Moving to France secures your place in the heart of Europe. No, I don’t mean Brexit! I just mean that you can jump in the car and pop over to another country so easily. Last weekend we drove to Spain.
May has three Bank Holidays in France and we decided to take advantage of the second one (8th May, to mark the end of World War 2 in Europe) to drive down to Spain for a long weekend.
Enjoy a great couple of days in the Spanish sunshine and drive home refreshed and stimulated. No need to squeeze anything into a Ryanair locker!
I can’t emphasise enough how lovely it is to jump in the car with a small weekend bag and drive down the coast and across the border into Spain. This is for us a big part of the joy of living in the south of France: we are in the heart of Europe with Italy, Spain, Germany and Switzerland (and England!) on the doorstep.
The joy of France’s open roads, but where will they take you?
Don’t worry, this is not a piece about the EU and Brexit! It is simply about the joy of being able to hop across to another country, enjoy a great couple of days and nights in the Spanish sunshine and drive back home to France refreshed and stimulated. No need to squeeze anything into a Ryanair locker either! What could be nicer?
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Wine and roses
We went to Roses, a beautiful small town on the Costa Brava with fine sandy beaches and a gorgeous boardwalk lined with cafes and restaurants. We stayed in the highly recommended Hotel Spa and Terraza situated about 20 metres from the beach and with no road in between. This is a family-run establishment with an excellent restaurant and very friendly staff.
We spent our days lazing on the beach and meandering around the little town. Roses is hugely popular with the French, being so close to the border, and so most of the locals speak French as well as a smattering of English. The sun shone constantly, the sea glittered and we were lulled to sleep by the gentle breaking of the waves.
The Millau Viaduct, on the way to Spain from France (Pe3k / Shutterstock.com)
The coastline stretching from Montpellier right down to Barcelona is truly fabulous and was an important factor when we were deciding where to buy in France. There are hundreds of kilometres of soft sandy beach and thus nowhere is ever very crowded, even in the height of the summer.
We, along with many of our friends, both British and French, consider ourselves truly blessed to be living down here in the Languedoc Roussillon which offers so very much in terms of culture, history, beautiful landscapes and churches, gastronomy, proximity to at least five airports serving the UK and of course those very wonderful beaches. We recommend a visit down here at any time of the year!
