France (April 2014) - Part 1

Over Easter, we took our first vacation since New Year's (and, frankly, that trip didn't really feel like a vacation with the cancelled flight and the lousy weather).

We spent a week in France, staying in a village called Nevian.  We flew into Toulouse and rented a car from there.  It's around 2 hours by car to the house that LBJ's parents have (and were kind enough to let us use for the week).

The weather was amazing when we landed.  It was in the 70s and sunny.  Not too windy either, which is saying something - this is the windiest part of France.  LBJ should know, given her work in the energy sector (and all the interest in renewables, including wind).

The weather was still glorious when we woke up the next morning, so we decided to go to the beach. After a stop at our favorite store in the area, Decathalon.  How do I describe this shop?  It is like a giant Costco devoted to sports (and without the membership fee).  They have an amazing variety of products and they are all quite reasonably priced.  We got fleeces, t-shirts, hiking shirts, rash guards (shirt-like things to wear over swimsuits to keep warm and avoid sunburns), etc.  FABJ even got some early birthday presents - riding boots and pants (jodhpurs).

The beach was nice - we had a picnic there.  Well, I ate on a bench next to the beach, as I didn't want sand in my food.  Call me a fussy eater.

It appeared that the only people on the beach were foreigners.  I think there were Brits and Germans there along with us.  It was probably too cold for the locals.  FABJ did get her feet wet, and she even got LBJ to get her toes well, too.  But ORBJ and I had no interest.

A picnic at the beach

The girls had a great time playing in the sand.  In theory, they were building sand castles.  In practice, they were happy to dig trenches and get all sandy.

They even had the energy to play with the exercise equipment that is next to the beach.  I'm not quite sure that this is what the town / city planners had in mind, but it was somewhat amusing to watch:

ORBJ training for cross country skiing

FABJ strengthening her core, French style

After that, we stopped at a local supermarket, bought a couple of things for dinner, and made our way home.