Circus, Opening Ceremonies, and Futbol Match #2

Clouds rolled in and with them, an inexplicable case of mastitis for me. We found out about a nearby circus so we made that our rainy day morning activity. Some impressive acrobatics and some very old, very sad wild cats. Afterward, we went to the grocery store to stock up for the week. I could spend all day in a French grocery store- just examining each cheese, each wine, all of the different, unique products. 

We laid low that afternoon and waited for the Opening Ceremonies to begin. I was glad that the weather had cleared a little for it (and for us). 

Hup Holland Hup! 

We headed to the beach for the sunset

Jude would have stayed all evening running away from the waves.

The following day, my pain was worse and I knew I needed some medical attention. I went to the receptionist and asked where I could go to a clinic or urgent care (it was a Saturday). She explained that there was an SOS number I could call and that a doctor would make a housecall... to our safari tent. I waited to be connected and then thankfully the receptionist translated for me. I was told to wait by the tent and that the doctor would be there in an hour! Sure enough, a doctor arrived and saw me in our little compartment of the tent, prescribing an antiseptic and antibiotics. Then we wrote out his bill, for 55 euros, an was on his way! Talk about efficient, affordable health care. Viva la France! 

Pete was great, letting me rest as needed and entertaining the kids in the pool. 

We stopped in our local seaside village, Pornichet, to go to the pharmacy to pick up the meds before driving back to Nantes for futbol match #2- Egypt vs. Uzbekistan men!

 

Very similar seats to the first game, just behind the other goal. It was disappointing to see that the top tier seats were completely empty for the women's match, but mostly full for the men's. The highlight of the game was the Uzbekistan cheering sections and the 3 guys they had circulating through the crowd with large drums, leading us in cheers. Very festive! 

We left the game before it ended to beat the traffic as we just wanted to head home after the game. While I rested, Pete took the kids to the beach for the sunset. I missed a good one!

Guérande and Nantes

A big first full day in Brittany. We drove in the morning to the walled medieval town of Guérande. It was adorable with slate grey buildings and colorful orange banners adorning the narrow streets. And of course, a carousel outside of the town walls. We wandered the streets, placating the kids with a stop in the touristy candy store to stock up on candy for the soccer match that evening. Finding foods Maeve liked in the region proved challenging as the usual staple in her diet, pizza, tasted different (emmental instead of mozzarella cheese). 

From Guérande we drove about an hour to Nantes for our first Olympic event! We gave ourselves a lot of time, not knowing what the parking/security would be like. We easily found a spot in the lot across from the stadium so had a lot of time to kill before the match began. They had an area set up for kids to play futbol. We found some shade and played card games, trying to ignore the incredibly inappropriate songs the DJ was playing! 

We hit up the merchandise stand and got some swag

And some more swag when some Japanese fans offered to adorn us with headbands. 

We found our seats and were happy to see we were so close to the field for being in the cheap seats! The teams came onto the field and I got emotional. Happy tears for the experience, for the warm atmosphere, for the feelings of much-needed world peace that the games represent. The kids were really excited, too. The game was great, with Spain winning 2-1. We got a taste of the songs that we heard all Olympics-long (Sweet Caroline, Freed From Desire, Aux Champs-Elysess). I was disappointed that there was no beer for sale, though! Only Coca-Cola products. Also strange food options. Thankfully they had hotdogs at one stand. 

After the game, we took advantage of being in the city and rode the tram downtown to get dinner and explore. 

We crossed the river and found a food hall spot for some food. 

It was a beautiful evening and the city was really lively.

One of a few interesting art installations

I loved turning corners and finding old churches tucked into the city streets

Would have loved to return to one of the yummy-looking restaurants along this alley. 

Our city stroll culminated at the castle at the edge of town. Such a beautiful setting. Then we turned a corner and there was an outdoor jazz concert! 

Nantes charmed us. On our tram ride back to the car, a local woman started chatting with us and when we told her how beautiful we found her city, she scoffed and remarked that the city really cleaned itself up for the Olympics. Well, we appreciated it! 

Brittany or Bust!

Our final adventure of the summer was the one we'd been looking forward to the longest, heading to France for the 2024 Olympics! Back in February 2023, Pete's email was chosen for the ticket lottery and we had the chance, just 3 days into ticket sales, to buy a maximum of 30-40 tickets (4 tickets max per event). I had spent a long time researching the events, the location of the venues, and the dates to have some rough ideas when ticket sales opened. Every event except the medal events had 24 euro cheap seat tickets available, which was my goal. 

I ended up buying a set of tickets for a men's qualifying futbol match in the Western city of Nantes, with the idea to spend a week back in Britany, an area we fell in love with during our visit 5 years ago. Then, I got tickets for beach volleyball, men's trampoline gymnastics final, and women's quarterfinal futbol tickets in Paris the following week. I tried to imagine what events the kids would either be really into or events where it would be ok if they were squirmy, noisy, etc. 

After the groups were determined for the men's and women's futbol, I bought another set of women's qualifying futbol tickets in Nantes to be able to see the World Cup winners, Spain, take on Japan. 

To cut down on the costs of the trip, I looked into camping in Nantes and found a vacation park that looked great with indoor/outdoor pools and a stone's throw from the beach. Then I considered that we would be driving our car into Paris and leaving it parked on the street for 4 nights filled to the brim with our dirty camping stuff and reconsidered. Luckily, the vacation park had another option- renting a safari tent with kitchen. A good balance of cost and convenience. 

We set off in the evening hours and drove outside Lille, France where we stayed the night to break up the drive. I was reading warnings about the traffic around Paris and wanted to get an early start the next day to try to beat it. We found an alternative route that didn't go through Paris and set off. As I do on road trips, I quickly fell asleep and when I awoke, Pete was pulling into a rest area to refuel. I imagined we were somewhere in Normandy based on how long we'd been driving so was a bit surprised to see the crowds. As we left the rest area, the Google Maps suddenly recalibrated and what had been a 4-hour remaining drive time, became 6 hours as we realized that we had somehow driven straight into Paris! Thankfully, traffic was minimal going around the ring road and the time recalibrated back to the original 4 hours. We were very relieved! And while we didn't intend to be anywhere near the city for a week, we did get to see some of the venues on our drive and build up our excitement! 

Gas station souvenirs

Stad de France- home of the Athletics competitions and the closing ceremonies.

It wouldn't be a summer road trip in France if we didn't pass a few gorgeous sunflower fields

Our usual McDonald's road trip spot got an upgrade in France- reusable containers and glasses! Bravo!

It was a beautiful warm day so as soon as we arrived at the vacation park, Camping Bel Air, we unpacked and then headed to the pool. Afterward, we couldn't resist the pizza vending machine. It was about as good as you'd expect pizza ready in 5 minutes from a machine would be! 

We got the evening sun on our deck

After dinner, we walked down the hill to check out the local beach. They had a kids club at the beach, where you paid for your kids to spend the morning or afternoon in the supervised play area. I thought we'd take advantage later in the week, but the kids weren't into it.

The little beach cafe was a hit though. 

Sunset was around 9:45pm each evening and we caught some good ones during the week. 

There was a dance party on the first night so we headed back up the hill to the entertainment center to check it out. Jude couldn't get enough and eventually, after dancing as much as I could, I left him there and told him to come home (around the corner to our tent from the hall), by midnight! The majority of the people at the resort were French and there were many songs that they loved that we had never heard of.