Family reunion in Brittany

After our wonderful time with friends in Geneva, we headed to Brittany to catch up with family. James and Valerie and their 4 great children Gregory, Arnaud, Eloise and Stella were back for their summer holiday in Crac'h, where Valerie's parents have a holiday house. This year was special as it was Stella's christening and Elspeth and I were asked to be godparents.

Valerie's parents very bravely invited us all to stay with them, and we were joined by James and Eta Elder and their two girls Abby and Sophie. 6 adults and 10 children as guests! It was chaos at times, but things went well and the children played really well together - most of the time. We had a double celebration as the day before Stella's baptism was also her birthday.

Brittany is reminiscent of the west coast of Scotland, with variable weather, bracing winds and sea shores which are grassy and rocky. The weather did not deter the Brits from swimming and playing on the beach. It was back to childhood as we paddled, built aeroplanes and sandcastles in the sand, and played football. Fortunately there were a couple of engineers on hand to to help with the boat design and construction.

Of course there are compensations for the weather. The Breton food is wonderful and we didn't need much encouragement to tuck into plates of mussels and frites, washed down with local cider.

Back at the house, there were plenty young children to keep everyone occupied, and the table tennis was fiercely contested, with sibling rivalry to the fore.

We also watched the World Cup final where Holland tried most forms of both martial and dark arts but still couldn't beat Spain. We had a number of sweepstakes going, and fortunately for me, I drew the winning score, and also, because I had enough Dutchmen in my team, I also had the first yellow card.

It was a really super time for all of us. It was great for the cousins to get to know each other again and for us to see the two Jameses, Valerie, Eta and Manuel and Genevieve.