Low Tide and Hot, Sunny Beach Days in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie

I checked the weather forecast a million times. I reviewed options, train routes and schedules. I kept my fingers crossed.

It takes a leap of faith to plan beach days on a chilly, rainy weekend.

“It’s gonna be hot,” I asserted. “We’ll be fine.”

“Do I need my rain jacket?”

“No rain jacket.”

“Shorts?”

“Hell, yeah.”

I had promised Mark a better week weather-wise and plenty of day trips to the beach. “It was hot this week,” Feng said. “It’s coming your way, don’t worry!”

I can always trust Feng when it comes to weather, even if he is 5,000 kilometres away.

And indeed, on Tuesday, when we got off the train in Saint-Gilles, the sky was blue, it was 30⁰C and we definitely didn’t need rain jackets. We came back two days later with my mom—this time it was cloudier, but hotter.

Mark tasted a (cooked) mussel at the market and had his first ever waffle (beach food around here). The tide was low both afternoons, perfect for long walks, sand castles and the thousands of French on holidays who, like us, were trying to enjoy a nice week during an unusually cold summer.