Storm in the Bay

We have had two electrical storms; one last weekend when we were in Cavalaire sur Mer and then one yesterday, just 5km further round the bay, here at La Croix Valmer. We thought the rain had passed after the morning so we went for a walk along the beach and got caught in the second instalment. We were walking in the med in the rain with thunder and lightening all around.

La Baie de Cavalaire is a large, sweeping bay from Cavalaire in the west to the beach here near La Croix where it ends with a rocky headland on the otherside of which is St. Tropez.

There was another storm in this bay on the night of the 14th to 15th August 1944. Off shore, 60 American and British battle ships pounded the coastal defenses and on the morning of the 15th the allied landing of American troops took place on this beach among others. It is the allied landing in France that isn't famous, but nonetheless was so important. It happened a couple of months after D Day and it is an event which led to Germany quickly giving up on southern France and retreating north. In this part of Vichy France the justice meted out by the French Resistance would have been swift and brutal.

To continue the second world war theme, and with apologies to Churchill, our holiday is at a critical point. It is not the end of the beginning but the beginning of the end. Tomorrow we set off for Beaumes de Venise and our final week before heading for Calais.

We have really enjoyed the holiday and especially the September sunshine of Provence. It has been lazy; we haven't done a lot; just read, walked, swam, slept and eaten. It is still very busy down here. There are a lot of us doing the same thing. Grey haired baby boomers from all over Europe with nothing better to do than drive around Provence in campervans or caravans.

Cavalaire was bustling and busy especially in the mornings. It was good to be located right in the town. It is unashamedly a holiday town and we enjoyed it. La Croix is about 2.5km inland from its beach and the campsite is located between to the two. There is a free bus which runs every half hour between the three and we have found it useful. We haven't depended on it as we have often walked the ten minutes from the site to the beach for an evening walk or a morning coffee on the beach side. For La Croix we do need the bus and unlike Cavalaire it is small town France; a cafe, a boulangerie, La Poste, a Spar and that's about it. Peaceful though.


As we head inland and north tomorrow to Beaumes de Venise what will we remember about our stay on the Cote D'Azur? Warm sunny weather and blue skies; a blue sea glimpsed from above on a twisty, rocky, headland road; pine and mimosa trees and cool, refreshing swims. Good memories to take back for long winter nights ahead.