French apartment renovations, Day 683: Urban hike and Eric turns 49!!!

We went hiking with our friends in Le Chateau--an urban hike that starts right out our front door. We went along the Sentier Littoral, then up to Mont Boron.

We weren't in a particular hurry, so we let the kids stop at several points to explore. Their favorite activity was finding BBs and old buttons in the fortress moat. Ivy dug up an old bike fork.

We went to the beach at the end of the hike to look for sea glass. Unfortunately we had a relatively new layer of rocks, so all of the smaller pebbles and sea glass were covered up. But the kids still enjoyed their time. Zari and Ivy went back to get swimsuits on, and Ivy swam (no surprise). I had an impromptu nap because a wave of fatigue hit me and I decided not to fight it.

Eric was gone all day at Inga's soccer tournament. They did well but ended up in 3rd place. Inga scored 3 goals but missed many other opportunities, which frustrated her.

They came home in time for dinner. Zari and I went to buy Eric a birthday cake--no time to make one, due to hiking--and our two favorite places had nothing left, not even patisseries! So he had a dark chocolate mint cookie with a nub of leftover candle instead of a real cake.