Tag: Saint Tropez

2nd Weekend – Tornados #7

Saturday 17th July

I still need to write and send a card to Gordon and Pam at Home Farm1.  Today, we went to E.Leclerc at Cogolin for food, which will hopefully last us through until Tuesday, so we don’t have to fight through the throngs at the Casino on Monday. I also needed to buy various tools etc. to mend the broken bed (I really do not remember that).  A hand drill @ approx. £4.00 was needed and bits, also about £4.00 (these turned out to be too small for the drill). I bought brackets and screws but will leave these now for Stephen.  The bed had been bodged before, but is now more secure than it had been. We will just have to be more careful with it.

We had brunch at the caravan before setting out for our daily visit to the beach. As I have forgotten my book (see yesterday’s entry) I am writing this and reading all the documents and leaflets in my hand bag (??), just for something to do. I have also been thinking about the various schemes I need to plan for next year2 and perhaps I can make notes now.  I managed to work out a calendar before it was time to leave at 17:00pm.

Took Emma to see a beach (lol – I guess that she had refused to leave the camp site with us before now), had tea. Sue felt a bit cold, but it’s still mild and light at 21:00pm.

Sunday 18th July

We stayed by the caravan until 13:00pm today as Sue wasn’t feeling too well.  I sunbathed outside, it was very hot. I write a letter to Cameron in and amongst.  We went to the beach later and it was hot, hot, hot. I finished reading MORT and began to read SOURCERY.  After tea, we drove out to look for a Sunday paper, without success3.  Bought petrol in Saint Tropez.

Monday 19th July

We went to St. Maxime today and parked in the port car park. The town is quite nice and we spent a couple of hours walking around.  We had a drink in a bar on the ‘front’ and read the morning papers (yesterday’s Sunday morning papers). We stayed in St. Maxime for lunch as it had clouded over and had begun to rain.  My main course was a ‘house special’ salad and consisted of mixed leaves with dressing, bacon, fennel and small, deep-fried ravioli. We then drove straight to the beach in La  Blanche4.  The sun was hot but still very much overcast.  When it rained, we simply put the towels away and sat it out.  It took us 50 minutes to get back from the beach because of traffic.

John Denton from Quarry Garage5 had been while we were out.  He left a note to say he would be back tomorrow.

We went back out to the Casino Hypermarket (we never learn, it’s Monday again and busy, busy, busy, even after 18:00pm) and came home with a hot chicken.  Some chips from on-site and there we are – tea.

Today, we saw two tornados.  I was out at sea, swimming out by the buoys, when I saw a column of sand blowing onto the beach from the car park.  The sand was blowing up in the air along a path about three metres wide.  As it hit umbrellas, bags and rubbish, it blew them up in the air as well. It looked as if an invisible, petulant child of a giant was throwing a tantrum as it walked down towards the sea.  When it did reach the sea, it turned sharp left and marched on down the beach past Neptune and Liberty café/beaches, throwing mats and umbrellas in the air as it passed.  A little later, we had both been in the sea when something similar happened. This time, we were able to sit, along with everyone else unaffected, and watch the spectacle from the beach.  One brolly was thrown at least 20 metres in the air and was kept aloft while the wind marched quickly down the beach.  Again, as it hit the sea, it turned away from us, but the brolly blew back towards us and landed point down, right by the couple sat alongside us.

Frightening.

1 – We had a caravan at that time, which stayed on a farm near York. http://homefarmyork.co.uk/

2 – At the time, I was employed part-time by Dewsbury College as a chef-lecturer. Each year, schemes needed updating/changing and whilst this was often done by full-time members of staff, we were quite a small department, so I pitched in.

3 – In those days, it seemed to take an age for the English papers to reach the Riviera. Nowadays, in Spain anyway, they seem to appear as quickly as the English editions. But also, nowadays I never want to buy one – all the news I need is on t’internet.

4 – I’m struggling to find exactly where this beach was today. The nearest place I can find with a similar name is Plage de la Bastide Blanche.

5 – Quarry Garage is where we had just recently bought the car from.

Saint Tropez – Cloudy Sky #5

Tuesday 13th July

Our first concern today was to go an cash some traveller’s cheques1, as yesterday’s events had cost us over £120.  We then went up to La Croix Valmer, where we spent about an hour.  Phoned Quarry Garage2, and others at home before going to the beach, where we stayed until 16:00pm.  Had showers, made tea and then looked in on the crappy circus at the camp-site entrance.

Wednesday 14th July (Bastille Day)

We went to the Casino first thing and spent £60 on almost nothing.  However, we now have almost the same stock of soft drinks and beers that they have (at the supermarket).  Ours is under the caravan and in the fridge. I don’t think that we need to buy any more before we leave.  We then went to the beach, where the weather was pleasant and the sea a bit warmer than recent days.  Sue is now down to factor 8 on her gentler bits and factor 5 on the rest. Today I used factor 4 first and then factor 2 on the second application and neither of us ended up being sore3.

We left the beach just after 15:00pm as it began to get cold.  A large cloud was moving slowly across the sun that made all the difference.  By the time the washing was done and we had had our showers, the cloud had passed and the evening was quite pleasant. After tea, Sue and I had a game of boules before going out for a drive. We filmed people bungie jumping at the Luna Park and then tried to get into Saint Tropez, but it was simply too busy – we therefore looked at Grimaud and Cogolin instead, but didn’t stop.

We opened a second bottle of gin tonight. The stuff here is much cheaper than at home but still only 37.5%.  I bought a bottle of Ballentines whisky for less than £10.  Famous Grouse is about the same price as at home.

 Thursday 15th July

We were off and out by 10:00am again this morning but didn’t fancy either of the closer markets, so we went back into Saint Tropez.  Parking was easy enough, but there didn’t seem to be any ‘life’ here.  We got to the beach around 11:30am and later, having just finished lunch, an enormous cloud passed over and blocked out the sun. Now, this happened yesterday too, but today we couldn’t see an end to it.  It had been so hot in the sun that it was quite cold now that it was hidden by the cloud.

We therefore decided to drive on round to Le Lavendou. This took quite some time as we had to go the slow route to La Croix Valmer first. However, the sun did come out again as we were passing a place called Le Rayol – so we decide to stop here.  There was a winding road that led to a sort of cliff top and we were able to park just at the top of some steps. The sun belted down on this sheltered bay and the sea was calmer, so it was quite pleasant.

Home for tea and a game of rummy.  We’ve a week left here now and the weather still hasn’t come up to last year’s super heat – but of course it may well do so yet.

1 – Remember traveller’s cheques? That’s one thing the Euro € helped us to do without, when travelling in Europe. It’s also much easier these days to pay bigger bills (supermarket, petrol etc.) by ‘card’ and to simply keep the €€s from one trip to the next.

2 – Quarry Garage is where we had just bought the car from.

3 – I used to come home from these holidays as brown as you like, but wouldn’t dare use less than factor 15 these days. That’s due to a combination of cancer awareness and less time in the sun.

 

Saint Tropez – 1st weekend #4

Saturday 10th 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 11th 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 12th 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.

Saint Tropez #2 – markets

Tuesday 6th July

After a light breakfast, Sue and I set off to visit Saint Tropez open market.  This was bedlam, just like yesterday. Anyway, we managed to spend an hour or so there before moving on to the beach at La Blanche. We had lunch here and stayed on a couple or so hours. We couldn’t stay longer as the brolly broke. We called at the Casino on our way home to but a brolly (to replace Stephen’s broken one). We also bought a set of boules. We had a couple of beers outside the store and came home to shower and read.  After tea, we played boules for a while and read. Later, we did some Sunday Times crosswords.

Wednesday 7th July

Had a light breakfast, similar to yesterday and packed up for the day. I was quite tired although I didn’t get up until 08:30am ish, and had slept quite well.  We went to the market in Cogolin first and found it to be the usual sort of fayre, not bad but nothing special.  We then drove on to Cavalaire sur Mer to their market, as the day was a little overcast and just the weather for visiting markets. It took some time to find the market at Cavalaire and there wasn’t much of it when we did.  We decided to stay there and have lunch on the beach as we had found a parking place just across the road. We didn’t leave the beach until after 17:00pm today, which shows how much cooler (but still v.v. nice) the weather was.  After tea we played boules and then went to the phones 1. We needed to phone Stephen to find out where the beach chairs were.  Played Boggle and read.

Thursday 8th July

Today was much like yesterday, a little breezy but quite hot. It soon came cool in the evening though. After an early breakfast we went to the (poor) market at Port Grimaud and then up to the (better) market at Ramatuelle. Here, we had a Perrier in the shade, after walking around the very pleasant village. Afterwards we went to the beach at La Blanche 2. We stayed here three or four hours. The water was choppy and therefore it had an unkept appearance. So, not as yet, as pleasant to swim in as last year 3. We called at the hypermarket on the way back to buy some low seats for the beach and some fish for tea. We had a beer here before we left and when we got back I had two more, which knocked me out. I am still feeling tired now, but am determined to have a gin. 1 – Those were the days! There were no mobile phones and there was a need to queue up to use of the few phone boxes available on-site. 2 – I cannot find La Blanche now, but the name certainly rings a very distant bell. It would be somewhere on the Plage de Pampelonne. 3 We visited Saint Tropez as a family several times in the 90’s. This is, so far, the only diary that I’ve found.

Holiday in France. #1 Saint Tropez.

1993 – Getting there

July 3rd – July 5th

Set off at 10:50am and had to return to make sure door was locked and to collect pillows. Stopped in Sheffield to take my jumper off and eventually made Jacks Hill Café 1 at 13:35pm (137 miles later). Here we had our rather late lunch and then went on to Martin’s, where we stayed until 15:30pm. I lent Martin my Tribes copy of Lemmings 2 and installed T. Type Fonts for Windows. We arrived in Portsmouth about 18:00pm and spent a little time looking around the shops as they closed. We found a pub that sold sandwiches and settled there to have tea and to write the diary. I can’t remember the mileage, but it is a lot less than 300.  Zeroed at petrol station.

The ship set off on time and it wasn’t very full. The 2-berth cabin seems quite comfortable and we were able to get a transfer for Ben and Emma (from reclining seats), to a similar cabin to ours. Sue bought some eau de cologne and I bought a sweatshirt. We also bought 2 litres of gin because of the strange customs rules.  We then heard over the tannoy, that we would arrive in France at 07:00am UK time. This s contrary to expectations. The brochure stated that the crossing would be 7.5 hours (21:15pm – 04:45am). However, I was told that the crossing is a ‘summer extra’ and as it seems to be an old ship, takes longer. The 23:00pm sailing arrives at 06:00am, which seems a little strange. The saving grace is that we can have a longer sleep and longer in the bar.

1993 – July 4th

We left the ship about 08:10am (French time) and did about 60 miles in the first hour and another 70 by the second hour. Stopped for breakfast at Fontainebleau (156 miles), a Bison Futé stop. Set off again at 11:05am.  Stopped at Beaune. Set off again 14:05pm (325 miles).  For the last hour or so, Sue has been driving. We are just south of Chalon-sur-Saône and heading towards Lyon. We reached the Lyon peage at 15:10pm and changed drivers. Then, we changed again just south of Valence, about 480 miles. We were passing Cavaillon and Sue was till driving. The weather is absolutely spanking but very uncomfortable to drive in.3  The highest temperature we’ve seen so far on the motorway is 33oC.

Swapped again at Lançon and set off for the last few miles at 18:40pm.  Arrived at 20:25pm. The security man let us in. 4  We settled into the mobile home 5 as quickly as we could and went to Fat Jaques’ for a pizza tea. Slept v. well.

Monday 5th July

Got up and had a short breakfast, then Sue and I went to the hypermarket. This was a bad mistake. It was very full and very busy. We still need some vegetables and bit and bats.  We came back and Sue had lunch while I re-built the tent (for Ben to sleep in) and fixed things up. The tent is ok now, Ben has plenty of room. When everyone had finished lunch, we discussed going to Port Grimaud and/or the beach, as the weather was overcast and showery. We decided to go to the beach first and as Ben and Emma were to join us we chose Tahiti Beach (family beach). It cost £2.00 to park for the hour (probably FF20 – so also probably less than £2.00) we were there. The waves were up and three of us spent most time in the water as it was warm, even in the rain.

We decided not to return on the main road, as it had been horrendously busy on the way in. We therefore came back the long way around. I got lost.  The road past the vineyard is closed so it was difficult. Anyway, we made it in the end. After tea, Sue and I went in to Port Grimaud. This was enjoyable as it was very pleasant, not as hot as it had been the last time we came (This was not our first holiday in Saint Tropez). It does come dark quickly down here to go from (SLR) filmable to unfilmable.

1 – Now, 26 years later, everything around here is much changed.

2 – I cannot find a non-video link to the original game we played back then

3 – ah, the luxuries of A/C. Not available to us then.

4 – I’d forgotten the security man. The camp site we stayed in had a huge gate which closed at a certain time to keep the ‘estate’ quiet.

5 – This belonged to my work colleague and friend Stephen Hamer.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started