France Sat 11 and Sun 12 June



Collobrieres village 



Saturday 11 June

 It was a long drive of over 8 hours, with tolls costing us 35 euros in total, before we arrived in the town of Collobrieres.  The further we went into Provence the rockier the terrain became and there were more olive trees.  Most importantly the clouds disappeared.



Our hosts Bruce and Frank met us and then Bruce took us on a tour of the village and our apartment.  He told us that most of the village was built in the 12^th century and it has been a centre for cork and chestnut growing for many years.



The foyer entrance to our apartment block is pretty grim and the stairs are dark and uneven but when you reach the apartment it all changes.  It is quite quaint with its 1950s style lounge and Formica table in the kitchen.  It has a lovely kitchen which a huge mural titled “Bon Appetite’ painted by Bruce, who is a professional artist.  There are other paintings of his throughout the apartment. 

 I always wondered what the apartments behind the shutters looked like and now I know.

Sunday 12 June



Had the nice experience of buying croissants and a baguette for breakfast from the patisserie just up the road. 

There were markets in the town square selling lots of fresh, organic fruit and veg, clothes and jewellery. Bought some cherries for 5.50 AUD a kilogram. 



Hyeres architecture 



Headed to Hyeres to see the markets there.  Didn’t find the markets but did find the old quarter which was nice with its paved cobblestones and then walked up to the top of the town for a view of the town below. 

Treated ourselves to a lavender and a crème brulee ice cream.

Headed to Carqueiranne where we explored the harbour and looked at a lot of expensive yachts.  We were wondering where the beach was and it was only after we decided to head home after a coffee that we decided to go right and lo and behold there were the beaches.  Well beaches, France style anyway.  They were very pebbly and hard to walk on.  We dipped our toes in the incredibly cold Mediterranean Sea.  We sat on the beach absorbing the warm sunshine and listening to the lapping of the waves.  It was quite delightful. 



La Farigoulette 



Had dinner at La Farigoulette, a restaurant which is covered in vines and only one block from our apartment.  Danny translated the menu and advised me they were serving mice and wolf as main courses.  I said that this couldn’t be so but he was adamant that was what the dictionary said.  It turned out that loup was lamb and souris was beef.  We ordered dessert and he then said he thought the baby at the next table needed a nappy change.  I had to advise him that the smell was my plate of mixed cheese.  All that aside it was a lovely meal.