You've no doubt heard of the cycling Tour de France but did you know that there is also a sailing version? Every year, it kicks off from Dunkirk and we usually go along to see what's going on in the "village", where all the sponsors set up stands and put on activities for the kids.
As it was a beautiful day, we tied in some time at the beach and Pierre was obsessed with making sand angels as soon as we arrived !
Our first stop was a ball-throwing game, where Pierre managed to win some stick-on tattoos.
Both Juliette and Pierre coloured in a badge so that they could take a free magazine or toy at the Disney Club tent, but I couldn't convince them to go and pose with the seagull mascot !
After playing the video game about managing a banana plantation, we sampled the banana smoothies, which were very tasty.
When we arrived home, we'd received a souvenir of our plantation by email !
We moved on to Swingball, which reminds me that we need to get our one out of the garage and set up on the patio for the summer.
There was a poignant display as we headed to the sand - a "plages propres" (clean beaches) sign, made out of all the rubbish that has been found on the beach. The giraffe's head wsn't part of the display - it was a bouncy castle in the background !
Finally we headed to the beach, where I managed to find a shady spot on the sand - perfect for reading my book while the kids played.
See how crowded the beach is at this end, near the town, compared to the vast, deserted stretches of sand down the other end by the bunkers ? At least the seagulls are happy because they get plenty to eat from the tourists.
Action shot !
Pierre had lots of fun burying his big sister ! She wanted to be made into a mermaid but the sand was too dry to shape it into a tail.
On the way home, we popped into the Sculpture Garden to pick up a geocache that I'd hidden next to some concrete sheep. Unfortunately it was too close to be accepted, even though the nearest geocache is on the opposite side of the canal.
I stood looking at the pretty water lilies ...
... and spotted some bright blue dragonflies. I even managed to snap a quick picture of one that wasn't out of focus.
It was the perfect end to our first summer holiday adventure ... but I'm sure it won't be our last !
That looks like such a fun day out. What a great start to the holidays x
ReplyDeleteIt was all a bit spur of the moment but we had fun !
DeleteOooh this looks like a fun filled family day out, hope you all enjoy your holiday, it looks like you all are xxx
ReplyDeleteSo far so good ! :)
DeleteGreat action shot of Juliette! I can see why the kids didn't want to have their photo with the mascot. ;) Sounds like a super duper day of fun activities.
ReplyDeleteAnd the best part ? It was all totally free ! lol
DeleteI love reading about the activities put on, on the beaches near you. It looks like you all had a fab time this year exploring the activities available! Pierre making sand angles sounds just like my lot, I bet you took home plenty of sand. This looks like the perfect way to start your summer holidays!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up with me on #CountryKids.
Yes, sand everywhere - despite sending him straight to the shower when we got home !
DeleteNo I had no idea there was a sailing version. Looks like a lot of variety and fun. I do love a good banana smoothie too. I really need to take the boys geocaching. #countrykids
ReplyDeleteDefinitely give geocaching a try over the summer - it's free and you'll find some fab new local places :)
DeleteSome great fun activities indeed! But any actual sailing? We've recently done it in Procida with our almost 4 years old and 15 months and were actually surprised how much they loved it (wrote about in here - https://zenbabytravel.com/2017/06/29/island-hopping-italian-holidays-innamorati-di-procida-ischia/). Curious to hear if the choppier waters close to Dunkirk would be any good. Greetings fom London #countrykids
ReplyDeleteYou can do sailing in Dunkerque (my daughter chose it as an after-school activity this year) but not here - this was a professional boat race around the coast so you could just watch the skippers bringing their boats up on to the beach :)
DeleteI had no idea there was a sailing version. Gorgeous pics it looks like you had such a good time :) #countrykids
ReplyDeleteOh wow I didn't realise there was a sailing version!! Those beaches do look busy! Beautiful white sand though. Glad you had a great time x #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteI never knew there was a sailing Tour de France. Looks like you had a fun day. I didn't realise that there had to be a certain distance between geocaches. Hope you find a new location for yours. #countrykids
ReplyDeletelove all the activities they have on for families, spoilt for choice with what to do. the beach looks gorgeous! and I love reading blogs like this because I had no idea about the sailing tour de France, but now I do! so thanks :) #countrykids
ReplyDeleteLooks like a really fun and varied day out. It's quite shocking how much rubbish gets collected on the beaches isn't it #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteIt all looks like a great day out in the sun.
ReplyDelete