Plan de la Tour

Restanques de Lion, Plan de la Tour

I believe I have peaked. Plan de la Tour and the villa we are going to be living in for the next 7 days are idyllic. If there is a paradise, this is it. Peaceful, warm and serene, and with a tepid, soothing horizon pool. I don’t think we will move from here for the next week. We loaded up with provisions from the local Carrefour (supermarket) in St Maxime and we will live by the pool reading, swimming and drinking wine all day, every day.

Justin Fuller the man

We left La Ciotat behind after watching Justin and the Canterbury Red Devils win the National Senior Club Championship against the Southern Stampede in Queenstown. The game was streamed live and was very tense. Drawn 5-5 after full time, 5 minutes overtime was played with no further score. Canterbury took the goal shootout 2-0. Well done Justin and the team.

Pool house

Plan de la Tour is a beautiful village. We stopped for lunch when we arrived. Our villa has more than met our expectations. It’s up a valley and up the hill. The house is surrounded by olive groves and fig trees. It is immaculately landscaped and set up for relaxation with no neighbours in sight.

Nibbles

I have posted a few pics from our first few hours here. We have just been watching todays stage of the Vuelta a España on TV. Go Contador.

Again well done the Devils.

Au revoir

Canterbury Red Devils

Restanques de Lion

Donna assuming the position

Breakfast yummy strawberry tarts!!

Les Restanques des Lion

Bonjour.

Not much to report on other than that we have spent most of the last two days beside the pool reading and relaxing. The weather has been perfect, in the 30 degrees each day.

So Johnny Depp owns a villa in Plan de la Tour.  A helicopter has buzzed us each day, ferrying Johnny to his abode I presume. Or otherwise it’s the paparazzi trying to take pics of him or us.

Johnny Depp’s villa in Plan de la Tour

Plan de la Tour roads

We did go for a drive this morning. I googled bike shops in the area and found one 20 km away in Vidauan. The roads here are crazy and narrow. They are only just wide enough for one car, winding through hills and dales. We ventured forth at 10-20kph waiting for a big truck to come around a blind corner. We were passed by cyclists and a herd of cows on our slow crawl to Vidauan (where the Pro Velo bike shop is).

We discovered all the shops were closed. Either it was a public holiday or a very long siesta time. We gave up and returned to Plan de la Tour, only stopping to refill the wine supply.

Working on the tan

Tony in the pool

The pool and the weather cannot be beaten anyway. Lots of relaxing and reading. We are about to have dinner (fillet steak and dauphinoise potatoes with fresh mango) . . . and a Rosé to wash it down.

Dinner

We will check out Sainte Maxime and its beaches tomorrow, and catch the ferry to St Tropez on Thursday. I must say we are loving it here.

Bonsoir

Breakfast

Lovin’ the pool

mmmm strawberrys

No!!! I don’t want to go!!!

I think I may not leave. The owner of Restanques des Lions (Jilly) may find me in the bushes in two weeks’ time, still soaking up the sun and the lifestyle. I guess I will actually have to return home and to reality soon.

St Tropez famous night club (I’m a bit early)

We ventured into St Tropez (on Tuesday). It was market day and very busy. We didn’t stay long and returned by ferry to Sainte Maxime in time for a tasty lunch in a local café. Donna had salmon and I had a very yummy omelette.

Wednesday was a windy but warm day. We revisited the local Carrefour supermarket to replenish food and wine supplies and headed back home to the pool. It was cloudy and very windy, and we ended up inside reading and having a quiet time.

On the ferry back to Sainte Maxime

Thursday was beautiful. La Plan de la Tour and Sainte Maxime had market days and we visited both. Sainte Maxime is my most favourite town in all of France so far. It is the right combination of historic French seaside town and quaint shops. We made a couple of purchases and headed back to the villa to relax again in perfect conditions (no clouds and warm sun).

Tony and Donna

Allied landing at Sainte Maxime

St Maxime was the landing spot for the allied attack on France (to liberate it from the Germans in WW2). We have seen some buildings in Vidauban that have been preserved in their original state from the Allied invasion. The windows and walls have bullet holes and you can feel the door to door battle that ensued to reclaim France from the Axis forces.

Le Plan de la Tour

Sidi MTB shoes

It is our last full day in France tomorrow. I will miss the place. Rome will be exciting, with the Colosseum and the Vatican. And then Singapore for a couple of days of shopping. I have been looking for bike shops here as I need a new pair of MTB shoes. I haven’t found one to date, so I ordered some new Sidi’s from wiggle.co.uk last night. They should be delivered when I get home. The McLeans Six Hour race waits in October and I’m looking forward to it.

Ah, did I mention the pool.

Final day by the pool. We will make the most of it. We reserved a table at the flashiest restaurant in Plan de la Tour tomorrow night for a superb meal for our last night in France (until we return). Signing off from heaven.

Cheers

Sainte Maxime

Mmmmm salmon.