Crashing the Family Holiday in France
I spent six glorious days camping on the French Atlantic coast with my good friend Chris and her family. Chris and I worked together in Stuttgart and have a tradition where we always share a bottle of Möet when we meet up again. Her family was lovely enough to let me crash their holidays and enjoy the beautiful coastal village Moliets-et-Maa.
Camping with Family Meinck was like a holiday from my own holiday. I tend to do things at a million miles per hour and try to cram too much in to my day, never allowing for enough down time. With the Meincks, everything slowed down and happened leisurely. Nothing was stressful and the days rolled by calmly.
The campsite was only a stone’s throw from the beach and we made as much use of it as possible. I also kept up my running, enjoyed reading in the hammock and Chris’ amazing camp inspired meals. I played more Yahtzee than I have in a very long time and loved being the ‘the eighteen year old daughter.’ Feeling like you are part of the family is really special when you travel and Family Meinck could not have been more welcoming.
One day we went canoeing down a nearby river which was spectacular. The ride included some very small rapids and Lucy and I hit every possible log until we finally got the hang of it. This resulted in much fun and laughter. At one point we got stuck on a rock, at another accidentally bumped into Chris and Olli and sent them into the water. (Olli blamed his mum instead of us which was lucky) 
The route had quite a lot of low hanging branches and we also famously steered our way limbo style under more than just a few of them.
Other activities included visiting a natural made cave, having lunch in Spain and one afternoon we even participated in a Mojito making workshop! The whole thing was presented in French but we made it work and absolutely enjoyed ourselves. We also survived quite a fierce storm at the campsite. At one point Chris experienced ‘walking on water’ in the main tent where there was a ground sheet, and the kitchen area revealed a waterline of about 15cm the next morning where there wasn’t. I managed to keep everything in my tent fairly dry but at one point the tent was shaking quite violently.
On my last night we watched the sunset from the sand dunes with a glass of wine. It was the perfect way to reflect on the trip and be truly thankful for the laughter, fun times and sunshine. Thank you Chris, Peter, Olli and Lucy for having me.
xoxo
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