Bandol, France

Bandol, France is one of many beach towns in Cote d' Azur along the Mediterranean Sea.  Our idea is to drive through these communes and enjoy a slow life, savouring the pollution free, salty, fresh air in these parts of France.  We also thought we would finally be rid of the pollen allergy we had since arriving in Italy on April 16, 2011.

Coming from Avignon, France we have since visited the coastal towns of Sausset les Pins, Marseille, La Ciotat, Saint Cyr Sur Mer and now Bandol.

It was difficult to go to the centerville so we waited for when we know by experience that streets and parking spots are not so busy, that is around 8pm.

On our second try to navigate the narrow streets of Bandol, we got lucky, we found a parking spot right along the beach and got luckier, there's free wifi.   We later drove to where we thought we want to spend the night but found a better one - free parking outside of the centerville, still along the beach.

This was our first time to score a parking spot along the beach with a full, unobstructed view of the yatchs and the sea.

The following morning, we woke to find it was flea market day and it is right there, set up right in front of us.  It was a pleasant surprise, as I am a flea market enthusiast.

As usual there were fruits and vegetables, fresh meat and cured meats, seafood, garments and footwear.  Most interesting were the really huge flat cooking pans where paella, chicken and beef stews, escargots and potatoes were cooked.  There were also roasted chicken and pork. 

I like this flea market better probably because it is right on the sea walk.  Market day is Tuesday.

Cagnes Sur Mer, Cannes, Montpellier, France - We Were Robbed

June 9, 2007

The night before we drove back to town.  We went to the beach and drove around.

This morning, we went to town again, bought french bread and croissant from a french boulangerie in France and sat on the beach and ate what we bought.  We decided we are not going back to Nice but moving forward towards Spain.

We stopped at a beach in Cannes, France to cook and eat lunch.

From Cagnes Sur Mer, we drove 315 kms to Montpellier, France where we free camped in a rest area or aire for the night.

Rest area's name is Aire d' Ambrussum.

At approximately 11pm, there was a loud knock on the window of the RV.  It was a policeman informing us in French initially and broken English later that it is dangerous to stay here because there is robber who robs RVs in this aire.  It was late and the next aire is so far away and we were stubborn, we stayed.

We locked and checked and double checked.  Between Mar and I, locks were checked 4 times, then we went to sleep.

In the morning, Mar found Cha's backpack positioned differently from when we went to sleep.  At the bottom of the backpack, there were signs of grass.  He woke us up, he checked the locks and they were open.  He checked what was missing from Cha's backpack and it was money - more than Cad $100 - nothing else.  Her passport was still there.  My bag which I placed by my side when I went to sleep was not touched.  Mar's wallet was not found. We were not physically harmed.  I felt very lucky and thankful that no physical violence happened.

All in all, it was a good bad experience.