A day in St Tropez!

Last weekend  we spent a  weekend at Port Grimaud on the Cote D'Azur.  We drove home via St Maxime and discovered what an easy and fast route it was taking just over two hours.

This weekend sees the famous St Tropez Braderie, when all the shops have a huge sale of stock before the end of the season which will be next weekend (Toussaints). 

And so, on a Perfect Autumn day we drove back leaving the car at St Maxime where we took the boat across to St Tropez. We left home just after 8 am and were installed for coffee in St Tropez by 11 am - how cool is that!

It is a great way to avoid the notorious road into St Tropez where the traffic queues for miles in the summer.

The quay was as busy as ever.

^{The famous tropézienne gateau comes in all sizes}

24 degrees, blue skies, crowds of people and its the last weekend in October! 

There is a lovely walk around the old town and citidelle where there are views here of Brigette Bardot's bungalow and Alfayed's former home on at the top of the hill.

The bustling harbour is a great place to spend the day.

The Braderie attracts thousands of people, there was even a cruise liner that had timed its visit for the clothing sale.

I love this about France, the cemeteries are always in the most beautiful positions and usually facing south and the villages, even St Tropez still retain a communal washing line, from this one there is even a sea view - imagine the value of the land.

Karen and I eyeing up one of the mega yachts! 

Back in St Maxime, a truly French scene.

School Holidays

Perfect weather for the last school holiday before Christmas. Many schools have two weeks off culminating in the Toussant holiday weekend at the beginning of November . 

Blue skies and temperatures of 23 degrees makes perfect conditions - our clients in Le Chene were swimming in the (unheated) pool today.

School dinners

Whilst I have not stood out side an infant school in the UK for many, many years I cannot imagine the menu for 5 to 8 year olds would be quite like this? No wonder the French grow up to love their food and notably lunch - I imagine the middle schools probally have an apero and glass of wine on the menu!

Bon Appetit! 

The mighty Lyon!

Lyon is the second financial city in France and third largest in population after Marseille and Paris.

It is a city that many people drive through  heading south or north for their vacation.

But stop and spend some time........

It is also renowned for its Gastronomy, although which French village, town or city isn't!

But when looking for restaurants the choice on Trip Advisor alone was 1153!

The city has two rivers running through it, the mighty Rhone and the Soane

The first weekend of  December sees the whole city illuminated when they celebrate the

 'Fête des Lumières'

The Cathedral of St John.

We had not appreciated  how easy it is to do a day or over night trip to Lyon from the Luberon.

We took the TGV from Avignon at just before 9 am, reaching 299KPH we arrived in just over an hour.