An Early Morning...

We got up early on that Monday morning to head to Marineland for a 9 a.m. appointment for a behind-the-scenes tour. We hadn’t used the car since we’d arrived Friday night and were unhappy when we discovered that the battery was dead after we’d accidentally left a map light on. Luckily Port Grimaud is a gated community; not only did the guard speak English, but he was really helpful. He had no luck giving us a jump start with the security vehicle, but didn’t give up and was successful when he tried his own car.

We arrived a few minutes late, but it turned out to actually be our lucky day as no one else had signed up so we had a private tour which started before the park opened for the day. We began with a croissant breakfast sitting next to the penguin exhibit, then walked around the park with a trainer to visit the various animals.

Geocaching in Port Grimaud...

There’s only one geocache in Port Grimaud proper. It was actually fairly easy to find.

However, it wasn’t so easy to be inconspicuous while searching as this air conditioner was in plain site behind a shop.

I’m a Good Driver...

While I didn’t question Jimmy’s suggestion to rent an electric boat to cruise the canals of Port Grimaud, I did question his decision to hand over the controls to Ashlynn. She had a great time driving, but scared the crap out of me after repeatedly coming close to hitting boats, docks and bridges.

We saw several weddings that took place at this church.

 The houses of Port Grimaud are very colorful.

Ashlynn tried to convince us it was problem with the boat that she nearly collided again and again, but strangely, Veronica didn’t have the same problem.

Enjoying the Sunshine...

After over six months of bad weather, we all enjoyed the sunshine of the South of France.

The girls also enjoyed shopping for bikinis, which was Veronica’s first.

Love the Views...

The house was one floor higher than all the neighbors, which allowed for views around the village and out to the Mediterranean.

One day the winds completely died down and the water was completely still, which made for some great reflections.

Port Grimaud is a lovely village full of canals. While the houses have an old Mediterranean feel, they are actually fairly new as the entire place was built in a Venetian manner in the 1960’s from a marsh. When we weren’t exploring the market or the stores, we were enjoying the views from the house.

Not Your Average House...

When we saw that there was a dumbwaiter in the house, we thought it was cool but didn’t actually expect to use it. Turned out that it was the perfect way to get things up to the rooftop terrace, especially since it would be nearly impossible to carry things up the ladder to the top floor. Gin and tonics were the perfect afternoon cocktail.

Terri and Chris have some amazing artwork throughout the house. This great sculpture was delivered on the last day of our visit. What’s especially cool is that the eyes can be spotted peaking over the fence as we cross the bridge from the village towards the house.

The South of France...

We were very fortunate that my friend Terri offered for us to stay at her lovely vacation house in Port Grimaud in the South of France over the second week of Easter break. Ashlynn was funny because she was very skeptical about where we were heading.

Once we arrived and she saw all the water surrounding this absolutely wonderful house, she had a change of heart.

Here she is on the balcony outside of her and Veronica’s room, which like our room on the floor below, had a great view. We all especially loved the terrace on the top floor, where we ate breakfast several mornings and Jimmy and I had cocktails several afternoons.