I’m pretty sure that the optimum beach weather doesn’t include dark clouds, wind and rain.
According to the newspapers, the TV, my Canadian weather app, my grandmother and popular wisdom in Nantes, last Sunday was supposed to be hot and sunny.
Naïve and trustful, we decided to go back to Saint-Michel, even though it required an action plan and careful packing. In France, a few supermarkets open on Sunday morning until 1 p.m. but there was absolutely no chance we would get to Saint-Michel in time to go shopping, so we had to bring enough food from Nantes to feed five to seven people (depending on respective arrival times and planning skills—my uncle and my aunt were coming from Paris and facing a similar grocery conundrum).
We put a couple of water bottles in the freezer to use as ice packs, filled the bags with leftovers, cheese, veggies, yogurt and fruits and somehow managed to fit the four of us plus luggage in the same old white car for the same old 45-minute road trip.
It was sunny and warm until we arrived in Saint-Michel.
I immediately rushed to Tharon to buy bread. “Summer business hours: open 7/7 except on Sundays” a sign in front of the closed door of the first bakery said. I stared at it for a minute, trying to understand the logic behind the schedule. I gave up and walked down the street to the other bakery, open 7/7 including Sundays.
Four baguettes under my right arm and four kilometres later, I realized it wasn’t just cloudy—it was going to rain.
No point in going to the beach—at least not with a swimsuit and a towel.
I walked to Saint-Michel for a cup of coffee in the cookie factory shop, then I went out again with my mom.
It didn’t take long for us to get soaked. It was worth it, though, because the scenery was amazing. There were “king tides”—exceptionally high tides—and the waves were crashing on the rocks below us. The water was green, the sky was black and blue and the clouds were forming funny and menacing patterns.
Not exactly the kind of beach day I was expecting but an interesting one anyway.
