In photos: A few days near Toulouse

Seeing as I recently shared some packing tips for travelling with a baby, it seems only right I share some photos from our travels with a baby. I didn't think I could, especially for this little trip to stay with friends near Toulouse, because I don't remember taking any photos. I don't think I even packed my camera. Basically, I've mastered the art of packing enough baby wipes without warranting the "HEAVY" sticker on my suitcase but I definitely haven't figured out how to have enough time and hands to take photos while I'm travelling with a kiddo. But lucky for me, the fella did manage to take some pictures of the rolling green hills we drove through on several occasions and I did have more than a few pics documenting our little holiday on my phone.

We stayed in the middle of nowhere. Almost literally. The "village" our lovely friends live in has no fewer than four addresses plus a farm. It was a a definite break from the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam. The only small disadvantage was we had to drive everytime we wanted to get somewhere and thanks to Amsterdam's hustle and bustle being a mostly pedal-powered one, our little man had a definite limit of how long he wanted to be in a car seat. This would have been fine, had the weather played ball. I mean, this is the South of France in May... I've been there at this time before and it's been glorious. I've now been there at this time and it wasn't. In fact, the weather was worse than in Amsterdam (and almost everywhere else in Europe).

"It's the Ice Saints!" Our friend explained. Or les saints de glaces. He's been living in France for over ten years and this is what southerners apparently blame for a pre-summer, short and sharp cold burst of weather and rain. I wasn't one to argue even if it did all sound a bit Game of Thrones-y to me.

Thankfully, we had enough good weather to enjoy visits to Toulouse - a first for me, what a cool city! - and Narbonne where we ate good food, demolished a gelato "flower" and sank a few glasses of pink wine. We also had good friends to spend our evenings with, their cat and dog for Baby Bird to be fascinated by and nearby mahoosive French supermarchés to push Baby Bird around in a trolley in for a few hours. Oh and a cardboard box. Never under-estimate the entertainment value of a cardboard box. You'll know what I mean when you see these photos.