We have flitted through some of Europe fairly quickly. There is a reason for that. We needed to be in the South of France on February 4, 2019 to meet up with Ruthie’s lifelong friends, Ray and Erika. The girls worked together at Wandana Travel many moons ago. Erika and Ray are living in France for 12 months basing themselves at four different locations over that time. From those bases they are doing side trips throughout France and into other parts of Europe. This seems to be the ideal way to do it and they have well and truly immersed themselves in the French culture.

They picked us up from our apartment in Nice after parking like the French do (in the middle of the road) and we were on our way to Cannes. As we drove by Nice airport we could see all the Private Jets lined up. Evidently Nice Airport has 35,000 of these land each year. The second highest in Europe. Ray has clicked up a lot of kilometres over here so was quite adept at navigating his way around. We stopped at a little restaurant in Cannes, la Potiniere 1948, opposite the venue used for the Cannes film festival where we were able to have lunch outside and enjoy the beautiful sunshine. We wondered if any of the stars over the years had eaten there and Ray said “sure to have”. Ray and Erica have travelled extensively over the years and their knowledge of the area was intense and so interesting. We strolled a small portion of Cannes and saw the many incredible boats parked in the Marina. The red carpet was even out for us at the film festival venue.

Many of the French towns have areas set aside where the local men and some women congregate to play Pétanque each afternoon. Fabulous! We meandered back to the home they were staying in where we would spend the next few nights. The house was set high on a hill in an area known as Les Issambres. Wow! The views were stunning. We looked over the Mediterranean sea towards Saint Tropez Bay one way and Saint-Raphaël, St Aygulf and Fréjus the other way. We have never seen so many jet streams. The patterns they made against the back drop of the bluest sky were almost works of art. We watched a beautiful sunset and after some more food and chat we were ready for bed.

The following day we were off to Saint Tropez probably made most famous by Brigitte Bardot. There are a lot of portraits and paintings of her about the town and she still resides in the area. On the way, we had to stop to order firewood! The wood they’d had previously was out of stock and Erica communicated well to arrange an alternative. Ruthie and I said “we’d just freeze” as we’d have no hope. As we walked around the Marina, beautiful blue skies made for mirror images of the boats moored there. Across the St Tropez bay were the houses of Brigitte Bardo, Mohammad El Fayad and the house of L’Oréal.

We really are getting into the swing of the French now. Firstly, a stop at a patisserie for Coffee and a Tarte Tropezienne and then another long lunch chatting and people watching. We had noticed the shops were shut between 12 and 2 and now know this is so the French can enjoy a daily “long lunch”. This was followed by a lovely stroll around the old fortress and a visit to the amusing Gendarmes museum. Back home we finished the day playing the Families card game in French. It was a hoot and Ruthie had tears from laughing running down her cheeks but at least she wasn’t snorting.

A new day saw us up and about and heading to Fréjus. We are loving these small little towns set on the French Riviera. We also love our morning ritual of coffee in a patisserie with a little something and this mornings choice was a pain au chocolat at Comps-Sur-Artuby. There’s usually an old town and new town with so much character. The history of the old town from so far back is remarkable to us coming from a relatively new country like Australia. The buildings in narrow cobblestone streets now cater for the influx of tourists. They are big on produce, art and quirky gifts, all from the local region. We enjoyed some traditional Provence fare in the sun. Pissalaladerie Tart (onion and olive tart) before wandering around to visit all Ray’s friends in town. The lady in the wine shop helped him select a nice bottle of wine. It was a quirky tiny shop that she had owned for years. Then onto the truffle shop. I’m not sure if it was the beautiful French shop assistant named Aurora, or the Truffle tastes she offered but I bought some of her wares. KP will love it if we get it through Customs! France retail only has 2 soldes (sales) each year on dates set by the government so you know they are genuine sales. I needed to buy some clothes and thanks to Ray, there were bargains to be had.

Just for a change, the next day Ray and Erika took us inland to the Grand Canyon of France “Gorges du Verdon “. We started winding our way through the hills where a lot of land had been zoned to the military, passing a depot housing many tanks and various other artillary. As had become our customary practice, we stopped for coffee at a beautiful old village nested up in the hills. Our standard coffee order had now become a long expresso with milk on the side. There were two dogs in the cafe/bar making themselves at home. It is fairly customary in France for owners to bring their pooch’s in anywhere. Mounted upon the wall was a large fierce looking wild Boar’s head, tusks and all. A hunter was sitting at a table next to us with his dog and told us that boar weighed 110 kilos when he shot it.

Onwards and upwards and the canyons started appearing. We found a large span bridge and stopped for amazing panoramic views and pictures. It was incredible, I have never seen anything like this. Heights are not my strength but I just was in awe looking over and down the sheer ravines to the turquoise river running along the bottom. Back in the car and still climbing, we started to come across patches of ice on the road. It looked thicker up ahead and the vehicle wasn’t prepared for anything too thick and slippery. Ray did some fancy reversing and after some enquiries from a couple who just happened to be there, in the middle of nowhere Ray decided to venture on. It wasn’t so bad and we where soon on the downslope. Of course it was lunchtime, and we took up prime position in a little cafe overlooking the bluest Var river. This little town was called Aiguines in the Var. If you’ve ever watched the Tour de France on television and marvelled at the scenery and small towns that they go through, this journey was the replica of that but we were there living and breathing it. Around the lake were many empty camp sites and I could only imagine how busy this place would be in the warmer months.

On our last full day in the south of France, we were taken to see the views of the l’Estérel. This took us through the town of Agay and you could see the value of the beachfront properties escalating as we drove by. It was an area where the rich retirees lived and the area was beautifully maintained. The colours of the l’Estérel were amazing. The red rock called rhyolite tumbled down the steep slopes covered in green vegetation before plunging into the Mediterranean Sea. The coast between here and Saint-Raphaël covers 36 kilometres with a long heritage and beautiful landscapes. I couldn’t believe that there were so many natural wonders in this Provence area. We walked around the craggy outcrops at the semaphore station and had lunch on the rocks overlooking the Mediterranean. The night was completed with dinner and listening to a jazz band at Café de France. What a week we have had and that night I went to bed with a smile from ear to ear. Thanks to Ray and Erica, we have seen amazing sights that aren’t on the general tourist radar as well as getting spoilt rotten. The best part was seeing Ruthie reconnecting with her lifelong friends.

The next morning Ray drove us to Saint-Raphaël station to catch the train to Paris. But I should have known there was another attraction to be seen on the way. It was a large rock called Roquebrun. A beautiful way to finish our South of France experience. On the train I said to Ruthie, “pinch me”. And she did!