Vacation Stories II.

There followed a glorious week on the coast of Brittany which was a blur of picturesque villages and churches,

breath-taking shoreline,







extraordinary stone houses



and impossibly beautiful flowers



as well as sad reminders of the past:







The disappointment was that the lovely house where we spent the week did not have internet access as expected so I missed out on some voiceover work and was forced to spend my time relaxing and seeing the sights – like this great big sandcastle at Mont Saint Michel:



A high point for me was visiting the ornithological station at Grand Ile, where the kids and I spent some time on the beach and I had a chance to fraternise (in French!) with other birdwatchers.






Another fond memory is strong-arming the kids and dragging them to a coiffure pour un coup d’un peu centimetres des cheveux. Just a few. Boy did they look better after that. I also shelled out a few euros for hairbrushes for them since they had conveniently forgotten their own.

Visiting bakeries was a favored pastime too



We ate furiously the whole time, but we walked miles and miles so I actually returned home slightly lighter than when I left. We walked even more in Paris – the steps in the Metro alone were a workout.

Les moules (mussels)

In Paris the dynamics changed because whereas in Brittany all 17 of us were under one roof, now we were spread among arondissements in 3 apartments. Ours was near Montmartre (where the movie Amelie was filmed), a tiny charming walk-up that was great to come home to after a long day. Fortunately the walk-up was short:

After what Peter dubbed the Stairs of Doom, which we climbed every evening after emerging from the Metro, we were glad the apartment was only one floor up.





To be continued…