Family Memories in Biarritz

There's a line in our family's favorite children's book, The Gruffalo, that keeps coming to mind whenever I think of our time in Biarritz in May.

"You lead the way, and I'll follow after."

My kids are oblivious about the nuances of travel. As long as their bellies are full and they can run around a bit, they're relatively content. That's true whether they're at a highway service station on a road trip or a gorgeous, five star resort on the beach. Makes no difference to them. Whereas we adults sometimes get so caught up in whether or not our hotel lives up to its TripAdvisor reviews or if the service at the restaurant was too slow.

Our only full day exploring Biarritz was a great example. Here we were, in one of the poshest cities in Europe. Passing by stores with names like Herve Leger and Hermes (thanks to excessive watching of the Rachel Zoe Project when Little Arrow was a newborn, I at least recognize these names!) People sitting in cafes, wearing sunglasses worth more than my entire wardrobe, sipping fancy drinks. Surfers, with their six-pack abs, clutching their boards ready for a day hanging ten. My kids didn't pick up on any of this. They simply knew this place had a beach, and therefore it MUST be amazing.

So they happily pranced out to the Virgin Rock in their dusty, hand-me-down crocs, as if they were running to catch that perfect wave.

Moments in France: Beach Bumming in Biarritz

This post continues my series of snapshots of my favorite moments from our recent trip to the Aquitaine region of southwest France. (See my first post from Bordeaux here.)

All day long we dangled the promise of a late afternoon trip to the beach in Biarritz over Big Arrow's head. We spent a busy morning sightseeing around the city, which involved a lot of walking on his part. (Not his favorite activity.) He had fun at the various stops we made, but must have asked us at least a dozen times when he could finally go to the beach. If you have young children, you know these were not polite questions, but more the slow burn of the dreaded whiney voice.

So after naps, off we went. And barely had our feet hit the sand when he dropped to the ground and said, "Mom, let's sunbathe."