As we were getting ready to
leave Sardinia and we were starting to put together a plan for ‘how long where’
in mainland France, we both agreed that it would be good fun to stay south for
a week or so to make the most of the amazing weather, and maybe explore a part
of the Med that was new to us. We had also hoped to catch up with our old friends
Dave and Jan who we’d met up with before in southern France in 2016, but
unfortunately they’d headed north by the time we arrived from Sardinia - maybe next time!
And so it was that we hit on
the idea of retracing the route taken by M. Perdu in his barge (a floating
bookshop/apothecary called Lulu) where book titles are ‘prescribed’ to customers based on
his assessment of their needs, in the fabulous book 'The Little Paris Bookshop' by the German author, Nina George.
The book reaches its climax
in the little port town of Sanary-sur-Mer in the Var, where the conveniently
located ACSI site of Camping Parc Mogador allowed us to set up camp for what
turned out to be our longest stay of the trip at seven nights! We lucked out on
arrival and were able to get a pitch with plenty of shade and within staggering
distance of all key amenities – perfect for temperatures in the mid 30s!
The site had a very swish
pool with jacuzzi and separate ‘zen’ area for adults only – and with the sea
just a few hundred metres away, we were set fair for a lush laze-about!
M. Perdu had undertaken a
lot of soul searching and swimming in a cove near to Sanary and the description
in the book matched perfectly with the cove that also happened to be our
nearest beach – where of course we had plenty of swimming, if not so much soul
searching!
Very much in the style of
rocky coves we had come to love in our trip to Croatia in 2017, we soon settled
into a routine where a trip to the beach would feature at some point on most
days.
As the site was also within
a 30 minute walk of the town and port of Sanary, it didn’t take us long to
explore the coastal walk, with its luxurious houses, well kept streets and
relaxed vibe, and an initial exploration of the town and port.
The port is famous for its
small fleet of original and restored (and very colourful!) small sailing boats (‘pointus’)
that occupied a key part of the harbour, and at the end of our exploratory walk
along the coast into the port, we got to see them as the sun started to set
behind the hills above the town.
There is a daily market along
the harbourside and once a week (on a Wednesday) the ‘best’ produce market (we
had been told) in this part of France – so of course we had to make an
expedition to put this to the test and see the port in full daylight!
The market lived up to
expectations, with not only amazing food produce, but some very tasteful
clothes that Mrs B would have loved to try on had it not been approaching 40c
and just a bit too sticky to start swapping garments market-stylie!
Staying as long as we did
also allowed us to do some research about places to eat and it didn’t take Mrs
B too long to pick La Ptite Fabri’K where we enjoyed some amazing seafood at prices just a little bit
higher than we had got used to in Sardinia! (Even Mr B’s second haircut of the
trip reflected south of France prices compared to those on Corsica!)
And, as if we needed some
other sort of link to Sardinia, the last day we spent at the beach was also one
of rough seas and visiting seaweed! No longer the Posidonia we had come to know
and love, but an equally abundant and keen to share-the-beach type that we were
glad had waited until the end of our sojourn in the Med!
As with many of the sites,
we could have stayed even longer, but with prices hiking almost three-fold as
the site went off the ACSI discount period, it was clearly time for us to move
on! And where to? Another of M. Perdu’s stopping off points of course, at the
small town of Bonnieux in the Vaucluse department of the PACA region.
S&J
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