Day 400 – Friday 12th April 2019
An overcast start to the day, not cold but rain is forecast.
Yesterday I read in the Telegraph that a village just up the road is stunning so ignoring the grey skies I set off on Zippy to find Saint Paul de Vence.
It was packed too so God knows what it’s like on a sunny summer’s day.
Day 401 – Saturday 13th April 2019
A glorious day, loads of sunshine, no wind and warm. We packed up and travelled to Les Mûres, a fantastic campsite near Port Grimaud and just across the bay from St Tropez.
Les Mûres is owned and run by a British family and it’d easily be a 5 star site if only they had seats on the bogs!
Lunch eaten we hopped on Zippy and sped into St Tropez for a nose about.
I know why the town’s Marie allows great big fuck-off yachts to moor up at the front of the beautiful old harbour – money – but why anyone would want to sit having breakfast or have drinks on the deck of their luxury yacht while a procession of tourists gawp at them is beyond me. Are they really so insecure they need to advertise their wealth?
Day 402 – Sunday 14th April 2019
It started blowing a gale during the night so I had to get up and put the awning straps on in the bloody dark.
A beautiful if windy morning. Off to St Tropez to look at the Bella Strada; a car rally for cars built between 1930 & 1970
No BMWs or VWs but as you’d expect on the French riviera they have a Selection Committee to weed out the riff raff.
Day 403 – Monday 15th April 2019
A beautiful day. At lunch time we walked along the beach to Port Grimaud.
Walking along the beach from Les Mûres to Port Grimaud you have to pass the Prairies de la Mer village resort.
Prairies de la Mer is the business. Right on the beach it has about 5 restaurants, a few bars, a shopping complex, children’s entertainment, a huge swimming pool, tennis courts; chockablock with Germans though.
I wanted to find a restaurant to eat at for Julie’s birthday on Saturday but none of the 9 or 10 restaurants in the village have anything other than pizza for a vegetarian.
Day 404 – Tuesday 16th April 2019
Woke to the sound of rain on the roof. It didn’t rain for long, had a lazy day, finished off season 3 of Game of thrones.
Day 405 – Wednesday 17th April 2019
The sun is back!!!
Grimaud is a fabulous little village set back 5 or 6 miles from the coast; it’s nice and quiet up there. I suspect most of the properties are 2nd homes but it is not commercialised to death. I’d certainly live there.
On the way back we dropped into Cogolin. The ride into the town through the wooded countryside with the sunshine breaking through the trees was fabulous. Cogolin itself is a typical rural French town, not a lot going on but very well looked after.
Day 406 – Thursday 18th April 2019
A lovely sunny day.
After lunch we took Zippy into Sainte-Maxime.
We rounded off the day with a visit to Pointe des Sardinaux a few miles further along the coast.
We’ve really enjoyed being back around St Tropez, the traffic on the coast is just as bad as Antibes & Nice but away from the coast it’s just fabulous France.