And off we went. Hesitating at first, as our local beaches were at their very best last Saturday so why would we sit in a car for 14 hours and get the same feeling and triple the prices?

But Saint Tropez is Saint Tropez (my weather app was predicting a little more grey cloud than I fancied) and we had a dashing Renault Espace Initiale Paris that was most definitely eager to cruise its way over the French freeways.

I immediately made a huge impression on my beloved by creating a hatchback from all five rear seats with a single touch of a button. And I found it very cool that I just had to approach the car and it would pop open. And when I walked away, it automatically locked. I wanted to go back and check and well yes, it sprung open again…

Another impressive feature is that when I turned off the engine and opened my door, the Espace slid my chair back ever so slightly to help ease me out. It’s that attention to detail that I love.

Traveling with kids can be a mission at the best of times (I have to pee, my video is in English, mama we forgot Lady (our hobby horse), I think I pooped a little bit, and … uh oh, I just dropped my apple juice and now my dress is wet), but this car made it all a breeze. My oldest daughter sat in what was referred to as the equivalent of the KLM business class seat on the passenger side (and it’s worth mentioning she enjoyed a half hour relaxing massage!). The youngest daughter laid against my lap in a rather geometric construction along with my middle daughter, whose head was also on the lap of the youngest. And I wrapped my arms around both of them. I believe I was the only one who didn’t get any decent sleep but that was only due to the position of my funny, little contorting family.

After an evening snooze somewhere along the road and the traditional traffic jam leading to the ‘Trop’ we finally reached the beach of Ramatuelle. Kon Tiki Villages a.k.a. paradise. Think palm trees, houses with bamboo roofs on the beach, Nikki Beach only a stones throw away and views of the most beautiful yachts.

We ordered an apple juice and a Badoit mineral water for the girls and an ice-cold beer and Chardonnay for us. We took a nice long look at each other and smiled. This life of ours is not so bad.

Until our eldest looked us squarely in the eyes. “Let’s go home. In about half an hour or so, right?”