Stay at the Castle!!

This morning it was 23°C, or ine could say the perfect temperature!  We had breakfast with the family that owned the chateau and met a woman and her husband from northern scotland who were also guests of the chateau and her father. After that we headed on the road to our next destination, Chateau Les Merles!  We drove for about three and half hours while passing a lot of sunflower fields as well as many castles!! We arrived at Chateau Les Merles (Woohoo!)  It's so big!! Charlotte and my room is at the end of the hall.  We have another large bath as well and nicely decorated rooms! Wen we got to the castle we started the day with a nice lunch and then laid by the beautiful pool that has the backdrop of gorgeous French countryside.  Lucas and Else played some golf while Charlotte and I made some bracelets, enjoyed some ice tea, and then played in the pool until close to 8:00 PM. There was also an inflatable tube and ball that were a lot of fun! The castle also had many features including a winery, golf course, pool, restaurant, stables, and an amazing view. 

July 26th: 

Else took Lotje and I to Chateau de Brigoidire, a newly opened. Astor to the public. They are in he process if renovating it but the rooms they had done already were very nice! They even had knight armor on the stairs! The wine cellar was neat along with the prisoners area and also its own chapel in one of the side towers. 

Outside they had it set up like a festival with a lot of old games they used to play but were still fun! They ha a game where they had all these strings tied like a spiderweb with bells attached and you had to try to make it through without ringing the bells.  There was a life sized chess board and some billiards type games as well. 

After the excursion we enjoyed the pool an the castle! I read some of my book, The Hundred Secret Senses (great book) while soaking up the sun. 

We had our farewell dinner at the castle and I tried a very divine French dessert as well, made of apple (tatata or something like that) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a caramel drizzle on top. I also walked into the vineyard and watched the sunset. 

The next morning both Charlotte and I got up at the crack of dawn and looked for the sunrise.. That is we walked on a path through the golf course to get a better view. We walked for a total of about 30 minutes and then when we got back to the castle it finally popped above the trees above the horizon so the best view of all was from right as you step onto the start of the golf course at the top of the hill!

Arromanches and Normandie

Arromanches and Normandy!! We went to Normandie and saw the American Cemetery. Lucas took me to the museum while Else and Charlotte went on a tourist train around the town- so beautiful, steep drop off cliffs with crystalline water. The cemetery was impressive, thousands of white crosses and a large monument and 'pool.' Omaha beach was very serene, and well-kept with breathtaking views.  Also in the town I Arromanches the view was beautiful. 

There unfortunately was a problem with the booking website canceling our reservation for this hotel right on the waterfront do we had to change the plan and instead we drive a fewore hours which would cut down on the next days long drive and stayed in a guesthouse in a chateau called [La G*********]. We got a warm welcome with a glass of wine and although he owners didn't have room at their dinner table because the other guests already filled up the openings, they suggested one of the two restaurants in town (very small town) so we went there and enjoyed dinner and then went back to get ready for the early start the next morning. My room was really nice, I called it my princess room- view outback I a wooden sailboat in the water and also I took a hot bubble bath :) I got some good heavy sleep as well! (July 24th)

La Touquet beach day

Day two of vacation- we awoke this morning leisurely. It was so cute, Charlotte came over and laid with me for a bit. We went down and had a cake slice with honey for breakfast, then I tried my first amazing French croissant: nothing like the ones in the USA! After breakfast we went to unwind and had a very relaxed day at the beach. I covered Charlotte totally in the sand and then made her into  mermaid complete with a shell top! Also we went in the sea and played smashball. For dinner we went to La Petit Charlotte :) It was a very nice, relaxing day in the sun.

La Touquet July 21st

July 21 Sunday- today was our first day of vacation!! we ate lunch with a couple of else's friends in Brugge, Belgium. Brugge is a gorgeous town! the Townhall is enormous and very beautiful just as the conblestone streets and old buildings. before we left I had a Belgian waffle with powdered sugar, lekker! we drove the rest of the way to La Touquet after. We stayed at Hotel Equinox and it was very cute, and a great location- one block from the beach! We spent some time at the beach, people were out but but it wasn't too crowded. We were entertained by a woman who was trying to take down her sun tent because when she thought she got it down it would pop back open. Even with other people helping her it still was nearly impossible, a big struggle. We had dinner Att little pizzeria and then had a nice stroll down the French streets. I went back to the beach and it was low tide so I walked out to where the water was and took some nice photos (the beach was pretty empty now web with about 2 hours of light left).