Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An
Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you
read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an
adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France
now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it
Maybe we can
all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.Six years ago we took the three kids to Europe. They were 14, 12 and 10. We took a night train from Venice to Bandol, France along the Mediterranean. We walked off the train tired from lack of sleep on the train.
Since the sun had risen, we'd been watching the coastline and the sparkling sea. The train station was up a hill from the town, so we traipsed down, pulling our suitcases behind us. As we walked along, I smelled the most wonderful scent -- wisteria was blooming in great sagging bunches along the walkway.
Even though it was April, we played on the beach.
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| Here's Spencer at 12, a much skinnier version of the boy he has grown into. |
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| The kids buried Tucker in the sand. |
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| This was the view from our hotel room. |
I'd say one of the biggest mistakes people make when vacationing in Europe is travelling too much. With kids, pick a central place and do day trips.
A place with natural attractions, like a beach or skiing or hiking is perfect. That way, the kids are distracted and having fun, and my husband and I were only there to soak up the culture, which we can do in any town in France.
5 comments:
Have I mentioned that in my limited travels to France, Bandol is one of my favorite places? When I was 20 and my sister was 16 we took the train from Paris, transferred at Marseille. I remember that hilly walk down to the seafront and the little bay and sandy beach on the west side of Bandol where it looks like your kids are playing - the Golf hotel used to be there, don't know if it still is. Nancy and I bathed in the sea at about 5am the first morning before we found a pension. We stayed only a few days but we met a lot of people (yes, French boys) and made some rich memories. I went back with a friend when I was in my 30's, naturally it wasn't the same and I wished my sister was back with me to appreciate it. Thanks for bringing me such special memories so unexpectedly!
I never made it to Bandol although we have driven past the exit. They make really good rose in the area too.
I came back because I was going to link to your blog. Your post really brought back a couple of days from years ago and inspired me to post about Bandol too. Here's the link if you'r interested
http://chapter1-take1.blogspot.com/
Sim, Thanks for sharing the story. Funny that we both landed in that small town in France. And yes, I forgot to put the Mister Linky up.
Mr. Linky - so ridic!
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