Saint Tropez – 1st weekend #4

Saturday 10^th July

We were at a garage suggested by someone yesterday, Garage Ford on the Z.I. St. Claude, by 09:00am.  It was closed.  It didn’t look like a main Ford dealer either.  So, we then tried phoning GESA who deal with Green (insurance) Card problems.  Their system is such that they put you on hold as soon as you are connected and then allow the ringing tone to continue.  This eats up the French coinage, of which we have a limited amount.  We then asked at reception if we could have their number – but they told us that they wouldn’t take incoming calls. We tried the site next door, but their phone was out of order¹, so we drove up to La Croix Valmer and found a ‘card’ phone in La Poste.  So we dealt with the problem of reporting the accident here.  We had called at the Casino for shopping between looking for the garage and coming back to site, so we drove back and had lunch.

During the afternoon, it rained quite heavily, so we read and slept all afternoon.  Sue and I are now complaining about sore necks.  I filled in the claim forms and wrote more postcards² ready for Sue to post when she went to phone her dad.

Sunday 11^th July

We set off early to go to the beach. It was very windy this morning, but sunny and dry. The beach was quiet but hellishly windy.  We stayed until 15:00pm, came back and had a quiet read, tea, boules, Cluedo, read and bed.

Monday 12^th July

Today’s big job, after the weekend, was to get the car seen to³.  We went along to the Garage Savall (Ford) in Cogolin. As was our experience in France previously, we were dealt with kindly and with care.  The boss here said it would be impossible for him to repair the boot as the job would need specialist work and would possibly be too expensive for us here in France. What’s more it would take too long.  Nevertheless, they agreed to secure the boot and bonnet, and to replace the front n/s light, for approx. 1,000 francs (around £117). We agreed to this, and to return at 17:00pm when he had the parts.  We then had lunch with Ben and Emma at the caravan.

We phoned both sets of European Insurance assistants and I phoned Stephen and his guests (staff barbecue)⁴.  I spoke to Diane, who read out the ‘postcard from France’.  We then went to the beach. It would have been a lovely day for a walk.  The sun was hot, but it was also as windy as yesterday – and the sea was VERY cold.

We went and had the car sorted at 17:00pm and had a walk around Cogolin while we waited. Came home for tea, read, played Boggle with Ben and read.

1 – We often forget how different life was before mobile phones and almost universal connectivity.

2 – Remember postcards? We used to send them to parents, friends and family – as a matter of course.

3 – The boot had been properly stove in (at this point I cannot remember whether we could open it or not) and the bonnet was a big dodgy because the front end had been bent – not enough to break the radiator, but enough to buckle the bonnet.

4 – I was employed part-time at this point and although I was kept busy during most of term times, at this point I was able to depart on holiday almost any time after the last week in June. My Dewsbury College, catering department colleagues were having a BBQ at Stephen’s home in Mirfield.