Welcome to life after the White House for the Obamas: Days after youngest daughter Sasha’s high school graduation, they flew to the South of France for a circle of relatives vacation, indulging in the best the vicinity had to offer.
Former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, their former first daughters, and a few pals stayed in Provence, hiking, eating out, and absorbing the location’s wealthy way of life, assets told PEOPLE.
While the Obamas’ workplace declined to talk about their plans, mentioning their fame as private citizens, the four have been carefully tracked via local media and the tabloid press.
According to France Bleu radio, the family touched down at Avignon’s airport last Friday. They stayed in a high-priced farmhouse on an island inside the Rhone River, between Avignon and Villeneuve-lès-Avignon.
The stay becomes a “non-public and personal visit for the former president and his own family strictly,” probably inclusive of main sightseeing and local excursions, Villeneuve-lès-Avignon’s mayor, Jean-Marc Roubaud, tells PEOPLE.
The visit and the family’s announced arrival had been shown through the nearby police authority ultimate Thursday, according to Roubaud.
He believes the vicinity turned into picked for its recognition, “its history and satisfaction of life and proximity to several [historic] sites.”
“Certainly, they’ve heard about the Provençal manner of existence and need to enjoy it for themselves,” he says.
A second supply tells PEOPLE the Obamas will nonetheless take their annual August vacation in Martha’s Vineyard — simply before Sasha is expected to begin university within the fall. (Older sister Malia is a rising junior at Harvard.)
“There is something superb approximately seeing a new place, being exposed to new thoughts, and experiencing a new culture. Traveling makes you grow,” Obama said earlier this 12 months, in keeping with USA Today.
“As a discerning parent, can you observe that experience of discovery for your kids’ eyes? That is more unique than anything else,” he stated.
For Father’s Day in France, the previous president and his family toured the Palais des Papes, a medieval palace which became domestic of the pope in the 14th century, and they had dinner at La Mirande, a Michelin-starred restaurant. (It became not their most effective best-dining revel in: They ate at L’Oustau de Baumaniere on Tuesday — in such first-rate weather, the president requested if they may flow to the terrace, in line with a source.)
Sasha and Malia also took some time to explore the market at L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue earlier than their Palais des Papes tour.
Elsewhere inside the week, a number of the Obamas reportedly headed to the close by Chateau de Vaudieu vineyard.
On Tuesday morning, they hiked in picturesque Lourmarin, a village of a few hundred humans in the heart of the Luberon.
“I never idea I’d see Barack Obama and his circle of relatives in my village,” Linux’s mayor, Francis Farge, tells PEOPLE. “They hiked the 7.5-mile trail alongside the cliffs of the Madeleine or even went up to the windmill.”
