Lees in France

Ok so just to orient us…it is now Sept 20 and we just returned from Switzerland. So the following posts after today will be about our adventures in Switzerland.

Back to 8 September…Today we went on an adventure after school. About 30 minutes away I found a hike where Cody could go off leash with the potential of a creek or waterfall to play in with the kids. The road we traveled was absolutely beautiful with mountain walls rising up from the carpeted floors of vineyards. Bikers were also enjoying this road. The stoplight picture below shows lights for cars up top and bikes on the side.

After winding through tight neighborhood streets and mountain switchbacks we found a rocky space where 2 cars were parked. We concluded it was the parking lot, even though Google maps wanted us to travel farther along on a dirt road.  

The hike was an easy dirt and rock road going from 2 lanes to one path, into the woods. As we approached the targeted area of exploration the temperature dropped 10 degrees.

And then, just as Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter entered Narnia for the first time, our faces had the same expressions of awe, wonder, and amazement as what was before us.

Surroundings our eyes were sights we had never seen before and before gave way to smiles and jubilant exaltations. One even shouted, “Can you believe this is in France?” followed by, “This looks like Dagobah!” (Yoda’s swamp planet where he trains Luke.)

We splashed, laughed, and explored the multiple cascading pools of puddles under the canopy of trees. The kids explored a waterfall and beyond. Cody was very curious as to where his people were going, trying to go with them. I eventually had to leash him so he would not attempt to follow and slide down rock faces.

After playing for a while we retreated back to the “Narnian lamppost,” which for us was an old mill in ruins. We found a room with grinding wheels, 5ft in diameter, and a cracked stone table reminding us of Narnia again. Abandoned rooms with sky ceilings beckoned our explorations. Truly an enchanting place, reminding us of our character friends in books and movies. 

On the way back Mazie collected wildflowers from a field and water with sand from a passing creek to bring home for Daddy.