My "summer holidays" thus far in my life seem to fall into two distinct categories....
a childhood of summer hols spent in the UK & then those as an adult spent travelling or abroad.
My parents weren't great travellers....I guess they are from a generation where people just didn't really consider foreign holidays. I don't think my mother has ever flown.
Our school summer holidays consisted of 6 weeks where my mother said good-bye to us in the mornings & we spent literally the whole day in the local park with friends, playing on the "climbing tree" & eventually running home hot,, hungry, tired and happy in the evening.
We did this day after day, summer after summer & loved it....
freedom, fun and friends.
freedom, fun and friends.
We moved to London from South Wales when I was 6 years old but we returned regularly to see our grandparents....the long long journey there (only 2 hrs now but back then it was about 5 hrs) was spent running up and down the aisles of the train which rattled and moved around endlessly.
We stayed in Cardiff which is a city but is only a very short distance away from lots of wonderful beaches....my most enduring memory is the enormous picnics that my grandmother would make up which seemed to take forever to pack into the car.
"Sunshine & Sand - Children on the Beach"
It probably wasn't that far to the beach but always had that childhood feeling that we would never get there....
I can still remember the exhilaration of finally arriving with several carloads full of uncles, aunts and cousins....
Huge amounts of food, my Dad sitting us on his shoulders and throwing us into the sea over and over again, the long run down to the beach across the sand and coming home late at night exhausted and slightly sunburned....the days before suntan lotion!
Other summers I escaped from my two younger brothers and got to stay with my mother's parents for a few weeks....I don't know exactly how many years I did this for, when I was a little older I got to take the train journey from London to Cardiff by myself which I loved.
I always say when asked that it was these particular summers which were absolutely the best part of my childhood....
my grandparents were the nicest and kindest people in the world and I adored my time with them....
they are really my happiest memories.
Even thinking about them now makes me feel so good.
Even thinking about them now makes me feel so good.
Southerndown beach, South Wales....
It wasn't just the train trips to the beach, the days out, the treats that they probably lavished on me & the fact that I was the sole recipient of all this attention - it was simply that we had such fun together, the days did seem easy & endless, full of sunshine.
My grandmother would make sandwiches & off we'd go on the train to the beach.
I'd play all day long, she'd sit & read....and then late afternoon she'd take me to the funfair that overlooked the beach.
My grandmother would make sandwiches & off we'd go on the train to the beach.
I'd play all day long, she'd sit & read....and then late afternoon she'd take me to the funfair that overlooked the beach.
It was almost as though I knew that time with them was a treat to be savoured & I loved absolutely every day of it....
I felt totally loved & special, I was happy with them whatever we did.
The first time I went abroad was on a day trip to France when I was 11.
A few school trips to Europe followed & then once I started Uni, I began exploring and travelling by myself and with friends.....
trips to Greece, Cyprus, Spain and a summer working in a children's camp in the US.
France and Italy traditionally "close" for August....those living in Rome and Paris leave the heat of the city for the beach. England of course isn't as hot but for many people it's the time they take their summer break & head for the sunshine of the Mediterranean.
Whilst I do love a city break, I also love the beach & can quite happily spend weeks there, doing nothing but sunbathing and reading. Before my children started school we would holiday in either May or September but now we go in August.
Those of you who read my blog regularly will know that every year we go to the south of France....
each year I seem to add a day or two on to our stay & this year we will be there for four whole blissful weeks!!
This year I booked & planned our trip very early, back in January....and the thought of it has kept me going on many a cold, wet, dreary London day!
My husband works very long hours & so it's a special and much needed time for us to be together as a family...the harder he works, the more I yearn for - and appreciate - August together.
I first discovered Villefranche Sur Mer when I was 19 - my 2nd year at Uni was spent studying in France & one week-end we escaped to Nice and Cannes for a few days.
We took the train along the coast to Monaco and passed through Villefranche.
I immediately fell in love with the beautiful bay, with its old town full of red-roofed houses creeping back up the hillside, cobbled streets, steep stone steps and clear blue sea.
I had no idea have known that years later I'd take my husband and then my children there....and then there'd be no going back, none of us would ever want to holiday anywhere else!!
What I love about it - which very often people don't expect from the French Riviera - is that for us it's a very simple holiday.
We go on walks, we visit glamorous Monaco a few times, we walk to chic Cap Ferrat for dinner or ice-cream, we go up to Eze for escargots....but most of the time we spend on or at the beach.
I live in shorts, sundresses and swimsuits.
No make-up or hairdryer....no alarms, no TV.
Total escape.
We shop at the market, my children go to the boulangerie every morning to buy baguettes & pain aux raisins....my husband cooks delicious pasta, local seafood and incredible salads.
We often stay on the beach until 8pm....
sometimes we come home, make a large bowl of salad, pack a baguette & 4 forks
- we then head back to the beach & stay there until the sun has gone down.
We swim, we read, the children make a friend for the day, they pick up some new French words....
We sit alongside French & Italian families who arrive en masse, sometimes with three - or four - generations from the city and they stay there like us absorbing the last & final rays of sunshine....
it's a wonderful way to spend a hot summer day.
And if it sounds idyllic....it is....
....and I know I'm enormously lucky to be able to spend 4 weeks there - my husband is there for almost 3 wks & this year my aunt is joining the children & I for the 1st week....
The beach means total freedom for my children, they've both learned to swim there and I love that they appreciate the simplicity & sheer beauty of it.
It's the perfect summer holiday....
and I hope these are the holiday memories they'll look back on when they grow up because I know there's something very special about those summer days....
Each year my children have grown in little ways, they're doing new & different things....
we've been there with one child, I've been there while pregnant....
one summer my daughter was stung three times by jellyfish & another summer my son ate sand on the beach every.single.day....
good memories, happy times.
I hope too that they've learned that actually....
a baguette, a book & a beach are the only holiday essentials you need....
I felt totally loved & special, I was happy with them whatever we did.
A few school trips to Europe followed & then once I started Uni, I began exploring and travelling by myself and with friends.....
trips to Greece, Cyprus, Spain and a summer working in a children's camp in the US.
France and Italy traditionally "close" for August....those living in Rome and Paris leave the heat of the city for the beach. England of course isn't as hot but for many people it's the time they take their summer break & head for the sunshine of the Mediterranean.
Whilst I do love a city break, I also love the beach & can quite happily spend weeks there, doing nothing but sunbathing and reading. Before my children started school we would holiday in either May or September but now we go in August.
Those of you who read my blog regularly will know that every year we go to the south of France....
each year I seem to add a day or two on to our stay & this year we will be there for four whole blissful weeks!!
This year I booked & planned our trip very early, back in January....and the thought of it has kept me going on many a cold, wet, dreary London day!
My husband works very long hours & so it's a special and much needed time for us to be together as a family...the harder he works, the more I yearn for - and appreciate - August together.
I first discovered Villefranche Sur Mer when I was 19 - my 2nd year at Uni was spent studying in France & one week-end we escaped to Nice and Cannes for a few days.
We took the train along the coast to Monaco and passed through Villefranche.
I immediately fell in love with the beautiful bay, with its old town full of red-roofed houses creeping back up the hillside, cobbled streets, steep stone steps and clear blue sea.
I had no idea have known that years later I'd take my husband and then my children there....and then there'd be no going back, none of us would ever want to holiday anywhere else!!
What I love about it - which very often people don't expect from the French Riviera - is that for us it's a very simple holiday.
We go on walks, we visit glamorous Monaco a few times, we walk to chic Cap Ferrat for dinner or ice-cream, we go up to Eze for escargots....but most of the time we spend on or at the beach.
I live in shorts, sundresses and swimsuits.
No make-up or hairdryer....no alarms, no TV.
Total escape.
We shop at the market, my children go to the boulangerie every morning to buy baguettes & pain aux raisins....my husband cooks delicious pasta, local seafood and incredible salads.
We often stay on the beach until 8pm....
sometimes we come home, make a large bowl of salad, pack a baguette & 4 forks
- we then head back to the beach & stay there until the sun has gone down.
We swim, we read, the children make a friend for the day, they pick up some new French words....
We sit alongside French & Italian families who arrive en masse, sometimes with three - or four - generations from the city and they stay there like us absorbing the last & final rays of sunshine....
it's a wonderful way to spend a hot summer day.
And if it sounds idyllic....it is....
....and I know I'm enormously lucky to be able to spend 4 weeks there - my husband is there for almost 3 wks & this year my aunt is joining the children & I for the 1st week....
The beach means total freedom for my children, they've both learned to swim there and I love that they appreciate the simplicity & sheer beauty of it.
It's the perfect summer holiday....
and I hope these are the holiday memories they'll look back on when they grow up because I know there's something very special about those summer days....
Each year my children have grown in little ways, they're doing new & different things....
we've been there with one child, I've been there while pregnant....
one summer my daughter was stung three times by jellyfish & another summer my son ate sand on the beach every.single.day....
good memories, happy times.
I hope too that they've learned that actually....
a baguette, a book & a beach are the only holiday essentials you need....
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