La Grande Motte is a popular seaside resort and port in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.

Over 2,000,000 tourists descend upon the area in the summer no doubt because of their beautiful sand beaches that slope gently into the sea.  The white sand extends for about 7 kilometers.

We visited in early June and enjoyed the warmish bathing waters and the wide open pristine sand beach. Le Grand Patron is not a beach person with his fair Scottish-Canadian freckled skin, but he is amenable to sunscreen and a swim shirt for protection. The weather was fantastic and the water, as I said warm enough for us to frolic and cool down on the sand bars while the waves of the Mediterranean broke over us.

The sky was cerulean blue and the sea a darker shade, accented against the white sand –  memory making view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is free parking no more than 600 meters away from the beach and all of the development is away from the beach itself. That being said, there are ice cream & Diet Coke boys that push their motorized carts up and down the beach to ensure happy children and hydrated moms…and a couple men balancing trays of hamburgers on their heads as they walked up and down hawking their wares.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We planned to have a light déjeuner and were delighted to find Le Voile Bleue Beach Club directly on the beach near our access point, with local huîtres on the menu. Loving summer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we were enjoying the sun and the sand and the water, I realized it is almost (but not yet) forty years since high school graduation (shocking). Tradition at my high school was senior ditch day the Friday before graduation. All the seniors would ditch school and drive to the Michigan dunes. It was about an hour and a half drive and some of us would go for the day, some for the whole weekend, but you just had to go even, if you hitchhiked. So my friends and I loaded up the car for the weekend and we went with tradition. Great fun, the beach, the sun, driving back and forth to see who else was there, some shenanigans, and of course some drama.

Senior year of high school, all you can think about is the rest of your life: big decisions, what is next, college, jobs, what will I be, leaving home, becoming independent, staying friends, finding new friends, finding significant others, and all those other thoughts rambling around causing ripples and whirlpools.

So here I am (almost) 40 years later again at the beach staring at the sand dunes. No worries, no Marlboro Lights, the wine is chilled and being enjoyed at a nice beach club.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to school, found jobs, stayed friends with my forever friends, married, raised two fantastic kids, had a career, worked, bought, remodeled and sold houses, found the love of my life, traveled, retired, and traveled some more.  And now here I am again at the beach, thankful for everyone and everything in my life, my experiences…thinking about what is to come.  Almost full circle. It’s time to start a second circle.

 

Wonderful thoughts…free to plan and do more fun things with my husband and best friend. More travel, more time to spend keeping our bodies young and brains active, cycling, reading, photography, writing, creating, more time to spend with all of of our friends, kids and now grandkids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had such a great time at the beach in June, we came back again for one more visit in July. It was every bit as gorgeous the second trip. Enjoy the photos. Hope you start a new circle…C’est Tout!