Valence, France

On our drive to vacation in the South of France, we spent a night in Valence (about 30 min south of Lyon), driving straight to the center of town & enjoying the space to stretch our legs and our euro... We found a recently renovated (elegant asian simplicity) hotel close to the major park in town ~ and the train station as well ~ and were able to have dinner & put Sopha to bed, while Troy & I spent a romantic evening in the dark playing on our laptops... Although with the background noise of the street, and the music in our room I will boldly say that Sophia is FINALLY a hard sleeper. It's about time.

A joyful Sophia enjoying freedom after hours in the car.

Running, running & more running... The park was fantastic. Obviously built in the last 5 years, but attached to a much older park on the Rhone River. It was the ultimate parking garage gem (the garage was actually underground, below the park), and had tons of grass where Sophia could run - it took her a little while to understand that concept - and fountains that changed height every few min. It was so funny to watch her giggle as the water moved!

The height of the fountains catching Sophia off guard.

Troy & Sophia on the bandstand in the center of town.

The bandstand in the center of the park ~ heart included! ~ with chairs for relaxing all around. I think the chair is one of our favorite things about parks in France; they may not allow you to play on the grass, but the city will provide you with chairs in order to have a more civilized picnic or sunset experience.