In My Life: Perfect Day: Texel

After a wonderful breakfast of deliciously scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and grilled cherry tomatoes (strawberries and Greek yogurt for 'dessert'), my darling husband announced that we should get the picnic bag together because we were going somewhere special. It was a surprise and that alone already made the idea very exciting.

Not a bad start to the day, no?

We hopped in the car and off we drove. Where? Nobody's guess. I only started to put two and two together when we saw signs that pointed toward 'Texel', one of the Dutch Wadden Islands. To get there, you have to take the TESO ferry from Den Helder. With car and all, we crossed the Waddenzee and arrived on the island a short twenty minutes later. The weather wasn't as warm and sunny as we had hoped, but that didn't stop us. At the first supermarket, we bought a baguette, various kinds of charcuterie, tapenade, a round of local cheese (more on that later), salad, wine, fresh juice and a box of strawberries.

We went to the tidal inlet known as 'De Slufter', one of the island's geological monuments, connected with the North Sea. During flood tides the area is submerged -- something which is definitely felt as you walk through the soft, wet land.

We found a spot high in the dunes that surround the area and feasted on the goodies that were in our pink picnic bag.

Charcuterie, baguette, red wine...perfect!

Kirstie, with her jar of chocolate paste. Pastis wondering what was in it for him.

Local mustard seed cheese.

After lunch, we walked through the beautiful, vast and open area. Although that certainly wasn't the case, it felt as though we were all alone and had the place completely to ourselves. The night before, I told Hans that I was planning a quiet, relaxed Sunday (he had the plan up his sleeve the whole time), and despite the fact that we went out, I couldn't imagine a more relaxing place to be. The salty, fresh air, the sheer size of the place and even the cool, wet climate made it an exceptionally relaxing experience.