Our camping trip to Sanary-sur-Mer in Provence, October 2008
Date
Activity
Mon Oct 13th
Drive to Sanary-sur-Mer via Millau Viaduct
Lin and I, and our ageing border collie Bonnie, and towing our ‘pop-up’ caravan, drove the 673 kilometers from Correze in central France, to our pre-booked slot at Camping Parc Mogador near Sanary-sur-Mer in Provence.
Tue Oct 14th
Walk down to Sanary, and explored the town
Woke to bright sunshine. Bought some bread at the campsite, and had breakfast at the caravan. We then decided to walk the mile and a half or so, down to Sanary town centre and harbour. It was a nice walk, through attractive suburbs with shady gardens. And downhill all the way!
We wandered around for several hours, punctuated by the occasional bar stop. Then walked back up to the campsite. After all the wandering, the walk back up the hill was a bit too much and we resolved to find a better way, or just drive down in future. Had take-away Pizza for dinner.
Wed Oct 15th
Drive to Six-Fours-Les-Plages for lunch and drinks, then Les Sablettes and Toulon, then around Sanary
Weather was overcast, so we decided to drive down the coast. We drove to Six-Fours-Les-Plages and had a wander around until it was time for lunch. Then we took the Corniche Varoise across the peninsula towards the harbour at Toulon, driving through Les Sablettes and ending up at the isthmus of Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer.
We then followed the coast north towards Toulon, and saw several ships of the French navy anchored in the harbour, including an impressive aircraft carrier.
We stopped at Fort Balaguier and took some pics of some dilapidated old wooden boats.
At La Seyne-sur-Mer, we picked-up the road back to Sanary, and took the opportunity to do some supermarket shopping.
Spent the evening in Sanary and found a nice bar, where they kept refreshing our bowl of nuts, until we found we no longer needed dinner!
Thu Oct 16th
Drive to Bandol for a look around, then drinks; and then to Le Castellet.
Drove into our neighboring resort Bandol, some 5 km away. It’s a pleasant town with a nice promenade and some seriously up-market houses.
Bandol lacks Sanary’s natural harbour, but instead has a modern marina and no shortage of yachts across the entire class spectrum. We had a wander along the promenade, and then up into the suburbs to the west-facing sandy bay, the Anse de Renécros. Then back to the prom for a well earned beer.
We briefly considered taking the ferry to the isle de Bendor, separated from Bandol by not much more than 150 metres, but objected to paying 10 euros each for somewhere we could almost wade to!
After lunch, we drove inland to the pretty hilltop village of Le Castellet. We spent some time walking the narrow streets; then more beers,
And then we saw an art gallery with some very striking paintings on display. We went in and chatted with the artist, Gerard GREGORI, who we discovered had no fingers so he couldn’t hold a brush. He gave us a demonstration of his technique, which was to spread the paint with his hands onto white acrylic. The paintings were very distinctive and they were not outrageously priced, so we ended up buying one original and one print. This is the print….
There were fantastic views from the village across classic Provençal landscapes.
Fri Oct 17th
Drive to Calanque de Port d’Alon and had a wander round the headland, then to La Ciotat and onto the beach at Calanque de Figuerolles. Then Sanary in the evening
A nice sunny day, we decided to drive 11 km to the nearest calanque… a Provençal word for a rocky cove. This was the Calanque de Port d’Alon and it was a lovely spot to just wander over rocky ground and through the pine trees, catching an occasional glimpse of the turquoise sea.
After Port d’Alon we continued to La Ciotat; a largely industrial town known for it’s dockyards full of luxury motor yachts being built or renovated.
The real appeal of La Ciotat is it’s coastline of calaques, beaches and headlands, all with weird rock formations.
On close inspection, the geology of the area is known as ‘pudding’ (poudingue in French). It’s a tightly packed conglomerate of pebbles and stones, which given exposure to winds and sea, seems to erode in strange ways.
Back to Sanary for evening drinks.
Sat Oct 18th
Take the Calanque boat trip from Sanary
We left Bonnie in the caravan awning, packed a picnic lunch, drove down to Sanary Harbour and joined the excursion boat trip to the Calanques of Cassis and Marseille.
First on the list was the Calanque de Port d’Alon we’d walked the previous day.
Then to the Calanque de Figuerolles we’d also visited the previous day, but the strange rock formations could be seen very clearly from the boat.
We travelled under the dramatic cliffs of Cap Canaille as we approached Cassis. At 363 metres, these are the highest sea cliffs in France.
Next up was Calanque de Port Miou, which sadly is lined with yachts that prefer not to use the more expensive facilities of Cassis harbour.
Just around the corner was the quiet Calanque de Port Pin, and then we arrived at the dramatic Calanque d’En Vau.
We eventually reached the Calanque de Eissadon, and after around 3 hours of calanquing, and by now just around the corner from Marseille, we saw the Calanques de Morgiou and finally de Sormiou.
That was a fantastic boat trip! Back to Sanary harbour, and drinks and nibbles at La Vague Bleue.
Sun Oct 19th
Walking on the escarpment of Gros Cerveau Ollioules, then drove to La Cadière d’Azur
Partly cloudy, so we drove inland to a feature we’d seen on maps called the escarpment of Gros Cerveau Ollioules, which looked like it had extensive views. It was quiet so we had a nice walk with Bonnie, and took a few photos. Afterwards, we drove to another hilltop town called La Cadière d’Azur and had a little explore.
Mon 20th
Rock formations at Grès de Ste Anne d’Evenos, and drive to the village and chateau of Evenos.
Revisit the escarpment of Gros Cerveau, and had a longer walk.
We then checked out the rock formations at Grès de Ste Anne d’Evenos, and then the village and chateau of Evenos.
Evening walk along the coast ending up in our ‘usual’ bar in Sanary.
Tue Oct 21st
Rain, and then a last visit to Sanary in the evening
A showery day, so we stayed fairly local. Then a last evening visit to the Sanary waterfront, and of course, drinks!
Wed Oct 22nd
Drove home
Overnight rain continued well into the morning, and we still had to pack everything away, and load up the car. It was nearly lunchtime by the time we got away, so it was quite late back to Correze.
