Wednesday, September 30

After breakfast we started the day with school work. As we were settling into a groove there is a knock at the door and it is Gaiton. Big smile on his face, I ask him if he has school today and he says no. Not sure at this point if it’s every Wednesday or just certain ones but that seems nice for the kids. I have noticed that their school days are much longer than ours. I tell Shelby she can go play with him and do her school work later, she jumps at the opportunity and off they go. Max puts his pencil down and says “I’m not doing my work then!”, fair enough. I let him play some games on the iPad and I spend some time with my coffee and tour books trying to decide what places to hit in the area. I’m not feeling like too long of a drive so perhaps we may go and explore the beach nearby.

After lunch we head to the art studio a couple doors down where the kids are taking art classes once a week for the next few weeks. I was going to leave and get some groceries but Shelby was too embarrassed to ask the lady if I could go and I didn’t have the language to ask myself, especially after she pulls up a chair for me, I thought it best I stick around. Max painted on a canvas with some stencils and modelling paste and Shelby used modelling clay and created a key chain and ring. Both the kids had a great time and the 2 hours flew by. They are both looking forward to going back next week.

Max’s art teacher helping him with the modelling paste on his canvas.

Shelby and Julia made modelling clay key chains and rings.

The kids decided they wanted to cook dinner tonight and I was told to “go and read your book!”. It seemed like a fantastic idea in theory but the boy was constantly asking what he could do and Shelby was having a hard time coming up with work for him, when she did ask for things like setting the table he said “no!”. Eventually they got into a groove with a little help from me with things like lighting the stove since it is gas. They made pesto gnocchi with fried pancetta and there was even some cookies for dessert. They were quite proud of themselves, as was I.

Thursday, October 1

After lunch we head to the city of Agde, sometimes dubbed “the black pearl of the Mediterranean” because of its stone monuments built in basalt. It has a long history, being founded in the 6th century B.C. by the Phoenicians who came from Marseilles. It’s been a port city since antiquity having been favoured since the 17th century by the opening of the Canal du Midi. The city suffered a decline of it’s port living mainly on fishing and agriculture. However in the 1970’s the construction of the seaside resort Cap d’Agde became an integral part of the framework of the tourist development. Since then Agde and Cap d’Agde became one of the main marinas of the Mediterranean and the first tourist resort in Europe by its accommodation capacity, and enjoys an international reputation, due in part to its Le Village Naturiste (nudist village).

We were headed to Cap d’Agde not for Le Village Naturiste but for the Parc de Dino/Geant Mini Golf, where the Dinopark showed the mini golf open on my phone. Unfortunately it wasn’t.

Kids trying to scale the wall into mini golf.

After a stop a the visitors centre I find out, as I’ve been noticing that many of the outdoor activities places for kids are shutting down or have limited hours. I picked up a few brochures and we head off to plan B, the aquarium. It wasn’t very large or expensive and we had a nice stroll through. It was great hearing the kids remember the names of things before I even had to tell them. Shelby remembered that Nemo was called a clownfish before I did. And Max remembered the unicorn fish and others. We watched a video on Sharks, in French of course, it was interesting we still got the point of it being about poachers and how the sharks are hunted for their fins and teeth.

Shark and turtle swimming by at the Aquarium in Cap d’Agde.

Then we strolled along a path near where we parked the car and came across the most amazing views of the mediterranean in both directions. This was the tip of Cap d’Agde. And specifically, so far, one of the most beautiful sights I’ve seen. It is a cove carved by the sea into the volcanic rock, a small black sand beach called La Grande Conque and “Les Deux Frères” rocks. I love it when you stumble across something so breathtaking. We strolled around here for awhile and all said we’d come back to show Justin.

Max with La Grande Conque beach behind him in Cap d’Agde.

The kids with “les deux frères” rock behind them at Cap d’Agde.