St Cyprien Beach, France
Today the wind had almost turned into a breeze (I said almost!) and the temperature was up again, so it was time to head for the coast. It takes thirty minutes to drive from Thuir to the shores of the Mediterranean, and St. Cyprien Plage is a frequent choice - for swimming in summer, walking in winter. The beaches on this south-eastern coast are huge, wide and never overcrowded, even in high summer, with very few of those pay-for-loungers-and-umbrellas areas.
I've talked about my irrational fear of swimming in the ocean in an earlier blog post:
But that doesn't mean I don't LIKE the ocean. In fact I love it. That's why I had to get down to the sea today, because I really can't go many days without seeing it - I long and pine for it! Only once in my life have I lived in an inland town - that was while studying French in Lausanne, Switzerland. But there's the Lac Leman, and if the mountains on the other side - the French side - are hidden by clouds or fog, you can actually pretend it's the ocean!
I love this song by Richard Hawley, "The Ocean":
Husband today at St Cyp
Okay, okay - anyone a bit difficult would argue that Thuir is an inland town as well - situated as it is at a thirty minute drive from the coast. There's a reason why we decided on a house up a distance from the coast those eleven years ago. We knew we were going to spend a lot of time here off-season, and this coast is practically deserted during the winter months, all restaurants are closed and the seaside resorts become empty ghost towns.
Canet Plage today, deserted - this is one of the most popular seaside towns in summer
Some years ago a friend of my husband's and his family came up from the Costa Brava in Spain to visit, and we spent a lovely day at the beach, some of them went golfing, and when they came back with us for a meal at our house, everyone agreed that the day had been perfect and that one of the kids would spend the night, and I'd drive her back to Spain the next day. In the car she said to me: "We've talked about this in our family, and we wouldn't have your house - it's too far from the coast." At least she was totally frank! (It was probably not a discussion that was meant to be vented outside the family, at least not in front of the people who were being discussed)! Being a sensible 12-year old, she listened carefully while I explained, and perhaps she passed on the message.
St Cyprien has the second largest yacht port in Europe (which is the largest, I wonder? I've never managed to find out)
After walking along the seaside today, we went to the next town - Canet Plage - to have coffee. And feeling a bit peckish, we thought we might get a salad or a sandwich or something similar. But no. This is the one thing I can NEVER get used to in France!! If you're not able to stick to those dictatorial restaurant opening hours - 1200-1430 and 1900-2200 - you'll be sooo punished! No food for you!!!
But there's good food in a Café au lait and a Pastis - so who's complaining?
I have a husband who portrays Big Mama from all her worst angles in photos, so she ends up photographing herself - this is what Big Mamas do. As well.
Lady of the Sea :-)
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