Bouncy Castles near St Tropez

I have been trying to get a good picture of the new facility for children next to the pitch and put, opposite the Geant Casino at La Foux. This has been difficult because they deflate the castles each night and you can only get a picture from the main road where you cannot stop! Eventually I have got one!

As one can see from the picture this is a large area dedicated to inflated structures for children to play on. There has always been a shortage of children's facilities in the area and this should really fill the gap.

Mr.L. 4/7/2011

La Pagode Baie Des Anges

Well it is some time since we have been invited to a child's Birthday Party, except of course for Grandchildren!

Last Sunday we were invited by Denise, a close friend of Gaynor, who lives over in Villefranche
( on the other side of Nice) to her daughter, Mellisa's party! We were pleased to accept as we love the family and much enjoy spending time with them.

It took place in the Pagode, which is situated at the side of Baie des Anges. It comprises a fabulous Lido with hundreds of sunbeds around it. This is well protected, for the children, by many attendants keeping watch.

Next to it is a lovely restaurant with a view out to sea. We enjoyed our meal which was standard French, however the prices were good and the quality of the cooking top class.

An excellent place for adults to relax and sunbathe whilst the kids swim.

Mr.L. 28/6/2011

Azure Park Fairground

Last night we did something I had been putting off for years! We went to the fairground!! Only the thought of seeing my grandchildrens' delight was the thing that made me go.
We had a wonderful time and I wondered why I had never been before. There are things for all ages and a good variety of restaurants and good quality of takeaways.
We bought vouchers for the rides and we spent a good hour and a half before running out of vouchers and cash!
The fair opens at 9 p.m. but one can take a meal there first and there is very good parking.
A great night out.
The fair is situated at the La Foux roundabout on the road between st Maxime and St Tropez and is near the Geant Casino supermarket.

Mr. L. 13/08/10

Fete de La Vigne et Du Vin

Each year on the Saturday after Ascension Day the vinyards of France open their door to the public for a Fete.
We decided to visit one of our local vinyards to see what goes on. We were amazed!
As we arrived there was traditional Provencal dancing being carried out by a troup of dancers and wine and snacks were served, whilst we all had a chance to visit the cave and to inspect a selection of French classic cars. For the children there was a pony and trap giving rides all afternoon.
In a meadow next to the cave 20 bench tables were set out and music was playing. We were presented with an excellent 4 course meal followed by coffee and lots of people were dacing to a great band that played everything from accordian music through rock and roll to line dancing!

The three hundred people there really got into it in the brilliant sunshine helped no doubt by the limitless supply of wine!! For this meal and wine we were charged €25 per person, which was very good value.
A great time was had by all.

Mr. L. 15/5/2010

Les Voiles de St Tropez

Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez is an amazing rendezvous of yachts, first run twenty-six years ago as La Nioulargue. The regatta gathers together the most extraordinary modern sailing boats alongside the most beautiful traditional yachts during the first week of October. A host of racers and sailing enthusiasts come from all the corners of the globe to do battle in the bay of Saint Tropez. The Trophée Rolex is awarded to the winner of the Classic Division over 16 meters.

Well the end of the St Tropez season is nigh and the sign of this is the arrival of all the beautiful sailing boats that arrive in the port. The summer tourists have left and all the meg yachts have left and the port and Gulf are full of high masted boats. The beautiful people and tourists have left and the cafes and restaurants are full of sailing types. In the harbor there are both modern high tech racing yachts but also a plethora of beautiful wooden yachts with perfect varnish and brass polished to a beautiful brilliance. The sound of rigging rattling in the wind can be heard throughout the port and the conversations of seafaring friends from all over the world renewing relationships.

Some of the boats are more than 100 years old but look like new and many of the crews wear matching sepia jumpers to match the colour of their sails.

It is a truly magical time in St Tropez but, as I said, it forecasts the end of the season before many of the restaurants and shops close down for the winter and the village goes to sleep for the winter!

The only thing left is the Braderie (the clearance sales) at the end of October, when all the shops put there unsold items outside their shops and massively discount their wares. This is very special and fantastic discounts are to be found on High Fashion brands. The women never miss it!!

Mr. L. 28/08/09

http://www.societe-nautique-saint-tropez.fr/

Boating in South of France

The desire of many people is to have a boat in the South of France. It sounds so romantic and inspires dreams of flat seas and empty sandy beaches!
I went half shares in a boat in the Gulf of St Tropez about 5 years ago together with a French friend who loves going out in the boat. We purchased a 6.25 meter cabin cruiser with a 200 Honda engine, which made it very fast.
When we bought it a friend told me that there are two memorably good days with a boat, one when you buy it and the other is when you sell it. Of course I did not believe it!
I really do love boats but the Gulf of St Tropez is not ideal even if it is beautiful.
To begin with it has a lot of days when it is quite windy, delightful for the yachts but not when you are plying over waves and your boat bangs down hard after each trough. Then there are the times when there are jelly fish which prohibits swimming, which is one of our delights when moored out in one of the many bays in the area.
Getting back in is not easy if there is a wind as ones boat acts as a sale and makes it difficult to get back into your mooring without either damaging your boat or getting snarled on somebody else’s mooring ropes.
On top of this on the few days a year when the weather is right just when you think it is wonderfully hot weather all the large motor yachts arrive for the season and they stir up the sea as if they were food mixers making every trip a nightmare.
The above does not consider the mooring costs the way the boat drinks petrol or the problems, with the engine (that you have hardly used) discovered when you have paid to have it craned out of the water for the winter to have its bottom cleaned. The boat people rarely come up with a bill for less than €2000 for some vague problem with the engine or its pivoting system! One cannot really argue with them as you know little about engines (and they already have it in pieces!).
From the above you might think that I hate boating in the South of France. This is not true; I just hate cleaning it after every trip! I really prefer golf!
Will I be selling my boat? Well I really love looking at it and my grandchildren and friends love it, and perhaps this is what it is all about.

Mr. L. 21/08/09

The Cube, St Tropez

The Cube is a new Boutique Hotel on the road into St Tropez from St Maxime. Originally the site was the old hospital, which has since moved to Gassin.
I have to admit that this report is second hand as I have a personal aversion to being overcharged and to eating in the dark! I really do not see that this is smart! Or am I just getting old??!!
My daughter and son in law visited with some of our friends from Monaco and they had a really fun night. It started in the Ice Bar which is at -7c at all times. Don’t worry they lend you warm shawls! Here you have cocktails before dinner and if you ask for a stick to stir them with, then they break an icicle off the ceiling and you use that! Even the cocktail glasses were made of ice!
After the cocktails, off for a meal and I am told it was so dark in the restaurant it was impossible to read the menu. Obviously the staff were all young and beautiful, even the guys!
My daughter was not impressed with the meal but the other guests thought it Ok. Obviously the drinks were expensive, but hey it is St Tropez in August and they were sure there will lots of famous people there if only it hadn’t been so dark in the dining room that they could see them.
They didn’t see the rest of the hotel but assure me that every balcony had an exercise bike on it!
Despite what I have written I am assured that it really was a fun night!
Mr. L. 17/08/09

http://www.designhotels.com/kubesttropez

http://www.urbandaddy.com/articles/print/6239

Family things to do in Gulf of St Tropez

In summer there are many things to do, with your family, to pass the time, when you are not on the beach or eating.
1. Near the Geant supermarket there is a Crazy Golf course complete with restaurant.
A Bowling Alley opposite the camp site Prairie De La Mere on the road to St Tropez http://www.bowlingdugolfe.com/pages/0-votre-bowling-depuis-plus-de-40-ans.html
2. Go Karts on the road to Grimaud. http://www.gkl-karting.com/
3. Fair ground next to the Geant supermarket.
4. Frequent circuses next to Geant Supermarket
5. Paintball and Laser park also near Geant Supermarket. http://www.paintballfamily.com/
6. Aqualand St Maxime. http://www.aqualand.fr/les-parcs,sainte_maxime.html
7. Small electric boats in Port Grimaud. http://www.tourinfos.com/gb/r0021/d0083/m0003/p003575.htm
8. Horse riding on the road between Cogolin and Grimaud.

There are of course a multitude of other things to do with the family including museums, art galleries and the citadel, with naval museum in St Tropez.

Mr. L. 13/08/09

A weekend in Sanary

We have just had a great family weekend down at the mother in laws villa in Sanary.

BBQ's, swimming, siesta's and great views, just perfect!

Sanary is a little bit of paradise

GRIMAUD STREET MUSIC

We have lived in Grimaud now for about 6 years and must admit that we rarely get involved in visiting the village, except to visit restaurants, during the summer as it is so busy.
Every Tuesday night during the summer we hear music coming from the village which is above us and which gives us a beautiful view of the illuminated chateau, which overlooks the village, from our patio.
Every Tuesday night they have “music in the streets” and this entails the central car park being taken over by musicians performing on a stage, people going around the village playing and topped by a concert in the chateau grounds around 21.00 hours.
This week we finally visited with my son and his family and I must admit the village was buzzing!
We ate at the Clem Bar which is situated on the main street and had to fight for a table as the whole village was full of people both local and tourists that had come to hear the performances. The atmosphere was great.
All of the art galleries and gift shops were open though the best business was being done by the restaurants and the boulangerie where there was a queue!
The Clem Bar is a cheap and cheerful place with excellent basic food and the salads, pastas and steaks that we had were really great for the price. They had Kangaroo on the menu and I must admit they look really succulent and tasty.
The chateau above us was illuminated and music came from the grounds as the concert started. It was a little too late for the children to stay longer so we meandered our way through the picturesque streets back to our car with the sounds of music in our ears.

A lovely evening!
Mr. L 22/07/09
http://www.grimaud-provence.com

A little bit of Paradise – The Lac Sainte Croix, Haut Var

Last Sunday we spent the day at the Lac Sainte Croix near the Gorge du Verdon. I cannot begin to describe the beauty of the little bit of paradise that is only an 80 minute drive from Sainte Maxime. We took a picnic and spent the afternoon swimming and sleeping. If you fancy a lunch in a restaurant I suggest you go to the village of Sainte Croix du Verdon which is perched on a cliff overlooking the lake.

Truly, a wonderful place.

Andrew and Rebecca and the view from the village of Sainte Croix du Verdon

The village of Bauduen

Picnic anyone?

Fields of Lavender to the West of the lake

Bastille Day

Bastille Day is a National holiday in France. It is very much like Independence Day in the United States because it is a celebration of the beginning of a new form of government.
At one time in France, kings and queens ruled. Many people were very angry with the decisions made by the kings and queens.
The Bastille was a prison in France that the kings and queens often used to lock up the people that did not agree with their decisions. To many, it was a symbol of all the bad things done by the kings and queens. So, on July 14, 1789, a large number of French citizens gathered together and stormed the Bastille.
Just as the people in the United States celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence as the beginning of the American Revolution, so the people in France celebrate the storming of the Bastille as the beginning of the French Revolution. Both Revolutions brought great changes. Kings and queens no longer rule. The people rule themselves and make their own decisions.
How is this celebrated, well this year the Government announced that only 500 cars were burnt by disaffected youth! This is a time for telling the Government what one thinks about them. It is the right of every Frenchman to protest, as you can see from all the greves ( strikes) that the police do not try to stop even if they are illegal!
Of course there is a more formal celebration, in Paris, with a grand military parade down the Avenue des Champs- Elysees.
In the Golfe of St Tropez all the villages have celebrations at the Hotel de Ville ( Council office but posher) and in my local village, Cogolin, it was possible to see the staff and local police taking refreshments on the terrace with the mayor.
At night the skies explode with fireworks and if you sit on the beach it is possible to see each village around the Golfe de St Tropez setting off their fireworks at different times.
Indeed a special day, except for our dogs that hide in the bedrooms!!
Mr. L. 16/07/09

St Tropez Market

St Tropez Market has an amazing Provencal feel to it. It is open from early to 13.00 hours on Tuesdays and Saturdays in the Place des Lices, just behind the port. This is a shaded square, surrounded by shops and restaurants, where the locals play boules on the other days.
It has hundreds of stalls selling everything from vegetables to antiques and goes on all year, however outside of the tourist season there are fewer stalls and it focuses on food. As you walk around you can hear the chirping of the cigales and the chatter of the market traders
If one wants to get there in summer one must go very early or better still take Les Bateaux Verts from St Maxime, Port Grimaud or Cogolin. This boat takes you right into the centre of the port without one having to worry about parking.
The atmosphere in the market is amazing with the locals mixing with the tourists and most ladies walking along with straw shopping baskets.
Around the market people sit reading newspapers and taking a coffee in the sun whilst watching the procession of suntanned people going about their business.
It is not unknown to see Bridgette Bardot collecting her groceries, or stars walking about amongst the crowd. After all, in the season, this is the chosen place for many famous people due to its great villas and big yachts moored in the harbour. In fact it is the playground of the stars.
St Tropez is also well known for car launches and the other day as I was going between St Maxime and my home in Grimaud I saw not one but 39! 4 door Porsche Panameras. They aren’t even on sale yet! Following them was a Mercedes SLR priced at £330k and A Porsche Carrera GT priced at £280k. This is not unusual in this area during the summer. Am I jealouus? No!!!
In winter the area next to the market is converted into an ice rink with fir trees around it. St Tropez is great!

Mr. L. July 2009

http://www.bateauxverts.com/

Snorkeling around Sainte Maxime

One of Andrews friends took this great photo of him snorkeling up near Monaco last Sunday.I think its time to get my mask and flippers on too, no photos though, I don't look quite as good in my Calvin Kleins as Andrew does!!

Snorkeling tips

Para-surfing by Mark

Along the coast road about 20 minutes from our house is a stretch of beach between Saint Aygulf and Port Frejus. On windy days loads of para-surfers hit the waves. One day I would seriously like to give this a go, maybe when it’s warmer…..and I’m fitter!!

Biking from Sainte Maxime to Port Grimaud

I made this video last year of our bike ride from Sainte Maxime to Port Grimaud. Naturally we had a couple of pit stops, after all there is no point in over doing it! Still a tremendous sporting moment, not exactly the ‘Tour de France’ but I hope you enjoy the journey anyway.