I’ve been daydreaming of being on the seaside again, oops. This year’s August highlight was 10 days spent in a house that is at the core of my in-law’s soul.
Here you wake up to the sound of the waves, the days seem so short just because you’ve been taking such fresh air and relaxing and lose track of time gazing off into the ocean. Even sitting by the fireplace on the rainy days are rad.
A gem on the seaside, and always complete when grandma brings prawns over for lunch.
Ile Tudy, a tiny port town filled with memories of my mother-in-law’s childhood and adulthood, where she would spend every summer in their family home right on the ocean. A magical place that I just love going to when we have the opportunity. This time ’round we came for Christmas with Louis, absolute perfection with the fireplace, good movies and baths in the enamel clawfoot tub. I was very grateful to be able to share this place with good friends post-Christmas, it was truly a pleasure. Here we indulged in delicious local seafood, good wine… we played games, strolled on the beach, ran into the wind. My in-law’s, my lover, Rachel, Haleigh and Anne were the perfect company to long late lunches.
It’s a special place, right on the sea, where you can actually give yourself time to relax and breathe in the fresh air. Sometimes you just need to hear the waves crashing as you’re falling asleep to re-emphasize how small we humans are in this world, eh?
The funny thing about Bretagne – like all seaside climates – is the weather can be just as nice in the winter as it can in the summer. No joke, this Christmas at Ile Tudy we had afternoons far nicer (& warmer!) than last August. It’s a crazy world. Thank goodness in this crazy world there are such beautiful quaint places to make memories in.
Our recent escapade to Brittany on the Western French seaside was as relaxing as ever. This is a very special place. Something about it is just far too charming. On the seaside in Brittany. You close your eyes and you hear the sound of the waves when the windows are open. There’s always a fresh breeze. The house was built by my boyfriend’s paternal grandfather, on land that belonged to his lover, just on the seaside. The house itself is a subject of reoccurring family feud, haha, but something about that makes it that much more special.
This house was always meant for vacation. A place to relax and be with the [big] family. There’s a whopping one and only one enamel bathtub to go along with the house that sleeps 13 or so. In the summer everyone rinses off after being in the ocean in the outdoor showers in the front yard… so bohemian they are indeed. There’s no carpet, no empty walls, and no shelf without an old photo framed or vintage trinket or some kind. There is one long table in the living and dining area, for enormous feasts with cousins, their families, and friends. Long story short, this place is filled with so much love, and has been since the 60s.
I’m not sure why, but a place with so much history and family fabulousness makes me think more and more about the future. Ironic? How we’ll come here often, hang out with the other cousins and their families as per usual, perhaps come here with our own family someday. It’s a place that’s engraved pretty damn deep into Louis’s DNA, and I must say, I don’t think I’ve been somewhere quite as peaceful. Perhaps it’s because my family in the States doesn’t have this sort of place that my childhood self knew, or that existed before the existence of my siblings and I on this crazy earth. It’s that familiar feeling of being in this kind of space that I’m not quite used to, but I sure do like it.
Coming from Colorado, I never was exposed to the glory of seafood or the sea in general.
Since I’ve arrived in France, I’ve had a beautiful awakening to the beauty of the sea and the creatures of the sea. At Ile Tudy I tried a variety of seafood. It is an interesting feeling being next to a large body of water. Especially the Atlantic, I found. Water sort of scares me in general, not going to lie. It’s so powerful. And right on the other side of this body of water is the states. We were lucky to catch the good weather (especially for Brittany) so the sun glimmered on the water into the evening hours where a beautiful sunset took place each night. I can only imagine the wonders of this place in the summertime.
A few weekends ago, I went to visit a house that Mr. Louis so often talks about: the house at Ile Tudy.
Ile Tudy is on the westernmost coast of France, a mini-peninsula on the coast of Bretagne reaching out into the Atlantic ocean , just south of the westernmost points of France. Brittany is a region that has gone through a major battle to keep its culture and the liveliness of its regional language, breton. They’ve maintained there heritage and of course show it off in the various towns. The celtic inspiration gives something as simple as the street signs a little something extra. You can find out about the history of Brittany right here. Near Ile Tudy are some other precious port towns to stop by such as Sainte Marine and Benodet. In Saint Marine I had the best galette I have ever tasted at Crêperie La Misaine (Leek, sour cream & scallop gallette. Does that not sound like heaven?). Only in Brittany.
Et alors, la maison. This house is the core of family memories that I finally had the chance of visiting (ENFIN BREF SOOOOO HAPPY). But mainly, this house was just too gosh darn cute to not take pictures of.
Being cooped up in dense spaces in Paris always allows me to really enjoy the space of a home when outside of this crazily beautiful metropolis. And when there is sunshine and the seaside involved…what could be better?
What do you like most about spaces? I feel that a home and even a house is a special place, and a place that is [can be] filled with so many memories…. it’s delightful to be in from time to time.
