French Holiday 2014

French Holiday 2014

After a bit of a delay getting to France for our family holiday due to a lack of passports, we eventually made it to Northern France, Normandy region, not too far from Dieppe. 

It is a very simple area, not a fancy city but a tiny village with houses covered in flowers and fields with cows, sheep and chickens roaming around. 

The house that we are staying in with Rob's family has a very old feel to it. The kind where decor hasn't change in 20 years but it all suits the house's character. The large beams running across the roof shows how old it is and the dark wood furniture is quite in place with beautiful dark windows and matching shutters! I adore shutters. Rob has actually made me some as an anniversary gift, inspired by my love for the french style.

We ended up sharing a room with the kids as they were quite hard to settle and there room was going to be at the other end of the house so it was a bit far away. With mattresses on the floor and suitcases lining the room, we were very settled in our petite Chateau.

We spent a lot of time in Dieppe using their water facilities. There was a vast coast line of a large pebbled beach but what we were most taken by was an amazing outdoor pool. This also had a large indoor pool but it was the glittering blue water that caught our eye as we walked along the shoreline. The amazing thing about this pool was that it was a salt water pool, so you had that amazing saltwater skin and hair at the end of the day.

We spent a lot of time here as it was so easy for the kids and they just loved being in the water in the beautiful heat we were blessed with.

Dieppe was a really nice town, it had amazing facilities for kids. A beautiful huge pirate ship playground filled a large sandy space and there was also a huge skate park for the locals, obviously the pool as well and then a huge smooth promenade for biking and roller skating down. It gave you that real holiday feeling, enjoying the warm sun and strolling by the sea eating ice creams. 

We must have consumed nearly 2 baguettes a day, mostly by Rob, but when it is so accessible, we just ate it by the chunk! The bakeries were amazing and the crepes sold on the streets were just delicious!

The sea itself was very pleasant, one day, all four of us were in it at the same time and it was just amazing, Rob holding Raph and I had Etta hitched on my hip. It was hard as it was pebbly but we eventually found a bit of sand. It was really beautiful though, just being together as a family and swimming in the French sea.

On others days we returned to the beach and swimming pool as it was easy for the kids. It also meant we could indulge in seaside walks and ice creams. 

Along the Northern coastline there was also a beach called Saint Valere which was a beautiful little coastal town. Again, pebbled beach but by then we were used to them!

We must have spent most of our holiday outside and not far from water. The house that we stayed in also saw many rounds of Boules on the front lawn and many table tennis matches. 

We have probably eaten double our weight in french bread, 6 baguettes a day was just not enough for the 11 of us! But all together, sitting outside and watching the sun set around the hills, resulted in a proper French Holiday. 

Post by Emily