Oh we do like to be beside the seaside.......

Well after a lovely stay in our home from home in Salon we decided to spend the last two nights on the Cote d'Azur. Trip Advisor, our trusty companion came up with a good suggestion at non stratospheric prices, so I called them and bagged their last sea view room with a balcony. We are between Frejus and Ste Maxime, in the pretty village of St Auygulf. The room is pretty with a nautical theme and we have a little balcony overlooking the sea and a little cove. For restaurant choices we tend to combine Michelin with Trip Advisor and local recommendations, and this trio took us to the village of Les Issambres and a place called Chante Mer. Another excellent meal and good value for the area. Three courses for 35 euros and a very good bottle of Gigondas, cote de rhone. We got chatting to the local people seated on either side of us and had some good banter about English food ( all terrible of course ), what Scots wear under their kilts, and wears the trousers (the woman of course wherever you are from). All too soon the evening was done and we went back to the hotel and slept to the sound of the sea. This morning we drove around the coast to Ste Maxime from where we took a navette (ferry) to St Tropez. We wandered the old port, taking in the super yachts(tacky) and the designer boutiques (over priced tat) before finding the market, always fun to stroll. It's and undeniably pretty little place and easy to see why it would be so popular in the summer. But today on a sunny, breezy day in April it was uncrowded and easy to find a good lunch spot. A very simple place with tables on a terrace and 3 light courses for 18 euros. Goats cheese salad, stuffed mussels and ice cream. The obligatory half bottle of rose completed the meal nicely. in the afternoon we sat on the beach near Frejus watching kite surfing. A sport not for the faint hearted, but it looked fantastic fun if a little chilly. So now we approach the last evening of the holiday. Thoughts turn to the lovely French family in our house, hoping thev've enjoyed themselves in England and our house as we have in their country and their house.