Well, I suppose it had to happen at some point during our year in France: we have witnessed first hand the effect of the French strike mentality, and their love of all things disruptive...for other people! Mum and dad were flying over here for a week on the 12th. The day before, French air traffic controllers announced a three day strike, with the result being that 50% of all flights in and out of France had to be cancelled. Unfortunately, my parent's flight was one of the casualties, so they couldn't get here. We looked at various options of re-booking in the days following the strike, but with the train drivers going out in sympathy too, it looked like travel to/from France was to be avoided at all costs. Apparently the shoulder seasons are popular times for the French to strike, as it has the maximum impact on overseas tourists - they would never dream of striking in July or August, as that's when the French have their holidays, and heaven forbid anything to disrupt that!! Mum and dad have re-booked for September: what with their packed retirement calendar, and our oh-so-busy-non-working timetable, we couldn't agree on a date before then!!
So, confronted with an unexpected free week, we have taken a couple of day trips away. Wednesday was a typical tour of a couple of villages further afield. You'd have thought that after a while, one French village would look very much like the last. However, they've all got their different characteristics and charms.
Fox Amphoux is a very sleepy village, which we decided would be perfect to live in.....if it had a boulangerie! If I had to buy bread every day, I wouldn't buy a house in a village without a boulangerie - who wants to get in the car every day in order to have breakfast/lunch?
Someone in the village obviously has a sense of humour. No doubt prompted by the number of people taking photos of this head above her kitchen window, the owner has put a little plastic statue of the queen with a mechanised waving hand on the window-sill!
On to Barjols, whose claim to fame is the 28 fountains around the town. It was too hot to do the official tour, but we saw many of them, and I'm always more drawn to the doors and knockers anyway. Not easy to see, but the knocker here is an old wooden shoe insert......
Security is obviously a big issue in Barjols - this key was in the lock of a front door on the main street. I should have got a hand in the shot too to give the scale - it was enormous!
So too was this dolphin knocker. They must have reinforced the door, as I'm sure one knock from this beauty would split the door in two.
Above the doorbell:
Ring once for the ground floor
Ring twice for the first floor
Ring three times for the second floor.
A beautifully tiled butcher's shop in Barjols...
And an enterprising use of a hole in the side of the house! The square hole just in front of the car was actually a work pit and we could see right down into the workshop below!
On Friday we took a trip up to the Gorge du Verdon, a highly regarded "area of natural beauty", and advertised as France's answer to the Grand Canyon. As we discovered, the French do love to talk themselves up!
Yes, there were some great views....
No, our camera didn't really cope with the conditions....!
Yes, the road was very windy, with a number of tunnels...
But in the end we decided these punters were having far more fun on pedalos, pedalling up the Gorge instead of driving along it!
Unfortunately this was the one day we forgot the sunscreen, so had to forgo the experience this time. Watch out anyone visiting over the summer, you may well end up here!
The French are well known for their sailing abilities and the Med provides plenty of opportunity to show off their skills. Each year the Voille d'Antibes Classic Yacht Challenge is held at Antibes (near Nice). It's part of a series that starts in the Carribean and finishes back in France in September.
I was lucky enough to be a guest crew member on "Masa Yume", a 90ft Spirit of Tradition yacht built along classic lines, but using modern materials. Not sure what the name meant but it is certainly the biggest yacht I've been on. If I could avoid being responsible for breaking something it was always going to be a great experience. The owner Roberto is Italian, the crew international, the chef amazing and the couch of blondes outstanding. Of course every Italian, single, millionaire, male needs a couch on their yacht for the girlfriends and who was I to complain.
Part of the fun was seeing massive America style yachts from the 1920's being sailed pretty hard. This one below came complete with bag-piper in kilt standing near the stern.
Things were very casual and there was no pressure to win but you wouldn't have guessed it once out on the water. We got off to a fantastic start but the winning feeling soon disappeared as winds dropped below 15 knots. At 70 tons or more this rig was going to need at least 20 knots to make it go anywhere in a hurry. That left plenty of time for looking at the scenery!!
There was serious work to be done most of the time and myself and another guy were in charge of a couple of very large winches that ensured the mast stayed upright. Not sure why the new person on-board ended up with one of the more crucial jobs on the boat but maybe everyone else knew the possibilities to get it wrong. You can see stainless steel block / pulley just under the mast in the photo below. Another one is out of view on the right and it is attached to a mainsail support stay. It is tensioned by a sheet. Yep - during one of few moments of good breeze the sheet snapped, the block went forward like a scud missile, whizzed past the heads of the blondes on the couch sipping their drinks and missed several crew on deck. Panic ensued and the crew dashed around like mad things trying to retrieve the situation and wondering how no one had got killed. Meanwhile the girls on the couch hardly blinked and didn't spill their drinks. Fantastic. Calm and cool as always. Back in port champagne, pizza and party time followed and maybe a little relief amongst some.
The model names given to some of the French cars continue to amuse. Back in the factory there have obviously been competitions and late nights contemplating the most appropriate names for their prestigious new vehicles. Numerous experts and marketing gurus have been engaged to choose what name will bring their vehicle to the attention of the discerning public.
The Olympic series:
The French are proud of their workmanship and achievements so names that reflect this have been a clear winner.
The Business series:
A little wildlife story for you: we found this scarab beetle in the pool skimmer basket yesterday, sadly drowned and dead as a doornail. They are huge armoured creatures a good inch long, and incredibly beautiful, with a mahogany shell hard as nails. We took him inside and had a good look at him, took his photo, prodded and poked, and left him on the kitchen bench overnight. This morning.....he had covered a good metre of the bench and was making steady progress towards the fruit bowl! Either an accomplished actor, or a miraculous recovery overnight!
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