Carnac, sailing lessons and parent time

We registered the kids in one week of afternoon sailing lessons in Carnac, a bigger coastal town not far from Auray. I thought this would be a good way for them to practise their French, be around other kids and keep up their sailing skills. Bonus! We get 2.5 hours to ourselves while the kids are in their lessons. (Keep reading for a really cool video of Ella in her boat!)

To get to Carnac, we have a 40-minute bus ride. The bus gets us there about 30 minutes before the class starts, which is enough time to walk to the Yacht Club de Carnac and get the kids into their wetsuits. This is different than the sailing camps they do at home, which don’t require wetsuits. Even though the water is warmer than at home, it’s still pretty cool (18C). Plus they basically tip over every day, so I can see why it’s useful. Ella is the only kid in her group, strangely. She said she was happy about it because she’s getting 1:2 time (yes, she has two «moniteurs»), and she still gets to be around other kids in different groups. Theo always comes back with great stories about tipping and the kid in the boat with him not pulling his weight 😂.

The kids coming back at the end of their lesson:

While they are in their lessons, we’ve been finding things to do. Just the two of us together while travelling?! It’s like old times! One day we rented bikes and checked out the megaliths, which are a series of hundreds of massive stones laid out in lines in fields. (We went back with the kids the next day, also on bikes.) It was just declared a UNESCO world heritage site on July 17. They were placed here 6,000 years ago under mysterious circumstances, similar to Stonehenge.

The next day went for coffee and a walk along the coast to an ancient chapel.

We’ve actually gone for coffee a few times… Romantic date, anyone? (Ahem, Horn).

Jon has gone for a couple of runs. We’ve also hung out on the beach and read our books.

The sailing lessons turned out to be a big success. The kids loved them and I think they got a lot out of them. They were out on the water for the full 2.5 hours every day.

Ella’s instructor took this video of her on the last day:

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