Capbreton Looking Back

Looking back on our first month here it already feels like a bit of a blur. We spent our time in Capbreton on a combination of projects.

A good part of our time was spent on what I would call “getting settled”. This included getting things like bikes and a car, registering the boys for school, getting the forms together for Mandy’s residency card, and figuring out banking and insurance.

The other part of our time was spent on vacationing. We spent time visiting with Josh and Minako and the kids in San Sebastian. We hooked up with Asier for a day and went for a hike. We spent time at the beach swimming. We spent a lot of time walking and riding bikes around Capbreton.

Everyone having a bike was a major turning point in our adventure. Especially for the boys, they got to experience the real independence that comes from having a bicycle. In Carmel, they can’t ride very far because we fear the drivers on Carmel Valley Road. Here, on bikes, they could go to the beach, go into town, go get lunch or an ice cream. We didn’t really worry about them because there are tons of cyclists and bike lanes everywhere.

One of the really nice things about France is that children are given a lot of freedom. Everyone in town looks out for them. No one seems annoyed by childish behavior, and if any kids are doing something stupid and their parents aren’t around, adult feels free to jump in and tell the kids to quit whatever bad or dangerous thing they are doing. No one here thinks its weird or inappropriate to parent someone else’s kids. I guess that’s one of the benefits of the strong cultural identity, that everyone has similar expectations of how to talk to and deal with kids.