After a lovely lunchtime in Rochefort-en-Terre, we drove 40 minutes to La Plage de Mine D'Or (the gold mine beach). We finished listening to HP7 during the drive. When we arrived at the beach, Jeff and the kids changed into their bathing suits and we all walked down to the water. The sand was COVERED in shells, prompting the kids and I to indulge in a bit of seashell collecting. The ocean water was a tad brown with swirling clumps of seaweed, but we didn't care because it was so warm! Ten points to the toasty Atlantic! The kids couldn't believe how warm the water was. Even Rose was happy to splash around in it without shivering. We enjoyed the warm water (I waded up to my knees, not in the mood to swim) and played in the sand for just over an hour before the lightning fast tide shooed us away. We measured the tide speed with carefully placed rocks, and it was coming in, covering the sand at about a foot per minute!
When we arrived back at the parking lot, we discovered that a car had parallel parked right behind us so close that we couldn't leave. We hunkered down to wait. There was nothing else to be done! We were bumper to bumper in a cramped parking area. Thanks mostly to the fast-approaching tide, the owners of one of the cars returned within ten minutes and we were able to pull out by 4pm.
On the way home we stopped at a Carrefour Market and did a bit of heavy grocery shopping. (luxury of luxuries, we loaded it into the trunk and didn't have to walk carrying it for half a mile home!) 40 minutes later we were home in Vannes and cooking spaghetti for dinner. The kids all showered the salt and sand off, and we had a quiet evening in our apartment. Jeff and I slipped out for a walk through beautiful bustling Vannes after the kids were in bed. It is so nice to go on evening walks together, especially since it stays light for so long here (sunset is at 9:45pm). The streets were very busy in the evenings, full of people eating long late dinners, socializing, and listening to live music that was set up in various public areas. The whole town has such a family-friendly/good-clean-fun vibe to it. We love Vannes!
I have taken so many pictures this week, I feel a tad photo'd out! Haha, but maybe that will subside tomorrow on our last day in Brittany. We leave for the Loire Valley on Saturday--the final leg of our lovely long journey. It has been wonderful so far. Of course traveling with a family of six, mother-in-law and three kids included, has its bumps and difficulties, but overall it has been awesome, fun, and worthwhile.
Testing the water
They could hardly build a sandcastle for the tide to knock down before the tide was upon them, destroying their half-built fortresses.
I went on a small walk down the beach to check out this small cave. It was full of seashells deposited at high tide! Most of them were twisted fragments, but still--it was like a mermaid's grotto.
Sea moss? I love seeing the water line showing how high the tide gets.
Looking up the beach. The higher the tide got, the closer everyone scooted together. The beach felt so much more crowded by the time we left!
I admired the texture and colors in the rock walls.
Wet seashells are always prettier than dry ones. Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Rose and the sand.
And to finish off, a few pictures from my morning run in and around Vannes. I loved running on the long peaceful shoreline paths along the Gulf of Morbihan there:
Vannes was unexpectedly tranquil while still being vibrant, scenic, and just big enough to have everything we needed. We loved Vannes.
The harbor was quiet early in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment