for you wherever we go.

Lewie trying to blow the candles out.

The kids are excited to see if the Easter Bunny found us in France. Well, Abbey and Josh are particularly excited, Max and Lewie not so much.

He found us! It was so beautiful to see the kids working together to find the eggs.

"I found a... Hang on, this is not an egg!"

Lew feeding the local wildlife.

Sehr muede!

We didn't make it as far as Trier for our planned stop over on the way home, instead stopping in Saarlouis for a special German lunch for Auntie Sal. Happy birthday!

We now know where the name came from. Rock on, Benz!