One of the best things about living in the southern region of France is our proximity to the border. One hour gets us over the Pyrenees and usually better weather in the land of spicy paella, party all night long, deep fried tapas and seafood galore!
I have visited Spain many times over the past four years, usually twice a year is our rule. Once for Barcelona sometime catching a connecter by visiting a few days before and after to enjoy customer service and the busy tourist route and walking streets, and also along the beaches to enjoy some warm weather when the weather moves closer to winter here in the southern France regions.
This weekend we decided to rent a motorboat in on the last weekend projected for sun, and our family along with another, piled into our van to make the trip. By 10:30 we were eating breakfast in a restaurant near the beach across the Spanish border. But the weather was not cooperating. Huddled together like the zombies from the I am Legend movie with Will Smith, we ate chorizo sausages, fried eggs, and ham with bread. It was very good, in a mom pop shop a little whole in the wall filled to the brink with locals. By the time we were done, we realized that it was not going to be bikini weather after all. I was changing into my running shoes and layering up my clothes. I was not prepared. Thankfully, we made do.
We went to the boat rental place….. and from there we took the speedboat through canal passageways until we reached the open sea. From here, the kids were up top, and we were under blankets chasing the sun on the horizon. After about 90 minutes we left the cloud behind, as we travelled North towards France, up around along coves and eventually found a nice place to lower the anchor and have lunch. It was warm, we stripped off our layers and bathed in the sun, and ate a lunch of baguettes, foie gras, and cheese.
The waters turned choppy on the way back and we all got soaked. The kids were shivering, so we stopped in Rosa to buy some clothes and to have a coffee before heading back. Our children looked like little homeless children, in mismatched dollar store outfits, and we let them play in the sand before making our journey back to the rental company.
My only objective today was to eat Spanish paella. Once back, it was after 18:00. The man had waited over an hour for our arrival, but the turn in the weather was understandable.
We went back to the little hole in the wall where the customer service and the owner served us up Spanish paella and tapas. The children had their fill and on the way home to France, slept.
