Day 58

Keeping a "breast" of life on the southwestern coast of France.

The final day of our weekend adventure began with some housekeeping.  We had to clean our room before we vacated.  Was sort of hoping for a discount since we were forced into servitude as part of the resorts housekeeping staff.  No such luck.  Back on the road again, we ran down the coast to check out the beach scene at the famous Biarritz.  It is a very nice beach community with a beautiful coast line.  We hit the beach early and spent some time in the surf before the crowd began to grow.  Soon the beach was filled with sun hungry tourists and locals alike.  It wasn't long before my eldest received a lovely lesson in the female anatomy.  Tops are quite optional for the ladies here and there were boobies everywhere.  The first sighting was startling.  She was probably in her sixties and while she was in fairly good shape for her age, things weren't quite where they used to be.  I thought it odd that she was topless and her husband was in a t-shirt and shorts.  Unfortunately on closer inspection, he was topless as well and what I thought was a black t-shirt was in fact a thick layer of black fur.  The two pranced around in the surf with glee.  A silver back gorilla and his Jane Goodall.  By this time, mom had taken the youngest to the car for a restroom break and had been gone for some time so I gathered the eldest from the water to go check to be sure nothing was a miss.

On our way back up the beach, my 8 year old got to sample in the glories of bare chested ladies of every shape and size.  Big nipples, little nipples, freckle nipples, even hairy nipples . . . don't ask.  I couldn't help but giggle as his eyes darted about trying to take it all in.  I of course kept my eyes straight ahead and didn't see a thing.  That's my story and I am sticking to it.  We soon caught up to my wife and youngest son who were by this time on their way back to the beach.  I explained to my wife that the beach was getting quite crowded and very naked, so we agreed that it was time to head out.

Since we were only 2 hours from home at this point, we decided to have a picnic lunch and make one last stop before home.  Not a half hour from our home is a natural wonder called the Dune de Pilat.  It is an absolutely ginormous Sand Dune right off of the coast at the inlet of small bay.  We decided to hit this tourist mecca in an effort to make up for the early exodus from the beach.  Despite the crowds we made our way to the dune.  It is quite a trek to the top.  Even I found myself out of breath with quads burning in a lactic acid meltdown.  We spent an hour or so playing in the sand and enjoying the cool ocean breeze.  The highlite of the adventure for me was watching my wife drag our fat assed dog up and down the dune for he was in no shape to make the trip under his own power.  I make a lot of fun of this little guy, but he is a wonderfully behaved canine and is usually no trouble at all.  He too experienced many firsts.  A cool shot of the Atlantic on his rear section didn't seem to impress him any and his low undercarriage was no match for the sand trap on the 18th hole.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable weekend.  The opportunity to hit the beach and the mountains is something that only Californians appreciate and we did our best to see it all.  Parts were a success and parts were a failure, but that can be said for any vacation.  We did find some spots to return to and look forward to our next opportunity to get out and about.  It was a much needed distraction from the constant toil that is our everyday existance here in France and our batteries are mildly recharged to get back at it from one more week.  We will lose mom again to business travel for the coming week and I will be back to the single dad scene once more.  My excitement for the week will come in the form of French class which has finally been arranged and will begin this week.  My brother emailed to let me know that these classes would make all the difference and I hope for my sake that he is correct.  He has tread these waters himself in the recent past, so I will trust him and put my all into this education.  Keep your fingers crossed.  If all goes well, perhaps one of these days you will be forced to translate these posts as they will be written entirely in French.  Ok, maybe that is a bit optimistic, but stay tuned . . . I may surprise you.