À la Plage

I never thought that one of my favorite things about this month in Toulouse would be the beach, but I’ve been to the Mediterranean twice now and I am so grateful.  

I have always loved the water.  When I was little I would sit in the water for hours on end letting the waves push me around and being in the sea again has brought that little kid out of me. 

The first time I went to the sea was the weekend in Port Vendres.  Port Vendres is a little port town three hours away from Toulouse where everyone stayed for two nights together.  We drove there on Friday and on Saturday we took a two hour hike through the hills on the coast to the beach and spent the rest of the day swimming and sunbathing to our hearts content.

The hike there was stunning, with constant views of the sea, and tiny little pebble beaches along the way. I’m not gonna lie, I thought the hike was hard.  I don’t hike often and it was during the hottest part of the day, so yeah I felt like death the whole time.  However, the views of the sea, the smell of the fish and salt, and eventually being able to dive into the refreshing water made it all worth it.

The second time was with my host family.  This weekend they took me and a friend to Narbonne.  Narbonne is your typical beach town with streets full of ice cream shops and boogie boards, and of course an amazing sandy beach.  

It was fun being able to go to the beach with my host family because they have the whole day trip to the beach thing down.  When we got to Narbonne we didn’t go straight to the beach, instead we went to the market.  The market was super crowded but it had everything you could ever need (if you’re looking for a three foot long spatula, I know where to find it) including some of the freshest cherries and apricots I have ever tasted.  At the market we bought bread, fruit, cheese, ham, all the essentials for a quality picnic.  Only then did we actually head to the beach.  

And ooooh la la it was so nice.  The beach at Narbonne is a lot shallower and sandier than the beach at Port Vendres, plus there were amazing waves.  My friend and I ended up spending hours and hours straight just in the water jumping waves, something I haven’t done for a long time.  It was so soothing but also fun.  We took a couple breaks to eat the amazing food from the market, and to reapply sunscreen (I was practically drenched in spf 50 yet I still got burnt.  Typical) but for the most part it was just the two of us jumping waves.  

I am so thankful that I was able to swim in the Mediterranean not once, but two times this month.  The sea always has the ability to calm me down and bring me back to the simple days when I would sit in the waves until the last possible second.  Until next time, à bientôt.