Ça Va

It was clear that the high season was over. Restaurants and beaches were no longer crowded. There was only live music on weekends. The ferris wheel on the beach stood still some of the time. The little tourist train drove once in a while. Several stores had lowered prices and the average age of residents was above the lowest retirement age. Most were French, but occasionally there were Germans, Belgians and Swedes.

"We have been here since the last 20 years. The weather is nice and it's not so hectic in October, "German Jürgen told us in a perfect New York dialect.

We biked along the beach to the neighboring town Bormes les Mimosas. Bathed, enjoy the sun and the lwarmth in the daytime and the cool and clean mountain air in the evening.

It was quiet in the harbor. Occasionally a boat came back from what looked like a longer trip. During the weekend, a couple of boats sailed on day trips. Some motorboats were taken on land and transported on the trailer to a stand in the country. A few guest boats seemed to be ready to be winterrizing .

But the season was far from being over. We decided to sail on and experience more of the Cote d'Azur.

The time was good. Temperatures comfortable, ports not crowded and the port money to pay.

During the preparation we had bought some minor supplies in the ship chandlery and become friends with the owner. Before leaving we bought an Italian and a Spanish guest team.

“Italy and Spain. Whiire are y 'going? He giggled as he keyed the amount into the terminal.

"Cote D'Azur," we replied, "but we will not exclude Italy or Spain."

Late in the afternoon, 20 sailboats docked within 30 minutes. All charter boats with a professional crew on 2-4 males from Croatia. The remaining over 100 crew members were Russians.

"I am from Siberia," answered a powerful younger man and to our question about where in Siberia he answered smilingly "Novosibirsk."

'The russians worked in the same company. From Novosibirsk they had flown to Moscow, from there to St. Petersburg and finally to Nice, from where they had driven by train to Toulon.

The 7 days company tour or Regatta as the Russians called it went from Toulon to St.Tropez and back again the same way.

Their next stop was like our st. Tropez.

We left the harbor a little before the Russian regatta. There was no wind. We motoren along the spectacular coast. A little later came the wind. But it was against us. And since we, like most of today's leisure sailors, do not want to tack on the short stretches we continued by motor. (In our young days it was a bad seamanship if a sailboat used the engine when there was wind)

It was Monday. There were many boats on the water. It was hot. We waved to the passers-by, who were wearing shorts and t-shirts, or were in the upper body.

After a few hours we reached Cap de Saint Tropez, located at the end of the peninsula, which creates the bay of Saint Tropez

St. Tropez has its name after the Christian martyr Saint Torpes of Pisa. According to legend, he was beheaded by Emperor Nero and his dead body was placed in a boat that landed at the city's current location.

The city's reputation as the summer of the international jet-summer dages back the 1950s. This was where the movie 'And God created the woman' was recorded. Brigitte Bardot had the lead role. The film became a huge success and was the start of Bardot's status as an international star. A few years later she moved to St. Tropez. That meant a lot for the development. So much so that the city a couple of weeks ago revealed a 2,5m high statue of the living legend on her 83 birthday

Outside the harbor lay a pair of megayachts. Almost as a symbol of the city's reputation.

But as we sailed in through the two piers, a pleasant harbor was revealed surrounded by beautiful picturesque buildings, cafes and restaurants. On the quay there were musicians and painters.

On the way to the capitanarie , there was a disco or club as it probably called in those circles. At the entrance, a wall was covered with photos of prominent guests such as George Clooney, Lady Gaga, Mike Tyson, Beyonce and Prince Harry.

We walked into the Capitainari.

"Français ou anglais?" Asked the friendly lady at the reception

"Anglais," we replied. Delivered the boat's papers and was somewhat surprised when the high season price appeared in the terminal's display.

"It's not yet low season," she explained, continuing "We have Porsche Paradise next weekend, Dragon Gold Cup the weekend after and then the big market."

The facilities in the harbor did not live up to the price. The harbor was uneasy. There was no WiFi. Toilet and bath facilities were 'hors service 'and the ponton to our berth was in total dark in the evening.

After a single night, we sailed further into the bay and reached the Cogolin after 20 minutes. Here we stayed for a couple of days. Cycled around the area, including the pleasant canal and port of Port Grimaud, also called France's reply to Venice.

After a couple of hours of sailing for a sail with a half wind on 5-7 m / s we reached the town of Frejus.

Here we stayed again a few days before sailing on to Cannes.