Spain and France 2016 Wrap Up

Our second big international trip with James.  The first one didn’t scare us off?  Are we crazy?  Probably.

Italy with a 15 month old was tough, but I was optimistic this trip would be easier for several reasons:

  • James was a different child one year later than Italy– though still very active and energetic.
  • We were bringing/meeting help in the form of our cousin Sam and James’s grandmother (Nonna).
  • We were more experienced travelling with a child.

You can go back and read my planning post (link) for more thoughts on that, as well as how we ended up at our final itinerary – after several changes (indecisive planning, terrorist concerns, etc.).  To summarize, we had a full 21 nights.  12 would be spent in Spain and 9 in France.Itinerary1

France and Spain are two pretty prominent countries for American tourists.  We had never been to Spain and had only been to Paris in France.  We were excited to get to both countries and – in our typical travel fashion – visit several places in each.

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Collioure

What started out to be a pit stop on the way to Barcelona turned out to be a really relaxing, beautiful city that we all very much enjoyed (especially Sam and James).

We started out the day by walking over to the beach in Collioure. Sam and Justin walked around the city and took some pictures. Justin is a very fast walker, and I think Sam may have had a little trouble keeping up! James and I stayed at the beach and played in the sand. The sand here is not powder white sand. It is almost pebbly. A much different texture than the beaches that I have been to before. I kinda liked it. Of course, there were a lot of interesting sights on the beach. Men wearing speedos that shouldn’t be wearing speedos. Women in bikinis who shouldn’t be in bikinis etc. James is obsessed with the beach. He could play in the sand for hours and hours.

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On the Road Again

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.

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