A day of two halves

I woke up grumpy. It's a week today that we left, and it's been a full week - and it was pretty busy before we went. I think I was feeling a bit overdone. But Kevin found me Strictly on the iPlayer and played with Jemima so I could watch it - it's amazing how that cheered me up. Then we had last night's ill-fated barbecue steaks for lunch; the sun came out; the mossies went away; I managed to get some washing done; and Jemima and I both had naps while Kevin went for a bike ride. It was just the kind of day I needed. 

And best of all, Kevin came back from his bike ride having discovered a parking area by the beach. So we packed up and left, and five minutes later we were paddling in the Atlantic Ocean in the late afternoon sun, Jemima gradually taking off more of her clothes until she had stripped off entirely. And then we moved 2 minutes down the coast and pulled off the road, proper wild camping this time, with a view of the sunset over the sea. A store cupboard pasta dinner, and the day ended a lot better than it had begun.

(For those interested, we are now in a village called Port-des-Barques, near Rochefort, just south of La Rochelle. I will include more travel information as we go along!)

Our journey today (green is where we are now, red is where we started):

The eventual barbecue:

Playing outside:

Beatrix by the beach:

Paddling fun:

Dinner with a view:

Playing Octonauts (again):