Yesterday, we left our sweet little country farmhouse and started our journey to Barcelona. Since it would have been about 6 + hours in the car to get there, Justin scheduled for us to stop in Collioure, a coastal town in France, for a couple of nights to break up the drive.

We left the farmhouse around 10 am. Justin scheduled for us to visit a winery, Chateau de Mercues, about 45 minutes away. As usual, James ran around the barrel room like a wild monkey. The winery is in a beautiful chateau/castle which is also a hotel. We walked around the grounds and took some pictures of the incredible views.

After the winery, we had lunch at La Garenne. Unfortunately, James was just not in the mood to sit still today. We spent most of the meal taking turns chasing after him outside. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but we are really having trouble getting James to eat anything, and it stresses me out big time. He may eat some fries here and there, but other than that, he refuses pretty much everything else. I’ve offered bread, cheese, pizza, cookies, ice cream. At home, we are very particular about what he eats, but vacation is a different story. I have offered him anything and everything. There have been a couple of days where all he has had is milk and suckers, and it kills me. He’s getting plenty of calories from all the whole milk he drinks, but still…….

Anyway, the drive to Collioure was about 3.5 hours. Sam, James, and I fell asleep within the first few minutes and slept about an hour. Justin is unbelievable with navigating through foreign cities. I really don’t know how he does it. He uses GPS so obviously that helps alot, but even with the GPS, I could never do it. There are so many roundabouts and poorly marked roads. He very rarely makes a wrong turn. I just wanted to give him some credit for getting us from place to place without any issues!

We got to our apartment around 6:00 pm. It is nice, but much smaller than the place we just left. It’s 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. The farmhouse was 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms! However, this place has a little beach and James was very excited to play in the sand again. Also, the Wifi works perfectly!! Once we got settled in, we walked down to the beach and put our toes in the Mediterranean. James put much more than his toes! The water was freezing, but he didn’t seem to mind. He was soaking wet and covered with sand by the time we went back to the apartment.

We only have 2 nights here, then we are off to Barcelona where my mom (Nonna) will meet us. We are about 2/3 of the way through this trip. It’s definitely feeling like more of a vacation than last year. Having Sam with us has been wonderful, and I like that we are moving at a slower pace.

We will spend the day exploring Collioure, then pack up and leave for Barcelona in the morning.

Alyce