A day to ourselves

After the sociable excitement of yesterday's six-hour lunch and the pleasure of talking on the phone to our four closest young people - son, daughter and two nephews - today was a day just for us. For years we've gone to the sea on the 26th, to blow away the excesses of the day before. When we lived in west Wales that usually meant New Quay, and it could be very blowy, but we never ate steack frites outside in the sun by the beach there. Today it was Le Grau d'Agde.

As we drove towards the sea we could see Mont Canigou looking huge in the distance and the snow-topped Pyrenees receding westwards, but it was too hazy to get a good photograph. Le Grau d'Agde was busy, although it's not an official holiday here today, and our favourite café was fuller than we've seen it since the summer. There were a few waves and even some people surfing but the air was calm and mild. At home again, after a late siesta, I got up at 5.30 in time to see a glorious sunset through hazy deep pink clouds over the hill above the village, a rare sight here as we usually either have clear skies or a lot of cloud. A perfect day!

I've just been reminded by the year-ago thumbnail that last year's trip to the sea included the sight of flamingos.