Nice….Apollo has Returned…Girls Avert your Eyes

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Peter and Nia — Leave a comment

Apollo

Today we hit Nice. The Place de Massena is a must see, looked over from one side by Apollo on the Fontaine de Soleil. His statue was removed fairly recently in case it caused ‘moral disruption’ but was daringly reinstated in 2007.

But, to begin at the beginning, we left Mavis at about 10 am, having done the washing the night before.

Friendly Washerwoman

We cycled 10 miles along the seafront cycle path which meets the impressive Promenade des Anglais just outside Nice. The promenade is a lovely seafront walk/ride/rollerblade etc track.

Promenade des Anglais

The promenade is to the right of the bike track.

You cycle in past impressive architecture on your left and the sea on your right.

Nice Theatre

We locked the bikes to a lamppost close to the Municipal theatre and set off on foot to explore.

Place de Massena

Detail from Apollo’s Fontaine de Soleil.

The Place de Massena sits between old and new Nice and is flanked by water features alternating between fountain displays and the creation of clouds of water vapour.

Miroir d’Eau

When the fountains stop the terraces become water mirrors.

Electric tram

From time to time smart trams criss cross the square.

The town council has thoughtfully provided bird perches, dotted about the square.

Stately old buildings, all clean and shiny, abound.

Old Nice

Nice Cathedral

After lunch overlooking the gardens extending away from Place de Massena, we walked through old Nice to this square by the cathedral where we refuelled with ice cream, for the journey home.

Tomorrow we leave the Côte d’Azur and will head inland for a change of scenery.

Tagged with: Cote d'Azur, cycling, france, Mavis, motorhome, Nice, photography, Promenade des anglais, Provence
Posted in - France, 2014 Autumn, Nice, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Antibes…Picasso and Napoleon

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 6 Comments

Bay of Angels

Route to date

We are at Villeneuve-Loubet, a town on the ‘Bay of Angels’ halfway between Nice and Antibes. The site is a short walk (5 minutes) from the beach.

Cafe on the beach at Villeneuve-Loubet, Nice is on the far horizon.

Mavis is parked in Camping Hippodrome ( N 43.642186 E 7.137281). This is a small and friendly site. It isn’t ACSI but at €25 per night for two adults, two dogs, wifi included and heated indoor pool is OK.

Marina

In common with a lot of the coast here the shore is packed with posh marinas.

Petit?

Looking Back from the Breakwater towards Villeneuve-Loubet

High Rise Flats, Riviera style

We chose this site for its position on a cycle track joining Nice with Antibes and spent the first day exploring old Antibes.

Cycle Path…dual carriageway…to Antibes

The Dog Cart

14 miles there and back is a bit much for two middle aged terriers so Colin and Penny get pulled along in their own rickshaw. This does attract a few comments from the locals…there is a ‘Regardez les Chiens!’, or ‘Oh, Les Mignons!’ every so often.

Fort at Antibes

Cycling to Antibes, the first landmark to be seen is Fort Carré. Built in the 16th century on the site of a Roman fortification it was used briefly to imprison Napoleon during the French Revolution. It is seen here overlooking Antibes yacht harbour.

Antibes Cathedral

Antibes Roman Catholic cathedral.

Alleys of Old Antibes

Old Antibes is a pretty, bustling town which is doing well with a thriving tourist trade, and more than a few very rich yacht owners.

Sign at the Coverted Market

There is a lovely covered market, well worth a visit. It was just open for business in the morning, when we visited. The stalls sell mainly food but a few trinket and souvenir sellers are also dotted about.

Spices

Spoilt for Choice

We bought a selection of olives. Delicious.

Musée Picasso

This is me, on the ball for once, in front of the Picasso Museum. Picasso lived here for 6 months at the Château Grimaldi in 1946 and it is now a home for more than 200 of his artworks.

More expensive boats

After lunch in the town square we walked back along the seafront.

Looking east from Antibes

Antibes Beach.

Still wearing Shorts.

The weather is still good but there is 6 inches of rain forecast here for Tuesday…..we may have to move on soon..

Tagged with: Antibes, border terriers, cycling, france, Grimaldi, Mavis, motorhome, photography, Picasso, Provence, Villeneuve-Loubet
Posted in - France, Antibes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Villeneuve-Loubet

Cannes…Ginger and Fred

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 2 Comments

Cannes Castle

We are in Cannes…we arrived here on Monday and went out for a good nosh at the Golf Park Restaurant, to celebrate Nia’s birthday.

Birthday Girl

We drove along the dramatic Côte d’Azur from Ste Maxime…only about 15 miles.

Drive to Cannes

Côte d’Azur

We stopped for a coffee at one of the lookout points dotted along this section of coast and met Barbro and Erik, a delightful Swedish couple on their holidays. After chatting to them we have added Sweden and the Baltic to our must see list.

Barbro and Erik

Lookout Stop on the Cannes Road

We are staying at Camping La Cigales (N 43.539029, E 6.942537 ), at Mandelieu-la-Napoule, which is about 3 miles to the west of Cannes centre. It is a bit built up here and not particularly dog or bike friendly and although the site is welcoming and quite OK for a couple of days we probably won’t come back.

Hotel de Ville

On the Tuesday we took the number 20 bus from just outside the campsite to the Hotel de Ville in Cannes centre. €1-50 each, dogs go free, better than mixing it with the Cannes traffic on two wheels (no cycle tracks just here).

Trompe l’Oeil

Cannes is film city and there are murals everywhere.

Leonardo and Kate

Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire

Looking down from the Castle

After lunch overlooking the harbour ( hot goats cheese salad followed by fish and frites then panacotta with caramel sauce…delicious and surprisingly reasonable) we walked up to the Castle overlooking the city, which was started in the 11th century. There are good views from here

Street leading down from the castle.

Restauarant lined Alleyway

Ready for the evening meal.

One of the pedestrian only shopping areas.

Handbag anyone?

Don’t go in unless you are very well heeled. We saw a very nice leather handbag at €4,500. I was tempted but it didn’t really go with the outfit I had on.

Superyacht

Cannes harbour is stuffed with mega expensive looking yachts. There was a duty free and travel retail conference running in Cannes whilst were there and a lot of the boats had been hired out to promote perfumes, booze etc, to the buyers who were attending.

One of the Conference Boats.

Looking west over the Harbour

Beach at Cannes

We caught the bus back for a quiet night in. Antibes tomorrow.

Tagged with: Cannes, france, ginger rogers, la cigales, Mavis, motorhome, photography, Provence, superyacht
Posted in - France, 2014 Autumn, Cannes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Sainte Maxime…Do Sharks Live Here?

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 2 Comments

Beach at Ste Maxime

May be better not to swim here.

Aire at Sainte Maxime

We moved on from Ramatuelle to Sainte Maxime which is a small town on the Gulf of St Tropez. We stayed at a pretty basic aire (N 43.317154, E6.630549) next to a roundabout on the way in to the town. 8€ a night, drainage and water; it is a good base for exploring the town.

Cycle Track in to Town.

Ragondin

There is a colony of coypus, called Ragondin here, by the side of the cycle path.

We cycled the half mile or so to the harbour and watched some traditional French dancing. It was some kind of gathering of local food producers…olive oil, wine and other regional products were represented.

The Olive Team

The Dancing

Group Photo

Ste Maxime Market

We left the bikes on the seafront and walked up through the town. It is a lively town with a small open market, busy on this Sunday morning. As senior chef, Nia bought a Pinny covered in chickens.

Pumpkins for sale

La Comptoir

We stopped at a restaurant ‘La Comptoir’ for lunch. It was very good and the service, as guaranteed, was very friendly. I would have put a picture in here of us stuffing our faces with delicious French food but Nia says too many pictures of us eating are in danger of getting boring. Quel Horreur!

Chien Chaud!

Is this Franglais? Like Confiture de traffique.

After lunch we cycled towards St Tropez, on the coastal cycle track. I say towards because it was beginning to get dark (it was a rather late lunch) and we turned for home a little past half way there.

Beach en route to Saint Tropez

A Tarterie? What goes on in here?

We passed these brilliant sculptures on the cycle ride.

Looking Back to the Gulf of St Tropez as we cycled Home

Tomorrow we will drive a little further east, to Cannes, to celebrate the Missus’ birthday (again).

Tagged with: Aire, border terriers, coypu, cycling, france, motorhome, photography, Provence, Sainte Maxime
Posted in - France, 2014 Autumn, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Sainte Maxime

Ramatuelle…the sous chef is unleashed.

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 3 Comments

Track along the south of France

We are working our way along the coast of Provence. Maybe working isn’t the right word. Meandering. For two days we have been encamped on an aire at Ramatuelle, about 12 miles to the south of St Tropez, soaking up the sun.

Giens to Ramatuelle

We had planned to drive from Giens to St Tropez and stay at the aire there but found nose to tail traffic heading in to St Trop, from about 4 miles outside the city. Also, we had google street viewed the aire the night before and it had seemed it might be a bit difficult to get to, so we decided to change plans and head to Ramatuelle where there is a large aire about 50 meters from Pampelonne beach.

Suicidal Scooters

Large numbers of scooters and other noisy two wheelers…the fart blasters so well described in ‘Narrow Dog to Carcassone’….weave in and out of the traffic around St Tropez.

Beach at Pampelonne

This will be a short blog post as we didn’t do much other than sunbathe and swim for a couple of days. The aire ( N 43.211275, E 6.662307 ) is spacious and well resourced with water, drainage, morning visit from the baker and so on. It is €8 per night. There is a bar/restaurant on the beach.
On the Saturday night Nia opted for barbecued burgers, peppers, onions and frites, cooked by the sous chef (moi) washed down with a drop or two of merlot.
We have in fact had several meals out recently…I am being introduced to the concept of a birthday week. It is Nia’s birthday very soon and apparently rather than a simple night out on the night, I am now expected to cough up for multiple meals throughout the week of the birthday….that idea came over from the States courtesy of our daughter. Thanks Nicky.

Sunrise at Ramatuelle

Early Morning Fishing

Sunday morning dawned a little cloudy…..what is happening? We will move a little further up the coast. Time to join the jet set in Cannes soon.

Tagged with: border terriers, france, Mavis, motorhome, pampelonne beach, photography, Provence, ramatuelle
Posted in - France, 2013 Spring, 2014 Autumn, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Ramatuelle

Porquerolles…the Mexican Connection

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 4 Comments

Porquerolles Ferry

On Thursday we took the ferry to Porquerolles, one of the Islands of Hyeres, just a mile or so offshore.

Porquerolles

The arrow is pointing at our campsite, a stones throw from the harbour.
On the way over we chatted to a charming French English teacher (if that makes sense) called Catherine, from Lyons who was on holiday here, it being the French half term this week.

The Harbour at Porquerolles

Windmill at the top of the Island

You can hire bikes for 15 euros each, or bring a bike over on the ferry for about the same price but the Island isn’t huge and we explored on foot. Colin applied for a trip in a bike cart but was outvoted.

Fort St Agathe

There is a Château on the hill to visit, just next to the windmill.

Falaise d’Indienne

We carried on to the opposite side of the Island, only about 2 miles, where there is a lighthouse and some dramatic cliffs.

Olive grove

We walked back through olive groves. The island was bought by a guy called Fournier in 1911 with money he’d made mining silver in Mexico. He set up vineyards and there is a flourishing wine trade here. The Island is now almost completely owned by the State and kept largely as a nature reserve, with a few privately owned vineyards.

Penny

Lunch

We got back to the harbour at about 2pm, perfect timing for a three course binge at one of the local restaurants.

La Plage

We visited one of the local beaches in the afternoon. Dogs not allowed so we sat in the woods nearby and read for a while.

Local Party

Nia spotted this masterpiece on the side of a van whilst I was in the Post Office.

Porquerolles

There was also a picture of the harbour.

Local Flora

There are palms everywhere. I have collected a few seeds to see whether I can tempt them to grow in the greenhouse back home.

Back to the Harbour for the Ferry Home

We caught the 5.30 pm ferry back over to La Tour Fondue for the last night of the stay here. Tomorrow St Tropez, or thereabouts.

Tagged with: blog, border terriers, Colin, france, giens, hyeres, la tour fondue, Mavis, motorhome, photography, porquerolles, Provence
Posted in - France, 2014 Autumn, Porquerolles, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

This Dog is more Passionate than my Wife

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 4 Comments

Air Suspension Committee

Before we left the aire at Carro, I disappeared under the motorhome to track down a fault with the starboard air suspension unit, which was losing pressure. Noting a pair of feet sticking out from under Mavis, a knot of Frenchmen, fellow motor homers , very kindly gathered to proffer advice and help. When I ducked under the chassis for a second time the middle guy in the picture seized the opportunity to lean in through the cab window, and bandy words with the Missus. Penny, who was sitting on the shelf under the window, raised her head and finding a French head at her level gave him an enthusiastic lick on the chops. Luckily he thought this was funny and promptly announced that ‘Elle est plus passionné que ma femme’ ….’She is more passionate than my wife’. It certainly made his mates laugh.

Harbour at La Tour Fondue

Later that morning we left the aire and drove 80 miles west, around Marseille and through Toulon to Camping La Tour Fondue (N 43.029984, E 6.155241 ) which is at the end of the Giens peninsula, near Hyères.

Salade de Chèvre

The campsite is close to the harbour which is overlooked by the tower from which it gets its name. We headed to a restaurant there for a lovely meal that evening…starting with goats cheese salad as shown above. Not healthy but very nice.

Coast by the site

Beach by La Tour Fondue

The Mistral

The next day the Mistral blew. This is the very strong…up to 50 -60 mph…wind that blows down from the mountains of Provence from time to time. It is caused by (for the benefit of any weather geeks) the combination of a high pressure region over western France and low pressure over Italy. It blows out of a clear blue sky and is said to cause the unusually clear skies over Provence that attracted the impressionist and other artists to paint here.

We bravely cycled across Giens and along the peninsula to watch the kite surfers and wind surfers make the most of the wind.

This guy kept taking off

Airborne

The Bay to the north of Giens

After eating some slightly sandy sandwiches whilst sheltering from the wind we were blown back to Giens where we found a public garden, with good views, at the top of the town.

Looking south from Giens

Ferry to Porquerroles

There is a regular ferry service to Porquerroles, an Island just to the south of the harbour, which we plan to visit tomorrow.

A Cold Beer in the Harbour Cafe.

Sunset from the Harbour

Tour de Fondue

This is La Tour Fondue, the tower built to protect the harbour from pirates, Englishmen and other cads.

Posted in - France, 2014 Autumn, Giens Peninsula, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Carro via the Chain Ferry

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Peter and Nia — Leave a comment

On Sunday morning we set off early…12.30 pm…for the chain ferry at Bac de Barcarin. This is a vehicle ferry at the mouth of the Rhône which cuts out the 40 mile drive up to Arles then back again, if you are working your way along the coast. However the guy on the ferry had his feet up and as a friendly tractor driver told us, the ferry was shut from 12-2. We headed back and took a left towards Piémanson beach, then stopped for lunch by a salt pan.

Lunch Stop

Bac de Barcarin Ferry

There was only a five minute or so wait and another 2 minutes to cross the river. It was a flat rate of €5 for each vehicle; easily the cheapest ferry we have come across.

Aire at Carro

We are now on a little coastal aire ( N 43.329353 E 5.0403 ) at Carro, which is a tiny fishing port close to Martigues, and about 30 miles to the west of Marseille. Entrance is via a credit card controlled barrier and it is €8 per night. We are parked looking west, very close to the sea.

View from the Window

We are here for a couple of nights and move off on Tuesday towards St Tropez. It’s time to join the jet set.

Harbour at Carro

Swimming in the bay

This is a sheltered spot for swimming.

Cycling

And there is a good, if slightly rough, cycle path over the headland to the next bay.

Family Outing

Paddle surfing doesn’t have to be a solitary occupation. However we didn’t think Colin would be up for this.

Sundown

Today, Tuesday, has dawned a bit cloudy and we will move off shortly.

Posted in - France, Carro

Salt Pans at the Salin de Giraud

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 2 Comments

Flying Backwards?

We cycled 13 miles across the salt pans today…perhaps that doesn’t sound much but for quite a lot of the time there was a serious headwind…the flamingos were flying backwards…it was hard work. And when the wind wasn’t dead ahead, it was trying to push us sideways into the water.

Colin and Penny

The dogs were fine…low wind resistance and four wheel drive.

Against the wind

We arrived here at the small town of Salin de Giraud on Saturday 18th of October after moving about 25 miles down the coast from Saintes Maries de la Mer. We are just to the west of the mouth of the Rhone. The aire is to the south of the town and close to an impressive collection of salt pans, divided by thin cyclable strips of land.

The aire (N 43.412456 E 4.731106 ) is a quiet patch of hardstanding surrounded by trees and only a few minutes walk from a boulangerie in the town centre. There is drainage, and water if you have a flot-bleu jeton. We didn’t but a very nice German guy let us fill up from his service point when he had had his fill.

After lunch we set off to circumnavigate the salt pans. We flew the first few miles with a strong easterly breeze behind us then had a bit of work to do as we turned towards the east.

Salt Pan

There are salt pans all around; just shallow expanses of seawater which the hot Provencal sun busily evaporates.

The Salt Pans

The aire is where the A is. We cycled a triangular course, along the thin green bits to the coast and then back up a bit more to the east.

On the Groyne

We eventually got to the coast where there are a series of Groynes or stone jetties sticking out in to the sea to prevent coastal erosion.

Looking North

View from the Groyne

Looking west

Route to Salin de Giraud

This is the track through France so far. Tomorrow we head across the Rhône, on the chain ferry, to Carro (well actually we’re here, if that makes sense, but I’m a day behind on the blog).

Tagged with: cycling, france, Mavis, motorhome, photography, Provence, salin de giraud
Posted in - France, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Salin de Giraud

Saintes Maries de la Mer…

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 2 Comments

Today (Friday 17th October) we stayed at the sea front aire at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (N 43.453558 E 4.436642).
This is a long and narrow site just behind the sea wall and promenade, with good access to walking and cycling about 400 metres further east along the seafront road. There is a second section to this aire, pretty much on the beach, about 300 metres further on. This was full when we arrived so we just planted ourselves on the bigger site. It is 10 euros per night wherever you pitch and water is available but only in the morning.
This is a popular aire and quite a few motorhomes turned up over the course of the day; it is the start of the weekend and the weather is good. So it did get a bit too cosy by bedtime when we were picking up next door’s heavy metal music.

First job knock back a luscious French salad prepared by the missus…baguette, smelly cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, olives, salami, apple, french dressing …etc.

After lunch we cycled first in to town. Its a bit posh..lots of expensive yachts tied up in the harbour and clothing boutiques in the centre ville…smart but pricy. Luckily the dog cart wouldn’t fit up the narrow shopping alleyways so we diverted to the harbour and breakwater.

The local church towers above the surrounding buildings; it was built as a defensive structure..spot the battlements… in the 9th to 12th centuries to withstand raiding pirates.

After a quick tour of Saintes-Maries we headed back past the aire and into the nature reserve which starts just beyond the town. It is a flat expanse of scrub punctuated with salt pans and brackish channels. There are birds everywhere.

There are a lot of flamingos who spend most of the day with their heads underwater guddling for shrimps or other muddy delicacies. Each to their own, or ‘chacun à son gôut’ as they say in this neck of the woods.

This one eventually lifted his head up and posed for me.

Cormorant drying his wings after a day fishing.

Another egret, showing off his smart yellow feet.

You have to cycle quickly as it begins to get dark because this is when the mosquitoes come out to party. Stop and you are dead meat. You have to develop a technique of taking pictures whilst cycling along, one eye on the viewfinder and the other on the potholes.

The blog is now only a day behind our actual position, which is, as I type this, Salin de Giraud, close to the mouth of the Rhône. We will cross the river shortly, on the chain ferry.

Tagged with: cycling, france, motorhome, photography, Provence, saintes maries de la mer
Posted in - France, 2014 Autumn, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer