family, France

Flayosc, Villecroze, & Tourtour

Up at 9 for coffee and the weather is beautiful. Word has it there is a market in Flayosc, so we go — Mike, Liz, Patty M, Jim and Jane G. There is no market. But we find street-side paella and buy enough for lunch for all. We stop at a fruit market for salad […]

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Arrival at villa

We stop in Draguignan for groceries to make sure we have something to eat at the villa. Major hubbub with French people darting this way and that. They know what to do in a French supermarket, and we do not. We are at the villa by 5:20. The guardian gives us a whirlwind tour. It’s […]

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Off to the villa

Checkout time is noon and we wake up late. Just enough time for breakfast — this time on the Patio of Yellow Umbrellas. Charlie and Jane want to tour the old town, so Patty, Mike and Liz drive the corniche below the Esterel. We stop at a monument to the World War II landing of […]

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Friday in St. Raphael

An easy day in St. Raphael, where the weather is apparently always beautiful. At least it has been during our stay. With Charlie and Jane driving our way from Cassis, we decide to stay close to “home,” visiting familiar places, dining on Nutella in the breakfast room, and relaxing on the lovely Patio of Yellow […]

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Thursday in St. Raphael

The wind is down, and we arise early and head to the breakfast room for coffee, hard-boiled eggs, babybel cheese, a little Laughing Cow, croissants, and fruit compote. We drive to the old town, and traffic is fierce. We park near the harbor and tour an open air exhibit of huge photographs — ships and […]

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From Nice to St. Raphael

Arrive in St. Raphael midday and check in to the Hotel Santa Lucia, which has a view of the Mediterranean Sea. We make for the harbor. So many beautiful yachts and sailboats. The wind is immense and makes an eerie whine through the rigging of the many boats, like a siren calling. We find a seaside eatery, and take time for salad and galettes. In the night, we sleep with the window open to the sea. The sailboat rigging whines and calls all night.

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LUGGAGE!!!

Our luggage was deliver about midnight. We had a good nights sleep in spite of a thunderstorm. This morning is clear, all is well and we’re off for St. Raphael.

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Nice, France without luggage

We made it to Nice on time, although it was nip and tuck getting to the Nice leg on time. Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam is huge and our Minneapolis flight landed on one end of the airport while our departure flight left from the other end of the airport. We made it, although our bags […]

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