The End

Ending a week in France with bread and cheese on the stairs of our lovely holiday home

Girls flying high

In the French sky

Oysters

Today we have a family outing with just the five of us. My parents have camped in Normandy just a couple of weeks before us and for my mums birthday they went to the town of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue to eat some of their famous oysters. They have found a perfect little place just beside the harbor and since they’re so enthusiastic about it (and since we love oysters) we can’t help but visit.

After strolling around the village, having coffee in the harbor, picnicking with just baguette and camembert, we go down the harbor again to end the day with white wine and oysters. Whenever in Saint Vaast please visit the small Yellow oyster shop to pick a plate of their delicious oysters in whatever, they offer five different, size you like. The girls weren’t absolute fans of the oysters, but we definitely were. Writing this I’m wishing I was there again to order another plate.

Normandy

From the silent beaches in Zeeland we move to even quieter ones in Normandy for a family vacation with the in-laws. We found a fantastic house in the middle of the dunes near Saint-Germain-sur-Ay, again with an enclosed garden so all six little girls and the dog can run and climb around as they please. It’s just a small fence separating us from the beach. The weather in Normandy, at least in this time of year, is not the kind that you can lay down on the beach and enjoy the sun, you’ll simply just be blown away, but is perfect for beach walks, building sandcastles, searching for sea snails or afternoon dips.

Chateau Peroudier

The Dordogne area is a very good place if you like to make a tour along some wine growers. We decided to start our tour at a neighboring castle to learn about the wines of the area. This area is mainly known for their white wines and especially the ones with a sweet bite that taste very good with a light lunch. From there out we just drove around looking for other wineries and visited four others, just by following the signs along the road.   

First of those was Chateau Paroudier. Bit of cranky, but nice and very bearded men stumbles down the stairs. Sleep wrinkles in his face. Stupid tourists come during siesta :) Bought some lovely bubbles from him to drink the same evening. His reds are in my wine rack. In the end we made his teeth smile.

La Queyrie

Escaping town for a wonderful sunny week with my little girl and some lovely friends in the most beautiful old farm in the whole of France: La Queyrie near the town of Sainte Alvère. In the middle of nowhere, on the top of a hill, swimming pool with a view down the hill...what else do you need.

Still sometimes dream of our days at La Queyrie, with her big walnut tree which gave us shade as we needed it, with her big fireplace where we played games on the one rainy day, with the lovely boulanger who provided us with fresh croissants every day. We'll be back!

 

 

Fretoy

This was one of the most beautiful weeks of our lives. Five days of our closest friends and family getting to know one another. Starting the week with our civil marriage in Zeeland, so our three grandmothers and 1 grandfather could be there too. Afterwards driving up to France with a big group for a couple of days of BBQing, swimming overall relaxing while the other guest were trickling in. On Thursday saying our vows to our fathers in front of our guest in a French meadow under a burning sun.

We would do it over every year if we could