I know I’ve mentioned it before, but our morning walks along the Mediterranean are one of our favorite things. I look forward to them each day. Some days we are enjoying ourselves so much that before we realize it the neighboring city of St. Cyprien is within view. Our fitness bands some days record a 7 km roundtrip, shopping days can sometimes go as high as 12 to 15 km; last week alone I walked 63 kilometers — 39.1 miles!
Each day is different. Some mornings we are greeted with an orange glow on the horizon and amazing yellows, reds and oranges in the sunrise. Other days pinks and blues and lavenders fill the sky.
The beach changes each day as well. Some days there is nothing but sand for as far as the eye can see. Some days a rocky shoreline greets us.
One day the shore will be filled with shells of every variety, the next day sea glass colors the beach.
Most days we see the same few faces of other dog owners who walk their dogs on the beach just as religiously as we do. Sami and Lou have quite a list of furry friends and are always excited to see them each morning.
Once we get past the beach access points there is a wire fence at the far side of the beach, there we unleash the dogs and let them run until they’re tired. They know when we getting close and their excitement is just cute to watch. Then they run, and run, and run, returning when they’re called and receiving a treat of kibble. Sami had put on so much weight from the treats we originally used to get her to return that recently we started feeding them their breakfast on the beach. One piece of kibble at a time. It seems to be working, Sami has started to lose some of the weight.
Their nicknames are “Stubbins” and “Chubbins.” Lou is “Stubbins” because he has short legs, Sami is “Chubbins” for obvious reasons.
Just a few days ago, while we were at the far north end of the shore from our starting point, we were joined by a local senior’s Randonee group. A retiree walking club. There were about 25 people and each one greeted Sami and Lou as they passed, a few even offered up a “Bonjour!” to Alan and I as well. One our way back, we came to a fork in the path — literally. We figure that one of the folks from the randonee group ate lunch with their fingers that day.
Finding a fork on the beach is not the first time we’ve encountered something odd, but it did get added to the list of oddities. Most days we collect a few shells, sea glass and occasionally even find a bit of pottery. The colors and variety never fail to amuse us both. Today we found 21 different colors of glass, 10 different types of shells (one of which we have never seen before), a couple pieces of pottery and one pretty cool looking rock.
Before we return home we hit up our neighborhood boulangerie for pain du chocolat and cafe creme. The staff at the boulangerie start making up our order before we even get inside. The French people who live here year-round are starting to consider us locals. That is a very good feeling!
An Italian Point Of View 