THE STATUE OF LIBERTY IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE

We were invited to a cheese fondu in St. Cyr sur Mer, by Claudie's daughter and her boyfriend. Before going there I just googled what interesting things we could visit in this little town. To my surprise the big attraction there was a replica of the Statue of Liberty but not in XXL size but in S size.



So we left early afternoon and visited the city. Of course first the Statue of Liberty which had been designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and then offered by France to the USA. Apparently he had worked and also lived in St. Cyr. I will write about it later. It was quiet surprising for me to find the Statue in a little French city in the South. I had seen the real one years ago in NY.



After a walk through the town and watching the men playing their Boccia, we had a drink at the Café de la France with view on the Statue.

Then we drove a little outside of the city, where in 1966 a roman Villa had been discovered.



There was a wall painting of the villa as it probably looked, you still could see the remains of the walls of the different rooms, and Pierre admired the swimming pool.



It was still warm and we went to the beach, saw all these sailing boats parked in special buildings, saw people still swimming and watched a very beautiful sunset.

Then it was time to follow our invitation and we arrived punctually at 7 pm



Flavien has a cute little flat, very cosy and he had prepared a delicious cheese fondue himself. We had a wonderful supper and also a lot of fun !

THURSDAY - LA SABLETTE

I woke up at 8 looked outside and couldn't see the other end of the property ! There was a thick mist everywhere. I returned to bed and under cover.



Half an hour later I opened one eye and to my big surprise saw a piece of blue sky and at nine, the sun came out ! How nice.

I had sent a parcel by mail because of the weight limit on the plane and now 10 days later it finally arrived !



Claudie opened the parcel and liked it's content ! She loves Kaftans too. Ticoune the cat wasn't so convinced.

After lunch we went to Seyne sur Mer



a charming old little town, which reminded me little towns in Italy



We arrived at "Les Sablettes" and walked through the very beautiful park, along the sea.



We stopped in a restaurant and sat at the beach for a while in the warm sunshine and watched people arriving settling down on the beach, kids building sand castles and some peoples were even swimming.

The young couple came again to say hello and stayed for supper. We had a delicious fish in a capers sauce with rice. 



While Claudie did exercises on the piano and I tried not to listen as it wasn't exactly Elton John's way of playing, Pierre our personal cook prepared the supper.

A RAINY DAY

This morning when I woke up, I heard raindrops falling on the roof. I opened the shutters and saw a very familiar picture ... a grey sky and rain.

It was warm, at least that. I did my Yoga in front of the open window and the air was smelling so good. A mixture of parfume, spices and wood.



I had my coffee between the windows breathing this delicious air.

The morning went by quiet quickly with blogging, chatting and some housework.



After lunch we went shopping, and at the same time we drove back Claudie's daughter Anaïs who lives with her boyfriend in a cute little town nearby. I liked the palm trees in front of the supermarket and also these two very special trees. I have no idea what they are.




His flat was quiet outside in the middle of wine yards.




With three little houses around



Their cute little flat was on the other side of this house. We had a drink with them before we returned home. Pierre, Claudie's husband who loves to cook had prepared us a roasted duck with little roasted potatoes and a salad.

So despite the grey day, (the rain had stopped in the afternoon), it had been a very nice day.

VISITING TOULON - FRANCE

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On my third day with Claudie, we visited the beach and the harbour of Toulon which I hadn't seen yet.



It was really warm like in summer



Chilren built sandcastles at the beach, the sea was blue and we sat at the seafront, listen to a man who played on his guitar and had a coffée.


Then we returned to the center of Toulon and went to to the habour. There were a lot of little boats and yachts, but also Ferry ships, Cruise ships and a big part of a military habour with war ships.



We took a sightseeing tour on a ship around the habour.



The first part of the trip was the military area where you could see all these war ships, which to my taste where too many and not necessary at all. The value of all these ships could save a whole country from the economic crisis !



Fortunately we also saw other big ships and the one below had been completely burnt down by the owners as they transported tons of drugs.



The other side of the habour looked beautiful and peaceful too, there were no warships at all.

Quiet tired from all this fresh air we returned home where we found Claudie's daughter and her boyfriend and we had a nice supper together, lots of laughter and then they wanted me to take me out to a Karaoke evening. I found this very flattering but told them that for that I really feel a little too vintage !
Claudie and I ended the evening with chatting and I wrote this post.

THE MEDITERRANEAN PARK

I am in Ollioules in the South of France for a ten day holiday with my friend Claudie and her family.



It's quiet unusual even for the South of France that the temperatures are still so high so that I could drink my coffee outside on the terrace.

In the afternoon we went to Six Fours a little town along the sea. There is a very beautiful park with lots of exotic plants and flowers. The park is a like a beautiful wildness. On the top is a fortress  "Cape Negre", a military structure reorganized under Louis Philippe in 1846 and is now converted into a museum and exhibition on maritime history and marine animals. From this small fort there is a panoramic view of the bay of Sanary and Embiez.



Palm trees and cactus








One was used for love messages



The landscape is quiet wild and the picture on right on the top was taken from the edge of a rock, far down to the sea. One step further and I would have fallen down.






The old fortress


with me in front



After our walk we stopped at the beach and had a coffee, while watching people laying on the beach or even swimming in the water ! Amazing for nearly end October.

It had been a wonderful day.

MY WEEKEND OF OCTOBER 19

A quiet busy weekend ! The day before our yearly painting exhibition, Annie a classmate and I prepared the tables with flower baskets and arrangements. I had bought little figurines which would match the paintings and make the tables more cheerful.



Ready to be put on the tables, we posed with our decoration stuff.



We were quiet satisfied with the result. This took us the whole afternoon.

The next day we had our vernissage.



When you entered the room, this was the view.



People started to arrive. Mr. G. had a drink, Ilona showed her mother some paintings. We sat all together to chat until somebody asked one of us for explanations.



I took pictures of the artist with their paintings. Here is the vintage group aged from 70 to 79 nearly 80.

I didn't stay until the end, I left at 3 pm, because I had to prepare my suitcase for my trip to France. I also was quiet tired from all the explanations I had given and watching over the crowd walking around, that nobody touched the paintings or ran the easels over.

Finally my suitcase was ready and had the right weight, it's funny for me to pack summer clothes while here we have the heating on.

On Sunday morning at 6.30 am Mr. G drove me to the airport and I left a rainy Waterloo to arrive 1 1/2 h later in Marseille where Claudie and her husband picked me up.



After lunch we went to the seafront and now I am sitting under Palm trees. What a change ! It was a little windy but  nice walk along the sea and have a beer in a café at the beach.