Lots of sun but really strong winds, hot though.

Friday 6th September

Précis:- very hot, went to Mac Donald's and published blog but couldn't manage to get photos on. Swam in lake, had huge thunderstorm. The end.

Another red hot day dawned and having nipped along to Lidl for a few supplies and a baguette, of course, our next job was a short ride to MacDonalds to finally publish the blog. This proved to be as easy as pie except we had a problem getting pictures on it. First Joan had all the pictures so far on her iPad mini and secondly it wanted us to use Flickr or Picaso neither of which are at present on my iPad and I am not sure how to get them either. So here is more blog sans pictures.

Next it was down to the lake for a swim as we would hate to wake up tomorrow and find it cold and miserable and miss our chance, Joan said. I was not so sure and when somebody daft enough to swim in the North Sea says, " oh it's lovely and warm!" You tend to be a bit cautious, well I do as I am a bit of a wimp. However it was actually really warm and so hot out of the water that I was almost dry before I got back to my towel.

I really hate it when she's right, so when a bit later it really got dark and then a huge thunderstorm erupted, Joan of course crowed about insisting on the swim.  Being in the mountains the storm was great to watch as it flew around the tops but we made sure we didn't get caught in the rain when it finally came, as it came down in buckets!

Love Bryan & Joan xxxx


Saturday 7th September

Précis:- Still hot, disappointed with crossword download. Rode bikes again. Another storm. The end.

The storm has definitely cleared the air a bit. It's still warm but a bit fresher with a slight breeze. Off to MacDonalds to download Saturdays paper only to discover that unless I am prepared to draw the crossword out on a piece of paper it's useless. Damn! Well never mind, time to get ready for the off tomorrow. Nipped on our bikes to the supermarket, popped down to the lake again and noticed another storm brewing. It didn't start until about eight o'clock so it didn't spoil the day but unlike last night, this one was to last all night.

Lots of love
Joan & Bryan xxxx

Sunday 8th September

Précis:- it was raining a lot, we left early, couldn't get parked for the night so went somewhere else. The end.

It is still chucking it down but fortunately almost everything's done and we paid last night so we were away by 8.15am, something of a record for us. Apart from refuelling we had an uneventful journey to Sisteron where there is a hilltop citadel with an Aire for camper vans just outside. The weather had improved as we drove South and it was now very warm and sunny again.

Unfortunately several of the dedicated motorhome spaces had cars and even a lorry parked in them! ( now we know how Alison feels). When we mentioned it to a French woman she just shrugged and ignored us.  I wish I'd had the guts to park across in front of them, but hey ho. So although I was a bit tired and hungry we carried on.

A few miles down the road we stopped, ate and checked the maps for another Aire and found a really nice one overlooking a large lake about 35 miles further on. This did entail driving on some very narrow twisting roads and at the end, going down a very steep hill with several hairpin bends but I think the marks where Joan's door handle and seat were gripped will come out. Tomorrow we will get to the seaside, hurrah!

Lots of love
Bryan & Joan xxxx

Monday 9th September

Précis:- we drove to a campsite that was supposed to be by the sea. It wasn't! So we drove to one we knew. The end.

Ever since the flooding in 2010 Joan and I have been a bit cautious of going back to Frejus. However having tried a few other places like Port Grimaud and found them lacking as the beach is lousy, we were not sure where else to go? Eventually we found an ACSI sight at Cavalaire-sur-mer which was purported to be only 200 metres from the sea. Now the French have a really weird idea of what being actually at the seaside is. So if you see a place name with sur la plage or a la plage it may be some distance from the actual beach.

Having left really early this morning, (8.15), we were pretty pleased with ourselves at having missed the long horrendous traffic that is always present around St Tropez but could see it building as we approached our target campsite.  We found ourselves looking down a very steep cliff at least a quarter of a mile to the beach, if indeed it was accessible. We would also of course have to climb back up again!

So exclaiming golly gosh a lot, we turned around and joined the now long traffic jam back, and here we are sitting in Camping du Pont d'argens, now called La Plage D'Argens which is about 250 metres to the beach. I had intended to do a 67 mile day today and as it was through the Gorges of Verdun on tiny roads it took nearly 3 hours but I had a further 24 to get to here, poo!

The campsite has changed it's name but it is still pretty easy going and if you can get over the very French fact that the toilets and showers are now unisex, but NOT the urinals Pam, it's great.  That is until you read the bit that says incase of flooding gather your valuables and leave, do not attempt to drive your car/van/caravan. Well apart from Joan, my most valuable asset in France is my bloody campervan mate, so if it rains heavy we'll be off!

We should be ok though as the temperature has been 31 today and is supposed not to fall bellow 25 this week so we've booked a week and will see about next week. The only down side is there is usually a wind here and although it's not cold it can get quite strong. However the supermarket is a short ride away and there are several very good street markets around if we want to bother. One sad thing is the greengrocer we used in the past just across the road seems to have vanished but Joan thinks it may just be it's Monday so we will see.

Lots of love
Bryan & Joan xxxx


Tuesday 10th September

Another lovely day, but the baguette from the site shop wasn't great, still we managed to eat it. However as the two main reasons for being here are to enjoy the warm sunshine and eat French bread we may be moving on soon whereas we were thinking of staying a lot longer. Still there are several really good campsites in the area just not as close to the sea, but as the sea was so cold today we won't mind.

Then out with the bikes and off to the supermarket where we bought a baguette that hopefully will be ok otherwise it's cereal until we go somewhere else. Stupidly we bought quite a lot of stuff which needed to go in the fridge which has to go in my panniers so we had to return without finding McDonalds, so no blog today.

However we did finally get to the beach and have a short swim. The swim was short because although the chap on the radio this morning assured us it was 24 degrees in the sea, he lied!!! It was really cold. Still we tried it then after a bit we decided to get back and go for a swim in the site pool. This was a good plan as it was about 36 degrees and the pool was 26 and had been 28 earlier, so tomorrow we'll give the beach a miss.

Talking about the radio station it's a hoot, it's a commercial station which broadcasts some of BBC world news and gives the market news as well as playing really good music. The adverts are great, we have been invited to a yacht show with yachts to suit all tastes and several people in Monaco will apparently help us with our investments.  We also know where to hire a private jet or find someone to build us a swimming pool/jacuzzi, it's great.

Funny we've been really busy today but when I wrote it down it doesn't seem much? Oh well we're exhausted and it was fun so God bless you all.

Lots of love
Bryan & Joan xxxx