A Family Competition...

It was interesting to see how Chris and Lauren interact as it’s quite different than how Jimmy is with our girls. There was lots of roughhousing as when they tried holding each other under water.

Despite not running much himself any longer, Chris challenged Lauren to a race as a way to goad her into training harder for an upcoming race in Switzerland.  

He is undoubtedly the most competitive person that I know and she clearly takes after him. She made all of us choose sides, so I chose Team Chris even though I thought she’d likely win.

They started off together with Charlotte riding along as Lauren’s coach.

I must confess that I was surprised when Chris came in first.

Lauren was a good sport about it.

That evening we went into St. Tropez for dinner...

...at a sidewalk Asian Fusion restaurant.

As we waited for our taxi, Lauren confirmed that she’s still strong enough to lift her dad. She’s also able to wrap him around her little finger as he really enjoys taking her shopping.

Let’s Get Wet...

 

Once both boats were anchored, folks started jumping in the water.

Although I never actually swam, even I couldn’t resist cooling off in the inviting water and Terri grabbed my camera so I’d have proof.

The whole gang gathered on the Diversion for lunch.

After some more swimming, the men took Grace back and all the kids gathered on our boat for some more cruising around and enjoying the sunshine. Terri’s nephew did a fine job when he had the chance to be skipper for awhile.

Here’s yet another view of St. Tropez.

I can’t take credit for this lovely photo of Grace back at the dock in Port Grimaud, but I couldn’t resist including it.

A Great Day on the Water...

The boat, called Diversion, flew a German flag. While underway, many of us laid on the cushions on the back enjoying the sunshine and breezes.

Although I spent the rest of the week lounging in the shade, I spent hours in the direct sun loving every minute of it.

Lauren and Maggie’s daughter Charlotte spent most of the time on the foredeck.

The further away from St. Tropez that we got, the more colorful the water became.

The goal was to get close to this hillside so the kids could clamber up and dive off of the rocks. Unfortunately, the seas were too rough for the smaller boat and they couldn’t follow us here. So we turned around and met them in a calmer cove.

Like me, Terri isn’t much of a swimmer, but unlike me, she still looks great in a bikini.

 

Her friend Maggie is a personal trainer and is very fit, as you can see. She and her boyfriend Paul, who’s also a personal trainer, exercised daily with cycle rides through the hills, runs on the beach and/or hundreds of laps in the pool. 

Chris confessed that he’s actually not that keen on boating, but he clearly looked very comfortable in this photo.

First Class Boating...

Chris’ sister and her family were staying at the same time at Chris and Terri’s house in Port Grimaud, where my family has had the good fortune and pleasure of staying twice. We all gathered there late one morning to set off for an afternoon of boating. 

Since their boat fits 6 and we had 13, Terri rented a boat with skipper for the overflow. Imagine my surprise when this giant boat pulled in front of their house to pick us up.

As always, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Port Grimaud from the water, although previously I’d only been in a small electric boat or a kayak.

Chris’ brother-in-law and nephew each have a skipper’s license so they took turns driving Grace, a beautiful wooden boat.

On the hill is the Kube Hotel, where we stayed in 2013 for Terri’s 50th birthday party.

For the first time, I wasn’t merely on a ferry heading to the St. Tropez harbor, but rather on a speed boat whisking past the beautiful city...

...and seeing the fort on the hill above the city which we’ve never managed to visit.

Relaxing in the South of France...

While on vacation, I’m not particularly good at relaxing since I usually prefer to be on the go, but I truly enjoyed the slow pace of life that week. I also enjoyed the daily happy hours on the terrace.

We ate all of our meals outside. I was very spoiled as Habe, Maggie and Paul did most of the cooking and I just did some chopping and washed some dishes. There were fresh croissants and fruit for breakfast, salads for lunch and BBQ for dinner. 

On the Saturday, Terri and I took the ferry to St. Tropez to visit the market. It was crowded, but was fun as always to wander through and I managed to find some great gifts.

Along the way, we spotted this yacht that looked like something owned by a villain from a James Bond movie.

If you look really carefully, you’ll spot two guys washing the windows on this yacht.

Rather than stay in St. Tropez and fight the crowds to find somewhere for lunch, we decided to catch an earlier ferry back and have a leisurely lunch in Port Grimaud. 

On two other days, Terri and I went out for a morning run in Grimaud. The scenery was fantastic and it felt great to get some exercise, although I did struggle on the hills.

Happy to Be Back in Grimaud...

With Jimmy’s change in employment status and Veronica’s lack of a summer break due to her job, we realized that we wouldn’t be taking a family vacation over the summer. So I jumped at the opportunity to spend a week with Terri, Chris and some of their friends in the Cote d’Azur. Hard to believe it had been seven years since I first stayed in this amazing house near the village of Grimaud. The view from my bedroom was pretty incredible!

Of course, my room was very nice as well...

...and so was the lounger that I claimed next to the pool for late afternoon reading and snoozing.

Mother Nature entertained us with some beautiful sunsets and wonderful weather.

More of Richmond...

The following day Jimmy had a meeting about two hours from London, so he got up early and drove west. Seanette and I enjoyed a leisurely walk with the dogs along the Thames. 

It was quite remarkable to learn that due to the tides of the Thames, these stairs are underwater for up to 12 hours per day.

We saw several artists along the way. In a small world moment, I ran into the ex-PTA president of Ashlynn’s school, who had recently relocated to the area. 

After lunch, we took a guided tour around the historical center of Richmond, which is a suburb of London. The theatre built in 1898 is still used for its original purpose, but the building next door from the same era has been converted into the library. I didn’t take a photo of what little remains of Richmond Palace built by Henry VII in 1501; Queen Elizabeth died there in 1603.

This is one of Richmond’s oldest pubs from 1770, although the original building burned down in 1834. After the tour, I joined Seanette and some other expat women for Happy Hour before heading to the train to catch my ferry back to Holland. Jimmy had a crazy afternoon of over five hours of driving to get from his meeting to return his car before catching a train to the ferry. It was tight, but he made it with about 15 minutes to spare.