Sweet, sweet memories...

Every once in a while the past catches up with you. 20 years ago my boyfriend at the time and I drove down the Route Napoleon from Geneva to the south of France in my red Alfa spider for a romantic weekend at the Mediterranean. We had found ourselves a lovely little hotel along the coast with peach colored walls, bright turquoise shutters and orange-brown roof tiles. We enjoyed breakfast in the morning sun debating whether we should just jump off the balcony into the sea or take the more conventional way down the staircase?

We lounged on the yellow deckchairs on the teak deck built onto the rocky shore and sipped our cocktails while building plans for the future.

Fast forward 20 years and I am sitting on the same deck overlooking the same bay with the blue sea reflecting in the sunshine. The boyfriend is now my husband and our two adolescent children are teasing us about our age. We are taking full advantage of one of the many long weekends that France celebrates during the month of May and are spending a family weekend in search of the sun!

We drove up and down the Côte d'Azur showing our kids the places we discovered so many years ago. Most of them are still around only they are now overrun with tourists and cheap souvenir shops, double decker buses with foreign number plates and local markets offering products made in China!

The decision is therefore easy, after two days of following the masses we are now enjoying a quiet, peaceful Sunday sunbathing on the shore, lounging around the pool and not only have I indulged in a scrumptious breakfast overlooking the bay but also devoured a delicious salad Niçoise for lunch accompanied by a glass of local rosé and am feeling like Brigitte Bardot herself.