To start off this year strong, we encourage your family to go play outside!
Our family tradition for years has been to do physical activities on the first day of the year. Other years we went skiing or sleighing, if it rained we went swimming, and once we went bowling. Doesn’t matter what it is, just show them a good example of what a healthy lifestyle looks like.
Today we start off with a 1 1/2 hour hike up to the 360 degree view point just outside our village of Capestang. Mal showed us the way, and the kids enjoyed running through the open areas with no one in site.
We started off with toque and mitts as the weather up on the peak often gets hit with strong winds. We prepared for the worst and sure enough to our luck, no wind! It was 17 degrees, as we peeled off our layers.
After saying goodbye to Mal, we jumped into the Westfalia Camper with snacks in hand and head to Narbonne Plage, a 30-minute drive to the white sand beaches.
We caught a few people swimming in the cold water, and most people walked barefoot leaving footprints. It was spectacular to think, January 1st we could swim in the sea, not that the French were swimming, certainly they were tourists, but nonetheless. Our kids scooted on their scooters along the promenade until eventually they ending up shore side to play in the sand.
We lay out our towels, our picnic upon them and enjoyed the last bit of warm sunshine of January 1st. We were relaxing with many others with the same grand idea in mind. When the sun started to slip over the horizon, we packed up begrudgingly and made our way as slowly as possible towards the van.
On our drive to our house, I felt a sense of home when we passed the familiar plane trees that line our road towards Capestang.
What a perfect day!
That’s Hamori
