French Vacation Part 2

We spent the second week of our vacation at the beach in Brittany, in a beautiful town called Dinard.

We were in a great house with a little yard where the kids could play, and about an 8 minute-walk away from the beach. A loved the sea, and the best part of the beach in Dinard is that it has big tides, so you can go swim easily or play in the waves when it's high tide , but you can also enjoy the wide beach when it's low tide, play soccer, build castles, look for sea shells and crabs.. and we did... all of the above.





When we were not busy at the beach, we went for a stroll in the town, enjoyed the market and of course... the manege!

A particularly enjoyed eating crepes (the local specialty), but didn't really bother trying the salty ones... nutella works just fine for dinner (what we pass on during vacation...)

We had a special day for SleepyPapa. We headed over the Dinan to watch the Tour de France. It was something he had been talking about for years, since he's a fan of all sports, so when we realized we would be in France during the Tour, we checked the schedule, and sure enough, they had a stage starting just an hour away from where we were. It was a fun morning, with lots of waiting, for a very quick view of the bikers, but it was all worth it!

how many thunder sticks does one need?

Aren't we the happy family?

After that trip, SleepyPapa flew back home because he lives in the real world where people actually have to work... we spent a few days in Paris before heading down to the south of France, to spend some time with one of my girlfriend and her two little ones at her in-laws gorgeous house. It was nice and relaxing, with great meals and good company.  The only tough thing was that he wouldn't let anyone else take care of him, so I was on pretty much all the time, which can be a bit draining.

Between those two trips, A got to ride the TGV four times, which he was thrilled with. (the TGV is France's speed train -up to 201 mph-.. you know, kind of what Obama wants the US to have, but for some reason, Republicans don't seem to want to make it easier and faster for everybody, including businessmen to travel between our cities?)

getting on the TGV

quite the little traveler

 

After that, we headed back to Paris, visited family and friends, and then spent a few days in the countryside, at my mom's best friend's place (she also happens to be my girlfriend's mom... ) so it was the three generations together. A still has a few social skills to learn, but overall he had a good time with my friend's daughter, who's just a few months younger than him,

 they enjoyed eating fruits in the garden, paying a visit to the hens and sheep at neighboring farms,

 looking for the cat that they had renamed "big cat".
It was a great trip, A saw and enjoyed many new things, made new friends and I got a chance to actually spend some time with my friends instead of seeing them one night in a year. I hope we can do it again next year. In the meantime, we have great memories to enjoy!