It almost went too fast. One minute we were eating bāozi and wandering around in Beijing; the next we were eating ice cream on a French beach.

Both of these worlds were crowded, so at least there was no culture shock on this one.

Still, it’s a weird transition. It feels a bit like Lucy entering a wardrobe in Narnia, except my portals are boring aircrafts—less exciting, more efficient.

I dragged Mark and Feng to Les Sables-d’Olonne on August 15, also known as “le 15 août,” “the Assumption”, or the public holiday that unofficially marks the end of the summer holiday high season. Surprisingly, the secular French Republic kept the Assumption—basically the Virgin Mary entering directly into heaven—as a public holiday because King Louis XIII vowed to consecrate himself, the royal family and France to Mary and chose Our Lady of the Assumption as the patroness.

And so, August 15 is a national day of processions throughout France in honour of Mary but in fact, except for die-hard Roman Catholics, most people are processioning to their backyard for a BBQ or to the beach if there’s one nearby.

This is what I missed the most in China—not bread and butter, not seeing people who looked like me and spoke my language, but the option to go to the beach easily on a hot and sunny summer day.