Deauville (AFP)

With their caps of color, their joy of life, even their blanket, Mamoudou, Ahmed, Sarah and the others swept Wednesday on the most posh beach of Normandy, Deauville, for a day of vacation offered to 5,000 disadvantaged children of Ile -de-France by the Secours populaire.

"Wow, this is the sea I hope she's not icy Oh no, it's true, she's never frozen the sea", says Ayoum, 9, discovering the huge beach still almost deserted Deauville, where some of his comrades waddle already enthusiastically in swimsuit despite the morning freshness. It is barely 10:30. According to the Secours Populaire, nearly 5,000 people come down from the Ile-de-France for their only summer holiday, a few hundred meters from the luxury hotels on the seafront and not far from the famous boards where parade the stars of the American film festival every September.

"Look at the boat, look at the cliff, it looks like they are in the sky, they're flying" on the horizon, says Sarah, 11 years old to her friend. "It's beautiful, you can see the sea everywhere, it's going to be a crazy day, I went in 2016 with Secours populaire, I loved it, I was hoping to come back, and even if it's raining, I'd like to come back" , explains to AFP the future college girl. She lives with her mother who does not work "but takes care of her children, and it's hard enough".

The Secours Populaire organizes from August 15th to 31st 50 "forgotten holiday days" (JOV) for 50,000 children. "In France there are still hundreds of thousands of children who do not go on vacation, one in three" while poverty "worsens" in a "very worrying" way, now including heads of small businesses, retirees , told AFP the secretary general of Secours populaire Henriette Steinberg.

"In Ile-de-France, we had 10,000 additional youth visits" in one year, said Jean-Louis Durand-Drouhin, head of Secours populaire Ile-de-France, during a press conference in Paris. Deauville. "We are in a situation that is very serious" and "we lack resources".

According to Ms. Steinberg, 43% of Secours populaires beneficiaries are children. "This day is very important for the dignity of children, the self-esteem of them, it's about giving them a taste for happiness, for hope, they'll have something to tell in the autumn", continues the number one of Secours populaire.

The price of the day is much more modest than that of the horse bought Sunday in Deauville by the emir of Dubai (1.6 million euros): 50 euros per child and the availability of volunteers (1,500 Wednesday).

- "it changes the pool" -

"Deauville is a pride for kids, a city they only saw on TV," says Steinberg.

Happiness is obvious on this beach of colorful toddlers hopping in the sun behind the balls, balloons and other soap bubbles to the sound of the drums. The air temperature is well above 20 degrees in the middle of the day. The water is at 19.

"This summer, until today, I stayed at home today, I look free, I can walk, play with other people while at home, I am locked ", says Mohamed, 11, came to" frisbee, swim, play with soap bubbles, run, make sand games and most importantly, eat ice cream ".

For Akram, 11, "it's good, it changes the pool". But "it's warmer at home.It would be nice if there was the sea in Paris," says the out of the water this child whose family is from the Comoros. Behind him, battles of water are going well, rigorously framed by the water lines of Secours populaire.

© 2019 AFP