The one thing I never got to do during our six years of living here in the south of France was having the time to enjoy a trip to the beach for some sunbaking and swimming. Yep, that’s right, almost six years of living and working here and not once did I get to even dip my toes in the Med. Of course I blame the hotel as it took up so much of our time; whenever we felt the need for s serious swim we either had rooms to prepare, admin to complete or guests arriving – or a zillion other things getting in the way.

This week that all changed.

Last Monday and today I managed some serious sunbaking and now sport a nicely tanned bod, a bit pink in some areas but what the heck, I’m an Aussie girl and I need the sun and the surf! the Med is not a patch on our beaches north of Sydney – no surf to catch waves (certainly not what I call surf anyway…) and the sand is a grey/dirty type of silt that turns to mud on you when you get wet.

But the water was salty, the sun was hot and I felt like I was in paradise lying on my towel today. I am a person who really needs to be in water, I’ve been swimming since I was 18 months old and have missed it these past few years. Plus living in Northern Ireland means the weather is not really ‘beach weather’. I feel great and intend to hit the beach every week until we leave here in a few weeks time…I deserve it and I am going to make the most of it.