Whether close to home or far away, I think there is a lot of value in family vacation traditions. When I was a kid, we often vacationed in Maine and we have memories and photographs of our family there spanning decades. We have taken Julian there and hope to take Emma there one day too. But at the same time, we are also forming our own family vacation traditions. One of them is visiting my in-laws in the south of France. Although we like to find new things to do each time we are here, there are also places we go back to each and every time. The town of Collioure is one of them. We went there in 2005 (Julian was 8 months), 2006 (Julian was 21 months), 2008 (Julian was 3 years and Emma was 14 months), and now again in 2010 (Julian is 5 years and Emma is 3 years).
Each time we are there we go to the market, to the beach, and to the playground. The playground there is one of the most picturesque children’s playgrounds I have ever visited (the other one was in Santander in Northern Spain). With a backdrop of Mediterranean Sea and castle built in the 14th century. These memories will last a lifetime and mean so much more than a visit to some theme park.
I don’t have any pictures from our first visit to Collioure with Julian when he was 8 months old, but here are a few from the subsequent visits.
2006 (Julian 21 months)
2008 (Julian 3 years, Emma 14 months)
2010 (Julian 5 years, Emma 3 years)
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Looks gorgeous! Think your in-laws want me & my peeps to visit too?
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