Back to France and our second French Noël
After an incredible Scandinavian summer, at the beginning of October we arrived back in France. While we had spent 6 months in France previously, we knew that there was much more that we wanted to explore in the motorhome. First, however, we spent a few days in a gite (guest house) at a horseback riding stable where we could relax while Amelia took riding lessons. She was also excited to cook some treats in a bigger kitchen with an oven, including homemade strawberry granola bars for the next stage of our trip.
After our break, we visited Monet’s house and garden in Giverny. The garden has been planted with an incredible array of seasonal flowers so that it bursts with colour throughout the spring, summer, and autumn. We were lucky to visit on a sunny afternoon in mid-October and we had the Water Lily Pond to ourselves for a few minutes at the end of the day. It was magical in a way that such heavily visited destinations seldom can be.
As we continued through the countryside, Mont Saint-Michel appeared in distance like a fantastic fairy-tale castle floating in the sea. Much like Carcassonne, it is more alluring from a distance (the interior is filled with tourist shops) but we still enjoyed a walk around the ramparts. We then returned in the evening to see it surrounded by water and to catch a glimpse of the city by lamplight. As we returned to our shuttle bus, we were hit by the first bands of rain from a terrific storm. That evening, the motorhome rocked wildly and branches broke in the wind but we escaped without any damage. Our final stops in Normandy were more sombre. We visited the Bayeux Tapestry – woven almost one thousand years ago and showing scenes from the battle of Hastings in life-like detail – and the D-Day beaches along with the Normandy American Cemetery, where white crosses marking the graves stretch as far as you can see.
It was then time to move on to Brittany. Our first stop was a big campsite with many activities – a treat for Amelia and still very quiet because it was not yet school holidays. Over three days, Amelia spent about 12 hours in the heated indoor pool/waterpark and she rode the ziplines and tried the tree climbing adventure course. This was good practice for a bigger tree climbing course, the Forêt Adrénaline Carnac, which was one of Amelia’s highlights in Brittany. We all also enjoyed the rose granite coast (another screen-saver bucket list item!), the misty and mossy Huelgoat forest, the mystical standing stones around Carnac, and a smaller site where it was possible to walk amongst standing stones without a guide – another magical experience.
Amelia was keen to celebrate Halloween/trick-or-treat, but because trick-or-treat is not a typical French custom, we decided to visit the Broceliande forest for the Celtic festival of Samhain. This included a witches’ market and a fire show. Finally, we stopped in Nantes to shop in a Mexican market and see the city’s incredible steam-punk machines, such as a carousel of fantastical sea creatures and a 12 m / 39 ft tall animatronic elephant.
When we arrived back in France, we had also posted on Worldschooling and French home education Facebook groups so that we could find some playdates for Amelia. Our first visit was with Tracy and her family in Normandy: Amelia had a wonderful time exploring a corn-field jungle and jumping on the trampoline with a welcoming group of English-speaking children. Next, we were happy to be invited to visit the “Traveling Twins” family – Amelia loved meeting their girls and we enjoyed chatting about traveling and worldschooling with Anja and Nick. As we left Brittany, we squeezed in our last visit with Kat, Mark, and kids. Mark cooked up a delicious South African potjie, we chatted and laughed late into the night, and decided to stay an extra day! Our last stop was a France Passion to pick up some cognac and then we arrived back “home” in Les Eyzies in our friends’ little cottage where we have spent so much time.
We were very happy to visit with our friends and catch up on their news and we settled in to enjoy our second French Noël (Christmas), this time without a lockdown. We picked holly in the forest and enjoyed having a fire, a Christmas tree decorated with homemade ornaments, and lots of meals involving melted cheese. Amelia was able to take riding lessons (group lessons in French but the owner speaks English) at the beautiful Ferme Des Eymaries and a wonderful art class with a group of English-speaking children, where she was very happy to catch up with her friend Lauren. Independently, Amelia practiced her new passion of gymnastics – learning from videos, our neighbour Agnès, and even an online Outschool class.
At the beginning of December, we were treated to our first snowfall in Les Eyzies – the snow only lasted a few hours but it transformed our familiar landscapes into a winter wonderland. We visited local markets in Le Bugue and St Cyprien (full of olives, oranges, and seafood) and Christmas markets in Sarlat (Mexican-themed with ice-skating!) and Bordeaux (we saw beautiful Christmas lights and tasted delicious aligot). Near Bordeaux, we also hiked on the Dune du Pilat (the tallest sand dune in Europe). We had a wonderful time feasting, toasting, and celebrating Christmas Eve with our neighbours Antoine, Peter, Agnès – and of course their dogs Happy and Topsy. For the new year, we are visiting Cayman, and then we will see what the future brings – perhaps Italy and Greece in the footsteps of our friends The Chouters & Bijou and Frenchy Le Van.