Deja vu. Well, almost. Five years ago, we stopped here for a picnic. I remember wanting to explore the park after an early dinner on the park benches but the sun was quick to leave and we had an hour's worth of drive left. Needless to say, I missed that chance. Yet, life has its way of throwing in surprises and saying,"Cuckoo!" I daresay one of the happiest weekends I've ever had was yesterday when the family decided to spend an afternoon for a reflective walk here under the same canopy of trees, in the same forest park in Orlonne Sur Mer called Les Gravelots.

Like most summers in France, our daily vegetables and fruits come from the garden. The family used to have a bigger orchard.  When they moved to Les Sables d'Olonne, the space left for gardening is a tiny fraction of what they used to have. Thanks to a neighbor who lent his land for my father-in-law to freely use for his gardening, they're growing well and we'll have enough to last the whole summer. During the previous years, they even had a chicken coop where we got lots of eggs from. Sadly, they had to let this go when they moved to the new city.

The scent of coffee drifts in the air. The kind that will make you forget your worries and will temptingly lure you in.  My mother-in-law was looking for a gift for a new family acquaintance in Paris and I suggested a box of chocolates is a safe choice to give, especially one that is a speciality in the region.  Off we went to the nearest branch of La Vendée's famous chocolatier, Chocolatier Gelencser.