From the Camargue to the coast!

At the coast – at last!

Apart from a quick look at the stormy Camargue, our first real taste of the French Med was at an interesting peninsula south of Hyeres in the Cote d’Azur. The Presqu’ile de Giens is a classic holiday destination that on a sunny day looks amazing. 

Unfortunately for us, whilst sunny on our day of arrival and departure – the one in between when we had hoped to get a boat across (with bikes) to the car-free Ile de Porquerolles was dull and windy. This was our reason for going there – but the weather on the day we had set aside made it look a lot less inviting!

So we went instead on a coastal walk that looked easy on the not-to-scale map provided at the campsite – but turned into a bit of a rocky coastline orienteering adventure. It was described to us the next day by the campsite staff as ‘tres sportif’. Hmmnn……

We weren’t sure why, but this bit of France seemed to lack the well manicured and civic-pride-attention-to-detail of all the places we have visited over the years. Looking scruffy and a bit tired, maybe it was waiting for a pre-season prep – but we weren’t hanging around to see.

Into the Massif de Maures via Le Lavandou

Keen to see some more of inland Provence, we set our sights on a small village in the Massif de Maures where we thought we might stay on the municipal campsite. En route we stopped at Le Lavandou where Mrs B worked for a brief spell in the 70s. In the intervening years it has changed a lot but still looks like a good place to have a beach-side stay. 

As we wandered the town looking for the hotel where Mrs B used to work (we think we found it!), we noticed that there was clearly a lot more money around in this bit of France if the posh cars were anything to go by. Indeed on our drive from Le Lavandou to Collobrieres along a breathtaking and very narrow mountainous road, the number of Porsches nearly matched the number of cork trees (an industry just hanging on here).

Collobrieres turned out to be a really interesting stop, as although the municipal site was not suitable for campervans, we were directed to an amazing and free Aire de Camping Cars just on the outskirts. After exploring the very pretty village and marvelling at the number of things you can make out of sweet chestnuts, the local speciality, we settled in for a peaceful night under the dark skies of the Massif de Maures. 

Unfortunately, a yet-to-be identified bird that was nesting in the tree above us had different ideas (maybe a nightingale?). Even a varied and melodious sound can get a bit much, especially as this little blighter kept it up until 4.00am – when we then changed games to play hunt the lone but persistent mosquito. The death-blow was eventually delivered at 8.30 – by which time we were ready to take a very leisurely stroll into the local market to provision for our next leg. Of course, this being France, we were treated to a posse of immaculately dressed (just the right side of cowboy!) trail riders on horse back set for a day in the hills, meandering across the field we were camped on before we left!

 

Wine, bread and other essentials (and one or two non-essentials of course!) in the bag after a visit to the market, we set off for Roquebrune sur Argens, north west of Cannes, where we hoped to do a bit of lying down in the sun.

S.