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| The Med |
For the first time in ages I
needed to put a sweatshirt on this morning, but not complaining after all the
hot weather we have had, the sun took a while to get into the gorge area. Did
the ablution rituals at camp before setting off by about 9.30.
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| The sun hitting the steeple in Castellane |
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| Wild barren country |
It was such a clear crisp morning
and we had a really good drive through a lot of mountainous hilly regions
heading towards Draguignan. This is very arid country that is sparsely
populated and the trees are very stunted. The buildings seem to have quite a
Spanish look to them. This route was marked as a red road in our Michelin Guide
and we have come to trust these as being very suitable for the camper and not a
lot of traffic.
We came out of the mountains and
dropped down to the coast for our first view of the Mediterranean, and weren’t
sure about what it would be like. Although the traffic was quite heavy, it
wasn’t a problem and Jilly did an admirable job. We came out at the coast at St
Maxime and followed the beach around to just before St Tropez. This really is a
huge holiday area with lots of hotels and shops. There was a big cruise boat
anchored in the harbour and lots of privately owned super yachts. No places to
stop to get a good look though as so busy. The road turned off just before St
Tropez which we continued on for a wee way before turning down to the beach at
Tamaris and the Aire. Lots of campers but we found a spot for the night.
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| St Tropez - View through the window. |
Settled in and after a late lunch
wandered about 100m down to the beach.
Wow, the sea is an amazing colour but the beach is wall to wall people
and the sea is full of buoys marking swimming areas, jet ski areas, boating
areas etc etc and off shore a bit were huge numbers of “Gin palaces”, and in
the air the helicopters were continually buzzing around. We spent quite a bit
of time sitting on the beach people watching. Everyone is sunbathing with
bodies that very often shouldn’t be exposed – including topless and according
to Ian, rather difficult on the eyes. Considering this was mid-week and not
holiday time, we couldn’t get over how many people were here. Hard to imagine
what it must be like during the peak season of July and August. Some people
were swimming but I tested the water and it wasn’t as inviting as I would have
liked.
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| Hmmmm!!! |
Well I guess you can say we have
been here, and seen a south of France beach holiday area, but not quite our
scene.
…Later… Walked down to the beach this evening as the sun was
setting and got quite a different impression, hardly a soul around, the Super
Yachts had gone and the colour of the sea and the sky was just so beautiful. A
nice way to finish our day here.
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| Wall to wall campers tonight - about 70 all up. |
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| Enjoying a dinner on the beach at sunset. |
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