More Dolphin Time...

As you can see, we often looked quite silly during this encounter, but it was fun.

I think this dolphin especially enjoyed getting to splash us near the end of our time together.

Meeting the Dolphins...

Since it is illegal for tourists to swim with dolphins in France, our time with the dolphins was very different than our experience at Sea World several years ago. Rather than put on wet suits, we were given fisherman’s waders to put over our clothes for our 30 minutes in the dolphin tank. We gave commands for the dolphins to wave, spin and jump.

In addition to giving commands, we got to pet the dolphins.

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.