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Sunday, September 28
First week at San Remo
by
George and Anne
on Sun 28 Sep 2008 21:21 BST
Days 236 - 241 Monday 22nd September – Sunday 28th September 2008
The congestion on the site here is now much less – loads of people left on Monday so it doesn’t seem as crowded. We think they had hung on to see the air show and then moved on the next day. Good. The afternoons are very entertaining with quite a few new arrivals but most of them are only here for one night. Good.
We have really warmed to San Remo, known as the tourist centre of the Riviera dei Fiori, Riviera of Flowers. Went for a long walk, into the town centre along the seaside, all round the sea-front area, into the vast marina and out the other side. The part of the town centre just back from the sea front is not particularly large and is dominated by the Casino, churches (including a Russian Orthodox) and about four or five large hotels on the western side, where the caravan site is, and two huge marinas housing about eight hundred boats on the eastern side. There is also a permanent covered fruit and veg market in the centre with a twice weekly peddlers’ market. The town centre proper has some lovely streets lined with quaint shops, cafes and restaurants, with designer boutiques mixed in. The Casino also hosts various events in art, culture, theatre and exhibitions.
When we walked into the little central railway station building by the seafront and walked through onto where the platform should have been we were surprised to find another road and no tracks! Apparently, the railway line has been moved up behind the town into a tunnel and the old railway track is in the process of being made into a walking/cycling path. The area going out of town heading east has already been completed and they are in the throws of doing the rest. When finished it will be a super facility – about 15k trail along the old railway line route, covered in tarmac, for walking and cycling along the coast. We’ll have to come back with bikes one day.
The rocky shoreline gives way to beaches fronting the town which all seem to be private. At the marina end there is a huge sandy beach which is only accessible by going through manned barriers, or cafes – and paying! At our end of the town there is a succession of private beaches run by the cafes they are joined to. At the caravan site there is a lovely pool area and the seaside rocky beach area and, as the weather has been mixed, we tended to stay here for swimming. Apart from the first couple of days which were cloudy, we have usually had a clear blue sky in the mornings then cloudier from mid afternoon – but it’s always been warm.
The old town Medieval area, or the Pigna (pine cone), clings to the steep hillside away from the sea front area and is a maze of very old buildings very close together – lots of narrow alleyways, with long flights of steps - it was built this way to deter marauding pirates. We spent a lot of time getting lost in them but found lovely tiny little cafes - more like someone’s front room – small sunny squares, ancient churches, artist workshops and very inviting restaurants - we have chosen a restaurant to go back and eat in next week.
Had a drive west along the coast road through some lovely little towns – Ospedalettti in particular – very scenic drive, mostly high up above the sea with the road sweeping down into the town centres at sea level.
There has been great excitement in the town at the end of this week as San Remo has been hosting a leg of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge for S2000, Groups N, A and A7 cars if that means anything to anyone. We saw lots of dressed up Peugeot 207s, Polos, Clios and apparently the cars cost anything up to 200,000€ each. This event takes place from April to November in 10 locations round the world starting in Turkey and ending in China. Judging by the number of teams, car manufacturers and sponsors there is a serious amount of money involved in this. Over three days the Rally Cars zoom off on timed runs round different routes of the local area – starting and ending right in the town centre. The roads in town were not closed to normal traffic and it was very amusing to see the Rally cars coming back - weaving in and out of busses taxis and normal cars through the town to get to the finish line. The Italians all drive as if they are racing anyway so it all seemed to work fine. A large area of the sea-front was designated as The Service Park where the teams’ mechanics etc were set up. There was no crowd control here and we could just wander amongst it all. The officials had whistles which they blew whenever a car was approaching – at speed! We found it very entertaining walking round and seeing it all, never having been to anything like it before.
Have enjoyed a couple of hot sunny days round the pool here – it has never been crowded and at one end you can lie and enjoy super views out over the ocean. Very relaxing.
Sunday 28th September – Nina, James and Hector move to their new house near Purley, Surrey, today. We wish them every happiness in their new home and can’t wait to visit them there.
We are staying here for another week and plan to explore east along the coast and some of the inland villages.
CLICK HERE FOR NEW PHOTOS
Sunday, September 21
San Raphael to San Remo
by
George and Anne
on Sun 21 Sep 2008 23:12 BST
Day 235 Sunday 21st September 2008
Moving day today – and Nina’s 29th birthday. Little did we think, at this time last year, that on her next birthday she would be a mother, and we really miss not seeing her on her birthday.
Anyway – It poured with rain again overnight here so waited for things to clear up a bit before departing at a leisurely pace for the short trip, under two hours, to San Remo. A very scenic journey, four small tolls on the way – 3.60€, 4.10€,2€ and 3€.
We duly took the San Remo turn off the motorway, still high up overlooking the sparkling sea – and there it all went wrong….. came to a t-junction - instant decision required. We had a 50/50 chance and we blew it and ended up taking the wrong road down to the sea front instead of going the main road way to San Remo centre and then going along the coast a bit.
However, after at least ten narrow hairpin bends and a lot of sweat and anguish (Anne) and a lot of white knuckles on the steering wheel and very tight jaw line (George) we made it down and found the caravan site signs – a really sharp right-hand turn back on ourselves to get on the approach road (no problem after what we’d just gone through) and arrived at the entrance…… and then carried on past it as it looked more like the exit. It had a no-entry sign on the gate post so we kept driving and ended up at a dead end! A three point turn followed, yes, really three – the road was wide luckily, we entered the site and were allocated a pitch. (Still don’t know what the dead end sign relates to!)
This site is a total contrast to the last one. It is completely paved, with trees and small bushes growing out of the paviours. The marked pitches are very small, just enough room for the caravan with the car next to it, and very close together. It is also virtually full! We unhitched and pushed the caravan onto the pitch with the help of two very nice Dutch men (although it’s very easy on paviours), put the kettle on as soon as we could and started to calm down and relax.
Although the pitches on this site are not ideal, the facilities here are brilliant – beautifully tiled modern washrooms, lovely swimming pool, restaurant, bar – and a lovely pebble beach right by the sea - although the coastline is rocky here. Marvellous.
When we arrived there was an airshow in progress in San Remo town just down the road so we went out on the beach here and watched it for a while (Anne with her fingers firmly in her ears). It turned out to be a fantastic show out over the bay with much of the action just in front of our beach. The finale was a great show by the Italian equivalent of the Red Arrows but with red white and green smoke!
Had a nice meal in the site restaurant which was packed with loud Italians and had a nice atmosphere. One spag bol, one pizza, bowl of frites, bread and a bottle of wine. Good food and good service for 26€. Not bad.
Lovely sunny day. We are due to stay here for two weeks – looking forward to exploring the area which neither of us has been to before.
Saturday, September 20
Antheor near St Raphael
by
George and Anne
on Sat 20 Sep 2008 23:35 BST
Days 229 - 234 Monday 14th – Saturday 20th September 2008
Have had a great week here in the San Raphael area – the caravan site, Camping du Viaduc, is actually in Antheor, an area right by the sea just outside the small town of Agay which in turn is just east along the coast from the larger resort town of San Raphael. It’s backdrop is the famous pink sandstone rock of the Esterel Mountains and in front the sparkling blue Med - a lovely spot at the end of the Cote d’Esterel, which then turns into the Cote d’Azur spreading along the coast to Antibes, Cannes, Nice and Monaco.
Spent a day in San Raphael, walking along the seafront promenade and looking round the town – quite busy, the weather was hot and sunny. Visited the beautiful Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Victoire built mainly out of the local pink sandstone with fabulous, and quite modern, stained glass windows.
Found out why a Basilica is called a Basilica – do you know? Well - are you sitting comfortably? …........... then we’ll begin ……….. a Parish Church is the church of a community entrusted to a Priest; a Chapel is a small church; an Abbey is run by an Abbot and a Cathedral is the church of a Bishop. The term Basilica is added to any of the above as a mark of special recognition and is the highest honour that can be bestowed - and can only be bestowed by the Pope himself. Four major Basilicas are in Rome. Currently there are 1,478 Basilicas in the world of which116 are in France. Here endeth the first Lesson.
The town of Frejus joins up with San Raphael from the west and its seafront is lined with the usual tourist bars cafes and gift shops. As you walk to the San Raphael end, the seafront changes to smarter hotels and restaurants with a quieter more up-market atmosphere. We ended up on the beach here for a couple of hours topping up our tans which had faded somewhat after six weeks in the UK. Out of the main seaside resorts we visited this week, St Raphael was our favourite with its esplanade, lovely sandy beach, very friendly beach bar, relatively easy parking and although busy it never seemed crowded.
We went to Nice on the train for a day, stopping at Cannes on the way back. We got on the train just up the road from the caravan site and then rode over the big viaduct which gives our caravan site its name – see photos. The train was surprisingly small, old, crowded and tatty (although on time) and we stood all the way. The one hour journey along the coast, however, was made more bearable by the great views of the many seaside towns (15 stops) and sea views along the way. Cost, zero – nobody seemed to want to sell us a ticket, a bit like Flax Bourton to Weston-super-Mare.
We found Nice very bustling, very windy, crowded and not particularly attractive with its stony beach although we really enjoyed walking up into the high gardens at the east end of the seafront, overlooking the port. We then got lost walking down a different way and found ourselves in the narrow backstreets of the old town – much more appealing and enjoyable to us.
We enjoyed Cannes more – although it was also busy and very windy. The seafront strip was lined with large hotels with their own private beach areas -we didn’t explore the town but had a couple of hours on the beach. George was reminiscing about how he spent a week with a mate from uni sleeping on the harbour wall in Cannes in his hitch hiking days. They had been moved on from Monte Carlo as vagrants.
The railway station at Nice was quite big and not very user-friendly. We had trouble finding the correct platform for our return journey. Had an interesting conversation with a young Dutch lad who had the platform number printed on his ticket, but all the platforms were actually designated by letters! – we thought we were being dumb but actually the French travellers didn’t seem any better at it than us. The train ride back was on a big double-decker jobbie – clean, fast and comfortable – and it only stopped at about four stations before ours. Had to pay this time though 5.20€ each and then 4.70€ each for the last train from Cannes back to Antheor later.
Went west to San Tropez one day. About a one hour drive and the traffic was horrendous. We passed through San Maxime on the way which seemed an attractive place. San Tropez itself was as we remembered it from the last time we were here - nearly forty years ago – full of traffic, tourists and expensive shops, busy and tired looking. Quite a nice walk along the water front and marina, viewing the work of the artists who set up here and, of course, the massive boats lining the quay. We heard a lot of American being spoken and think most of it had originated from the cruise ship in the bay, one of the huge Voyagers. We got away from the town and found a little beach by the road where we could relax for a while. To avoid the traffic nightmare of the coast road back we headed inland through Cogolin and a gorgeous scenic route through the mountains.
Spent our last day here on the beach – just across the road and underneath the viaduct from the caravan site – lovely blue sky until about 8.00pm when it started raining. We don’t mind, we are off tomorrow for the short hop to San Remo – just into the Italian Riviera – looking forward to exploring that coastline.
We have belatedly discovered that we can connect to the internet just down the road at the other caravan site which saves us going to McDonalds in San Raphael, so you should now be quite up to date !
SEE NEW PHOTOS - CLICK HERE
Sunday, September 14
Avignon to St Raphael
by
George and Anne
on Sun 14 Sep 2008 23:02 BST
Days 228 Sunday 14th September 2008
Set off bright and early, well bright anyway, and headed southeast towards Aix-en-Provence on the relatively short (just over two hours) trip to the south coast, staying near St Raphael for a week.
We left in windy, cloudy weather and a quite chilly 17 degrees. Very windy conditions for the first hour but by the time we were half way the clouds had cleared and the temperature had risen to 24 degrees, that’s more like it.
Toll charge 7€40, we stopped for coffee en route, next toll 15€60.
From St Raphael we travelled along the ‘route des golfs’ passing several nice looking courses (which we won’t be playing this time) and had a gorgeous last ten minute drive along the coast road through Agay and duly arrived at the small caravan site we had emailed with our booking. Great initial impressions – restaurant with terrace, bar, shop and swimming pool, just across the road from a small sandy bay. They had a list of people they were expecting but our name wasn’t on it! The chap said they had one pitch left and took us to have a look – oh dear – the site was small, which we knew, but the caravans and tents were crammed close together and the pitch we were offered was in a small corner, in the dark, under trees. Basically we didn’t like the look of it – or how we’d get the caravan onto it.
The options didn’t seem very attractive – either try and get the caravan onto this small, dark, pokey pitch or drive away and try to find another caravan site. We walked across the road to look at the sea and think about it – which is when we saw a sign for another site only 150 metres up the hill. The sign looked tatty but you can’t always judge a book by its cover! We walked up to have a look and loved it. No shop, restaurant, bar or swimming pool but lots of sunny space in a woodland setting – so for the first time this trip we rejected our planned caravan site and found an alternative!
The only downside is that the cost is 19€ per night instead of the camping cheque rate of about 15€, also no wi-fi. However, the owners, a lovely older French couple made us very welcome and told us to put the caravan wherever we liked. This site is almost adjacent to the other one near the beach and we can use their shop anyway, so we ended up in a win-win situation – doesn’t happen often does it………….
It’s lovely to be back by the sea and we are looking forward to exploring the area.
Saturday, September 13
Popes Palace and the Pont
by
George and Anne
on Sat 13 Sep 2008 23:33 BST
Days 222 - 227 Monday 7th September – Saturday 13th September 2008
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS
Have really enjoyed our time in this area – spent more time looking round the Ancient City of Avignon, including a ride on the Petit Train-Train which goes on a forty minute tour of the main areas complete with English commentary all for 7€ each. We were left with an impression of a busy and lively city but very much a working city. Tourists were certainly well catered for with the old historic areas and designer shops but the streets and pavement cafes seemed to be mainly full of locals and the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly.
The main building, dominating the Avignon skyline, is the Palais des Papes, Palace of the Popes - the biggest Gothic Palace in Europe - dating from the 14th century. It was built by nine successive Popes and was the seat of the Christian world at that time. It is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was a powerful fortress and a magnificent Palace. Today, part of it houses an International Conference Centre and the Department of Archives. Twenty-five rooms are open to the public. Anne was a bit disappointed as they were just that - stone rooms with no furnishings, and although we had audio guides in English, all the detailed information boards were only in French,. It is a huge building with a complicated history and if you are interested in finding out more you could look at www.palais-des-papes.com
We decided to visit the Palais and the Pont Saint Benezet (pont d’Avignon, bridge, as in the song) for 26€ package for both of us. The bridge was first built during the 12th century and has often been damaged by raging flood waters and was finally abandoned in the 17th century so today it comes to a dead end three-quarters of the way across the River Rhone. Only four arches remain out of the original twenty-four as the bridge used to span both branches of the Rhone and Barthelasse Island in between, where our caravan site is – in fact George reckons it went straight over the line of tennis courts in the middle of the site.
On Thursday we took ourselves on a wine tour – all the local villages and towns round here grow grapes, produce wine or sell it. We started at Tavel, famous for Rose where we followed one of the dozens of signs to a Rose Cave and ended up in a farmer’s kitchen tasting wonderful Rose with a jolly grape grower who spoke no English. Lots of hand signals and Franglais ensued and of course we bought some bottles. We had brought some empty 8 litre containers with us and were really looking for somewhere to fill them up at a reasonable rate so next stop was a big commercial outlet selling wine from big tanks with nozzles like petrol pumps – marvellous – bought more great tasting Rose and Cotes du Rhone, average price just over 1€ per litre. Terrific!
We then went on to Orange to have a look at the famous Roman remains, particularly the 10,000 seater Amphitheatre of which the original front wall is mostly intact. Spectacular opera concerts and events are still regularly held here.
Then it was on to the beautiful little Medieval village of Chateauneuf du Pape on the hunt for some of the good stuff at a bargain price! On the way we stopped at the side of the road in the sun to have the coffee and baguettes we’d brought with us, vineyards as far as the eye could see in all directions. The Chateauneuf du Pape vineyards are very distinctive because the ground around the vines is covered with pebbles. The pebbles soak up the heat from the sun during the day and release it overnight.
George got out looking at the grapes which were right by the road. Next thing we knew a police car had pulled up behind us - the two policemen had obviously seen George chewing and thought he was eating the grapes. They asked if we knew that all these grapes belonged to Chateauneuf du Pape and we explained in our best French that the only things we were eating were our baguettes. Communication was difficult but eventually they seemed happy enough and tried to chat about where we were staying etc. No problem. Let this be a warning to you – don’t eat any grapes at the side of the road, the Wine Police are watching!
The village itself nestles beneath what is left of the enormous Chateau Tower up on the hill (visible from the high gardens of the Popes Palace in Avignon 20 kms away). Every other shop seemed to be a wine cave, but quality rather than quantity is the order of the day here - with prices to match.
The weather has been hot and muggy but changed dramatically overnight on Thursday with sheeting rain and a spectacular thunderstorm. Cosy in the caravan but we felt a bit sorry for some of the tenters nearby. George was planning to wash the caravan but no need now.
Having explored Avignon which is one side of the Rhone, we thought we better have a look around Villeneuve lez Avignon which is across the other side. This is where the famous bridge used to end and in particular it ended at a tall tower which at one time controlled access to the bridge. We braved climbing the spiral staircase to the top of the Tour Philippe le Bel and enjoyed the incredible views back across the Rhone, divided by the island, to Avignon, the Popes Palace and the remains of the other end of the bridge.
The rest of the town was dominated by a hill top fortress, Le Fort Saint Andre, and the Chartreuse Pontificale du Val de Benediction, a huge Carthusian Monastery. Saturday was market day, Anne can home in on markets from 10 kms away, and this market seemed to be entirely old furniture, bric a brac and silverware. The weather was sunny, the town was crowded so it seemed rude not to sit for a while and watch the world go by over a café crème.
This has been an excellent stopover site on our way to the Riviera made all the more enjoyable by meeting up with Margaret and John. The showers could be hotter and the wi-fi cheaper but the site is in a brilliant position and the free ferry shuttle into Avignon is a real bonus.
Tomorrow we move on to the beaches of the French Riviera.
Sunday, September 7
First few days in Avignon
by
George and Anne
on Sun 07 Sep 2008 23:17 BST
Days 220 - 221 Saturday 6th September – Sunday 7th September 2008
It absolutely poured down on Saturday during our first walk to get our bearings and the free ferry wasn’t running because of a big security operation along the river bank, there were gendarmes everywhere. Apparently there was a meeting of EEC Ministers going on in the Palace of the Popes, expect they were awarding themselves some extra expenses. Despite the rain we could see what a beautiful spot this is and the site is really convenient for the city.
The camp site itself is very pleasant with quite large hedged and shady pitches. Typical for a municipal site the washroom facilities are a bit basic but certainly adequate. The on site swimming pool looks good and of course we are now back to low season so no kids about. Internet Wi-Fi is available on site near reception but it’s a bit expensive, 2€ for 30 minutes, 3.5€ for 1 hour, 19€ for a week. Mind you, John noticed it seemed to be stuck on one evening so we both took advantage of that. More barbeques and more wine.
On Sunday the sky was clear blue and the sun was hot. This is more like it! We headed for the city but this time the ferry wasn’t working because the current was too strong so we walked to the nearest bridge and made it anyway. First impressions were very good. The walled city is a maze of narrow streets and we found our way to a big square in front of the Palace of the Popes, an awesome looking building to visit another day. We spent 2 hours in a café in the square soaking in the atmosphere and a few beers as well. Reassuringly the ferry was running to get us back, they run every 10 minutes and take about 3 minutes to cross, great fun. George tried out the pool and reported warm water.
George’s turn to barbeque tonight and more wine.
We have enjoyed a lovely couple of days with John and Margaret and they set off towards home tomorrow morning. We are now looking forward to exploring Avignon and this lovely part of Provence over the next six days.
Friday, September 5
Off We Go Again
by
George and Anne
on Fri 05 Sep 2008 23:15 BST
Days 214 - 219 Sunday 31st August – Friday 5th September 2008
Left Grays and headed off to Dover to catch the 11.05 ferry to Calais. We booked a day return ticket for £49 – it will be interesting to see if we are charged any extra for not using the return leg as they ‘reserve the right to’. Had a calm and sunny crossing despite a terrible weather forecast and started to make our way south through France.
Two tolls – 18.90€ and 24.90€
Stopped at Dole, southwest of Dijon, for one night, Etap Hotel 48.50€ for the room.
Left the next day in cloud and rain. Filled up with diesel for 1.41€ per litre, (about £1.15, still cheaper than UK but not massively) We are heading for Geneva to stay with old (!) friends Pam and Julian for three nights. Thought we’d try the scenic route over the mountains of the Jura, however things did not go to plan. We were fine until we stopped for coffee in Morez then it all went a bit pear shaped. The road was closed at one point so we had to follow a long detour (it shouldn’t have been as long but George was navigating …….) then TomTom decided to take us straight down to the lake at Nyon, off-plan again, so we (Anne ...…..) ended up driving through Geneva centre at rush hour. Never mind - glad we weren’t towing the caravan though.
Pam and Julian have lived here for many years since leaving the UK and have a super house in Veyrier. It’s lovely to see them all again - their daughter Rachel, who has her own flat in Geneva, came over for a barbeque on our first night and we had a great time catching up on all the news. Baby talk ruled for a while but we tried to give them the shortened version – honest !
Had a really relaxing few days – including a ride out to Evoire – a very pretty little village on the banks of Lake Geneva, but in France. Lots of beautiful geraniums hanging from balconies shop fronts, and historic buildings.
Another barbeque, a meal out at a local restaurant and we were saying our goodbyes all too soon after having a great stay – many thanks both, lets get together again soon somehow.
Set off south and followed the Rhone most of the way. Two tolls – 13.90€ and 22.10€.
Stayed overnight at Beziers, about an hour away from where our caravan was in storage. Another Etap, 45.70€, and no extra charge for the overnight thunderstorm.
Drove off next morning, very excited to be getting back to the caravan. Filled up with diesel for 1.35€ a litre, it’s getting slightly cheaper. The weather improved, we collected the caravan and set off towards our first stop in Avignon. Some friends from Weston Rotary Club, Margaret and John Horler, are meeting us there for a few nights. They have been motor-homing and caravanning for over forty years and have been a mine of information for us when we were planning this trip.
The first part of the route towing was retracing our steps back from the storage at Labastide Rouairoux to Beziers along mountain roads through spectacular scenery. George soon got back into towing mode and the car handled the steepish climbs and tight bends really well.
Then it was motorway all the way to the Avignon junction. Tom-Tom led us perfectly around the complicated bridge system to the city camp site where we arrived mid afternoon. Two tolls – 9.20€ and 7.80€.
Total tolls from home were 96.80€ but most of these were car only. Tolls are usually about double with the caravan on the back Total mileage driven from UK was 1,071.
The site, Camping Avignon du Pont is actually between two parts of the Rhone on Barthelasse Island, just opposite what’s left of the famous ‘pont’ and a short free ferry hop from the beautiful walled old city of Avignon on one side and Villeneuve lez Avignon on the other. Margaret and John had arrived the day before and had kindly saved us a pitch next to them. They have been on a site near St Tropez for the last five weeks or so and are heading back.
We had a lot of sorting out to do in the caravan – we had taken all our clothes, bedding, towels, tea towels and throws back with us to the UK and had wedged other stuff in cupboards and under the bed ready for storage. All this had to come out and be sorted along with all the other things we had brought with us from the uk – clothes, shoes, bedding, tins, packets etc. but no golf clubs or trolleys this time. We had only played six or seven times since we left in January and decided that they were not worth using up valuable space on, so we have a bit more room to play about with now.
John barbequed for us all in the evening and we had a great time catching up on all the news from Weston and drinking copious amounts of French wine.
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