Sicily Winter 2013-2014

Blog on the starting blocks: destination Sicily

Dec 4^th: to Frejus

For the first leg of the journey, we set out to drive as far as Frejus on the French Riviera and then take a few days’ break. Travelling in December you can expect a selection of rain, fog, strong wind, freezing temperatures and snow. We weren’t disappointed, and got it all apart from the snow, also a huge traffic jam on the A14/ M11 around Cambridge that meant we missed our tunnel slot. None of this was a big deal: after 3 days and 900 miles, we are here safely in Frejus.  

This is Frejus, the old town, founded in Roman times as a trading port.

The sea has retreated since then so the town is a mile inland.  

 

The old town is engulfed by Frejus the holiday resort. The large boats in the large yacht marina indicate that it’s a destination for the in crowd. However, the smart set has obviously fallen on hard times; I was expecting to see a Ferrari parked on the quayside rather than a bike.

In an agency window fronting the marina we noticed that a boat similar to the nearest one in the photo was offered for charter at a mere 13,000 euros a day or 78,000 euros a week. That’s £11,000 and £66,000 respectively. This is a different world to the one in which we common folks dwell!

 

Next, onto the beach adjoining the marina.

 

 

It’s a good sandy beach and typically narrow Mediterranean because of the small tides. All beaches look best in sunny weather and the kids here were actually splashing in the sea. The weather has been great since we arrived and we’ve sat out in the sun in our deserted campsite every day between about 11.30 and 3.00pm. Here’s Jane sparing a moment to look up from her beading. That’s our caravan in the background.

This part of the campsite is sheltered by bushes and cork oaks. These are still harvested commercially by stripping off sections of bark, by hand, every 9 to 12 years for turning into cork products like wine corks and table mats. The tree behind Jane is one such tree where the area stripped can be clearly seen. If you were a female doing this work you’d need to be careful how you described your job.