A Beach, a Boat and a Birthday!

We are winding down our time in Quiberon. We head back to Paris on Monday for two days and then we let go of the unending support of our family and head out to Amsterdam and beyond. It has been so wonderful to ease into this adventure with so much help in getting settled and this long stretch of time at the Seaside.

The Birthday Boy

Meanwhile, Mr. Campbell celebrated his 68th birthday last Saturday with a lovely day out of town. Gregoire, Mary, Michael, Coco and I loaded up the car and drove to Vannes where we met family friends that keep a small sail boat nearby on the Ile D'Arz in the Morbihan Sea. We boarded a passenger only ferry and took the 30 minute ride to the island. This picturesque island is not dissimilar to San Juan Island except for the fact it was pillaged by the Romans, farmed for salt in the Middle ages (the salt flats are still there), and a few other ancient remnants strewn about the fields.

Once we walked (and walked and walked) along the coast road to a home of more friends to drop off a few things, we walked (and walked and walked) to the center of the small town for lunch. It was a leisurely lunch since one of two burners at the restaurant malfunctioned so service was slow. Even for a small island in France. But we were in good company and the wine flowed - so no one was too disappointed.

Typical home on the island

From there we walked (and walked and walked crawled along the rocky beach) to get to the boat. The boat itself was anchored off shore a bit and they don't own a dinghy, so someone needed to swim to the boat to weigh anchor. Gregoire and Jean Francais did the honors. Since the boat was no more than 18 feet and there were 6 adults and a child, I made the wise decision to stay behind on the beach to read my book and guard the gear!

Coming ashore to collect the crew

All aboard had a lovely sail amongst the many small islands just off shore.

(And, if you've ever spent time in England and have a love of 'English' phrases, I recommend a funny, breezy beach read by Catherine Alliott called 'A Crowded Marriage'. As fun and fluffy as a Trifle).

This day was a perfect example of what this journey is all about. We would have never known about this bucolic part of the world and taken the time to explore it for an entire day, AND get in a 8K walk if we didn't have just that - the luxury of time.

Beach Buddies