We flew into Toulon courtesy of Ryanair and had a better landing than the last time - that is to say we actually landed at the first attempt. Jeanette was there with Morgan to meet us and we were soon at Sigalou. It was amazing to see the vines without any leaves at all (photo above) but Jeanette assured us they would have greenery before we left! Mr Moutte (Jeanette's Pa in Law) keeps daily records of the developement of the vines and it seems that some years ago the grapes were harvested in Otober, but that now the harvesting takes place in August - Global Warming?
The next day we drove off in the little Peugot 206 along the coast towards the East with Cavalier sur Mer as our destination where there was a market day. Found it with not much hassle, and Carol spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around and bought a cardigan while I bought a pair of shoes. The food stalls were tempting -cheeses/olives/pate/rabbits/pastries - too much. Had lunch at the waterfront and took off for Grimaud, a little village inland with the ruins of a castle. These French villages are fascinating.We discovered that lunch is a serious business in France and everything closes up for a couple of hours so that digestion is not disturbed.
In the centre of the village we spotted a tourist train which went by road to Port Grimaud. This port was created in the 1960's by a French architect from swampland and is today a security enclave of canals/marinas and super looking houses and apartments. A bit like an enlarged Sanctuary Cove. The parked yachts/launches etc are mind boggling and there is a pervading air of money money money!
Back to Sigalous and dinner. Carol and Morgan engaged in conversation which, as Jeanette Alain and Morgan are planning to come out to Australia later this year, was mainly centred on Australian animals.Morgan is a very intelligent litle man and his knowledge of animals is quite amazing.
On Thursday we decided to try the western coastline and headed for Cassis. Mr Moutte was in the house when we mentioned this and said we should "prenez le bateau pour les Calanques". Which we did!!Cassis is a lovely little seaside resort with a harbour surrounded by cafes. There are lots of boats promoting trips to The Calanques and we opted for one that visited three of them. The Calanques are indentations in the coastline (a bit like junior Fjiords!)and incredibly beautiful.
Lunch was fresh grilled sardines a la provencale with a small carafe of white grape juice, which as Carol was driving mostly came my way.
The Cassis photos are at the top -can't seem to get this blogsite to put the pictures where I would like them.
Carol drove both ways today - my shoulder does not lend itself to the task, and she is doing a great job of hairing along the road on the wrong side and driving from the left front seat.
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