Approaching Saint-Tropez at 9 am - already lots of movements in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez
The wind calmed down last night – we woke up to a flat sea. Given the beautiful sunrise you could believe that the troubles are over. But the news for after-tomorrow are not good. The wind will pick up again. By Tuesday it will reach 30 knots. We need to get a port.
Wind Charts for Tuesday 5 pm predict a Wind Speed of above
30 knots - and there are no protecting Bays to take Shelter
Time to make a decision. We are going to move further west than planned and sail directly to Saint-Tropez. For tomorrow, we book an anchor place in Porquerolles, the island opposite Hyères. It will allow us to sit out the storm. There are plenty of things to do on Porquerolles. There are no cars, it can be explored by bike, is dotted with small forts, has the most charming small beaches and a few local restaurants. Not a bad place to get stuck.
This sailboat was leaving just when we were looking for the right place to anchor
Leaving at 7 pm had two regrettable consequences. We won't able to visit the oldest monastery in Western Europe, the Abbey de Lérins. And we could not stop at Saint- Raphael where our old friend Steve Weiss disembarked with the 36th US Infantry Division on 15 August 1944. We will have to do this another time.
View on St Raphael on the right and the Rocher de Roquebrune to the left - the road to Aix-en-Province starts behind the Rocher de Roquebrune
From afar we could see why General Eisenhower decided to land a full division in Saint-Raphael and a Parachute Division behind it. It opened the way to Aix-en-Provence and allowed the Allies to move quickly inland. Within 3 weeks, the 36th Division reached Lyon. German resistance in France collapsed. The Wehrmacht had to retreat to the Rhein. It was the beginning of the end. Within less than a year, Germany capitulated.
There was a little Traffic Jam at the Port Entrance in Saint-Tropez but it cleared in 2 minutes
It is ten years ago, when I was last time in Saint-Tropez during July. It was a bad experience. Heat, traffic jams, no parking, long way from the parking lot to town, crowded restaurants, expensive prices. You name it. Saint-Tropez is lovely outside peak season. But never would I go to Saint Tropez again in July. That was my view until this morning. Captain Richard thought differently. He said, let’s try and see.
There were 21 Big Yachts in the Port and 33 anchor in the Saint-Tropez Gulf outside
And indeed, the experience was very different. We arrived by 9 am in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. 33 yachts were already at anchor but there was plenty of space. We went by tender into town with almost no delay. Everything was so easy – provided you arrive by boat – as people had for many centuries.
Saint-Tropez Streets were less busy than expected
The Bakery was very busy so. The Shop was packed
To our pleasant Surprise, the Café de Paris was less so
Saint-Tropez has now an interesting history museum in the old citadel. The staff who put it together made an effort to tell history in simple stories and succeeded. You learn how the town got dragged into wars with Spain once the Provence was part of France in 1496 or how important its contribution to France's ship building was. It had quite a big wharf.
To be honest, we climbed up the Citadel for the View not for the Museum!
It was time to move to the anchor place for a swim and dinner. Just when we started to get ready, we were almost hit by a sailboat. Seems that not only French car drivers love speeding and cutting corners. Sailors do that too. Mais non! Dieu vit en France!
One meter closer and "Papa a fait Boum!"
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