Beach Blanket Birthday

I have a very good friend who happens to be the same age as my second daughter.  She is a Brit married to a Frenchman and now has three kids.  You've seen them in some of my posts, as we've been involved in a number of their family activities or we have just gotten together.

It turns out that her husband and I share the same birthday, although a generation apart.  Normally they are off on vacation at this time, so we never get to celebrate together, nor do I just get to celebrate mine with my friend.

This year, however, they happened to be around, she threw him a beach party, and I was invited to participate.  So I got a beach party, too.  I thought you might enjoy the ambiance.

A birthday glass of bubbly

Celebrating surviving another year

We started off the whole evening affair with some celebratory champagne.

The backdrop of the Old Town and its castle, built around the 1600s, wasn't too shabby a setting, either.

Oh, thank you, Doc Leo

Best Friends Forever

The Doc tried to pull off a great birthday surprise of this magnificent yacht, but he was only joking.

However, sharing champagne with my two great British friends was not a joke at all.

Partying in a major jet-setting town unfortunately did not give us access to the Rich and Famous Club.  Which was okay, because we have our own honest and sincere BFF Club.

Beach birthday bash, à la française

Our local beach is quite pleased with its famous pebble beach, but it really is hard to walk on. 

I did not know that going around the bay to the ritzy section provides a normal sand beach. 

I think we all manage to party just fine on either type of ground covering.

We had a nice little group ourselves, but we were surrounded by quite a few other group parties. Maybe some were rich and famous incognito.  The Elites couldn't have asked for a more beautiful evening!

Because we were there in the evening, we got to watch the sun go down.  This apparently is not an area where the sun sets over the water, but it was quite pretty anyway.

Sunset on the beach

Gleaming at dusk

I have never explored the Old Town, and I don't know its history, despite being right there in my backyard.  But it was quite fun to have the old Medieval remains right there in our view all evening, although it seems like I was the only one impressed enough to take pictures.  Did the swimmers note their environment?

My playground:  the Alps, the Mediterranean Sea, the Ancient History

The birthday twins

After dining on lots of healthy raw veggies (can't say the dips were calorie free, though) and sausages and salads, it was time to play the Birthday Party game. 

Everybody did their own version of blending our two names together into the same verse, then they sang it again but still blended names. 

I think there was supposed to be a verse for each of us.  And while he is French, I think the singing was all in English.

You just never know how these international affairs are going to turn out.

Singing to me or singing to you?  Or both???

Mine's the pink one!

Then we blew out our personal candles.

A pink one for me, and a blue one for thee. 

Wasn't that just so sweet?  As were these.

The dessert cart

Who wouldn't want to play in this environment?

Even in France, you can't have a beach party without playing volleyball. 

As this beach did not have its own net, somebody brought one, and almost everybody of all ages had a good time taking turns playing.

Is it a star?  Is it the moon?  No, it's a comet!

While you may have played volleyball on the beach before, and maybe even at night with the city lights reflected on the water, how often have you had an ancient chateau all lighted up in the background?

It was a bit hard trying to capture nighttime playing, but I did manage to turn the ball into a comet!

Château Grimaldi, 1608 AD

I really would like to give you one more view of this really pretty setting.  I thought it was really pretty by day, then it was pretty by sunset, then it was super pretty with all its lights. 

Imagine all the centuries it just sat there in the dark, invisible to anybody who may have had a chance to sit on the beach at night.

The joy of having special friends

Alas, each day must end, and all the sane people must go home and put their families to bed.

But for the less sane among us, we stayed until it was officially the next day, just having too much fun to break up the party.

Isn't sharing our special moments what good friends are for?  And these are all truly best buds!

The memories of this special evening will have to last until the next August 2 (the best day of the year!) rolls around.  Who knows what fun birthday celebration might manifest itself then?