A Beach in Southern France

The sun and beach were calling us, it was time to go to the coast of southern France. It had been non-stop for us the last few weeks. We were nearing the start of our Camino (our hike in Spain) and it was time to rest up. Parker and I only booked our travels through Paris, and now we are getting into long-term travel mode, which basically means "winging it".

From Paris, we took a 5 hour train to St. Jean de Luz. This was our first destination that we randomly choose on a map, simply because it was a beach town and close to our next stop. We choose correctly. St. Jean de Luz is a quaint little beach town. The school year just ended in the area so the beach was busy, but with just French families. It was a nice change from the mob of tourists in three most visited places in the world (NYC, London, Paris).

We were all ready to unpack for a bit. I booked a cute little condo with a kitchenette for five days. It was a few minutes walk from the beach. We had no schedule, no one to meet, no landmarks to visit, it was chill time.

At some point each day, we made our way to the beach. We had a quick chat with the kids about seeing boobies and booties on the beach, "hey kiddos, we're in France, being topless is normal here, don't stare, don't be a weirdo, ok? "K". Ha! They handled it well. 

The temps that week were in the low 80s and partly sunny to overcast. It reminded me of early spring at Barton Springs. Warm enough to lay out but not warm enough to get in the water (for me anyway). The rest of my family dove right in. Parker took the kids out to a swim platform that was about 150 yards out, depending on the tide, sometimes it was further. They would stay out for a bit, diving and goofing around on the platform. All those years of them being on swim team was paying off. When they weren't swimming, the kids built sand sculptures. We also enjoyed the amazing seafood.

Happy Cruz! His favorite, Mussels!

I am glad we left Paris before the Olympics, but watching the opening ceremony in France was pretty awesome. We found the only place with large TVs (cafes and restaurants here do not have TVs). There were a lot of people at Buzipas (a food court-type place) doing the same, and the energy was fun. We enjoyed our time in France. But it was time to head towards Spain. It was time to go for a walk.