I have always wanted to live by the beach but have actually never succeeded. I think I am destined to beach holiday destinations as opposed to being able to live close to it.

My kids seem to love the beach as much as I do, so we were all very, very excited to discover a beach about one hour away from Paris in the middle of the country!

The river beach in the picturesque little town of Ville d’Adam actually doubles up as the local community pool and is a perfect escape from a hot and sticky day in Paris. You can jump on a direct train from the gare du Nord and be in the water approx. 50 mins later, as the beach is about a 5 minute walk from the station.

The girls had a ball — there is a pretty big sandy area, and we put our towels down by a massive kid’s paddling pool. There is a huge Olympic sized swimming pool built in the ’20s for more ambitious parents, but, for my part, I was very happy building sand castles and splashing around in the shallow pool. If your kids do get bored of playing in the sand, there is a huge bouncy castle area for all ages and two big water slides.

This being France there is also a gorgeous looking restaurant, but I decided that my kids would not appreciate being forced to sit at a table looking out at a beach and watching other kids have fun, so I did not check out if it was as fabulous as it looked.

All I can hope for is a long, hot summer to enjoy our new found out-of-town escape!

– Emilie