Romantic travel and my adventures with my husband, Mr Silver, has always been a prevalent theme running through my blog. One thing I’ve never touched on is family travel but my trip to Cannes for Mr Silver Snr’s 80th birthday was truly an epic family vay-cay.
I’ve actually been on holiday with Mr Silver’s family many times, his parents Sandra and Michael have really whole-heartedly welcomed me into the family and I couldn’t ask for better in-laws. And no, I’m not just saying that because they read this!
Cannes was the holiday destination of choice as Mr Silver’s older brother Gary has a villa and yacht located there. He’d come along with a friend and his two gorgeous children Amber and Jaden.
And here’s the boat, the aptly named Silver Matrix!
Mr Silver’s other older brother Paul and his wife Sandra had also chartered a boat in Cannes for themselves and their four children.
Older two, Tamsin and Emily…,
And twins Katie and Mia
Yep, that’s right four girls under ten years old! I really don’t know how they do it!
Finally Mr Silver’s younger sister Olivia and her husband Amit who live in Israel. I always say Mr S’s family are like the Beckham’s his parents had three boys until they finally had a girl and then stopped!
Olivia and Amit’s baby Joshua is the latest addition to the family and as they don’t live in the UK, we don’t get to see him often so it’s really lovely to spend some time with him as he just looks different every time!
Mr Silver’s whole family grew up going on boating holiday’s and all absolutely love the ocean and it was Mr Silver Snr’s dream to see in his 80th with his whole family around him on his favourite type of holiday. During our stay in Cannes, our huge party was split between the two boat’s, Paul’s charter, The Eden Erina and Gary’s own yacht, The Silver Matrix. Though I’ve been on lots of cruises, boating holidays weren’t something we did when I was younger but the Silver family had already introduced me to their favourite type of holiday a few times and now I’ve got used to sailing the ocean wave by day, and chilling on the boat drinking rosé as the sun dips below the horizon.
On the morning of the big birthday we piled into the two yachts excited for all the fun, food and wine that we had in store for day. A short trip from the Port Canto and just off the bay of Cannes was the island Sainte Marguerite and a beautiful restaurant called La Guerite, which can only be accessed by boat.
We anchored up the Silver Matrix and a tender from the restaurant came to pick us delivering us directly to our lunch spot for the day…
Sainte Marguerite was like a magical island where all your cares melted away…you could forget the stresses and pressures of living in London and simply luxuriate in the beautiful island life.
I mean, just look at the smile on my father-in-law’s face…you couldn’t fail to be happy in the perfect location surrounded by your entire family and everyone that you love.
Of course, wine started flowing immediately and everyone was frequently topped up with a delicious wine exclusive to the restaurant…
It was just so relaxing sipping on this delicious wine and watching the beautiful boats sail past…
Grandpa opened his cards, especially pleased with a very special one his grandchildren had made for him…
…and then the food began to arrive…first a huge and gorgeously presented basket of crudites…
Beautifully cooked mussels with a buttery sauce that we mopped up with crusty bread…
Light and spicy peppers with pitta…
A mouth-watering tomato and mozzarella salad…
Spicy grilled octopus…
And a crispy calamari which received a great squeeze of lime…
The food was so exquisitely fresh and had a bit of a Greek twist to it, prepared by talented young chef Yiannis Kioroglou and his team. Not only was the food incredible, the restaurant had a great atmosphere, alive with music and dancing…
Of course, the Silver family got in on the action and singing and hand clapping ensued! Before a selection of main courses came out…
Grilled chicken…
Fillet of sea with creamy artichoke puree…
Spicy piquant prawns; huge and juicy…
Whole cooked sea bass, which is literally my favourite thing ever.
A big chocolate slab of birthday cake was bought out with candles flaming and placed in front of Mr Silver Snr…actually I should be calling him Dr Silver as my father-in-law was a practicing GP for many years of his life. I’m lucky to have such a wonderful father-in-law who was a pillar of his community and local doctor, loved by his patients and only retiring very recently. It really warmed my heart to see a tear fall from his eye as he felt so happy to have three generations of family surrounding him on his birthday.
Do I spy a future SilverSpoon?
The lunch was over all too quickly and we all got back into the tender and headed back to the two yachts which were waiting nearby…
Mr S and his brother fired up the jet ski and started pounding the water, while I lay back and picked out the boat I’d have when SilverSpoon becomes a world famous blog 😉
I thought this one with the helicopter on the back would do for me…
When all the water sports were done we settled down at the front of the boat to enjoy a magnum of Veuve Cliquot and have another toast to Mr Silver Snr.
After our big lunch, a few light canapes were all that was needed to enjoy with our bubbles…
As we sat back…
And watched the sunset on Mr Silver Snr’s perfect day…
Happy birthday, Mr Silver Snr!
