Paris, Carnac & Barcelona - Part II

The plan to go to Carnac was last minute. In fact, it happened only because a dear friend invited us over to spend a few days with him in his ancestral house there. Being the eager-to-meet-up people we are, we said yes and so did a couple of colleagues more, making the group bigger and merrier.

The house was beautiful – the living room opened up into a small well-kept garden which led upto a white sand beach. The colors of the sea were nicely extended to the interiors of the house with a soothing white and blue theme, making it look modern but yet so very natural.

Our all four days in Carnac were absolutely relaxing. Papa and I split our jobs in the morning with him playing the vigilant parent at the beach while I slogged out in the kitchen (yes – the roles never reverse!). Mira had a blast on the beach – she either ran around wildly feeling the cold breeze on her face or held onto Papa’s hand and walked around slowly noticing her footprints on the sand.



She could have probably spent her entire day there if not for the “Breakfast is ready” call which made Papa spring into action and literally drag her to the house.

Afternoons were either reserved for siestas (if Mira was too tired and sleepy) or chit chatting with friends (if Mira was not too tired and sleepy). Since any parent would know that the former happens very rarely on a holiday, we ended up making nice wide-ranging conversations with friends, as Mira pottered around the place with her toys. It was just wonderful to laze around and gossip, to pick on each other’s nationalities (1 French, 1 Thai, 1 Chinese & 2 Indians believe me, make quite a group!), to check out past days pictures on our cameras and to generally crib about how the holiday is coming to an end a bit too early.

The mood kind of continued in the evening though we did get off our backs and moved around in the town. Carnac is a lovely French village where life seemed to be in no hurry at all –people played by the sea despite the lowest of temperatures, restaurants overflowed with people as if nobody wished to cook at home and the stone cobbled streets carried more people on foot than in cars.

So, we decided to do the Carnac way – we got into our sports shoes and just walked from one street to another. Mira helped out the process by taking to the stroller. Though a bit resistant in the beginning, she did finally decide to rescue my labor stricken back and grace the stroller instead.

And that’s how we covered most of the town – the churches, the squares, the souvenir shops and not to forget some of the best French restaurants with really delicious and memorable food.

Now that I look back at the Carnac trip, I realize that it was wonderful not just for the sights and the sea but for the company we had. It was great to hang out together, to talk silly stuff till late in the night, to get someone else to push the stroller once in a while and to be able to dig into 5 different dishes in any possible meal.

Carnac also served as a high point for the mom in me – the trip had gone exceedingly well till now – Mira didn’t miss a single meal, the cold virus remained miles away, she slept peacefully through the nights and most importantly, she enjoyed every day and every bit of the trip.

My confidence was at its peak. I somehow knew that the next 4 days of our trip were going to be equally good. I was so very ready for them.

I was so very ready for Barcelona.