Head winds stop us from sailing to the South of France 11-12th August 2015

Tioram 4
Tina & Tony
Wed 12 Aug 2015 19:28

Hi all. 

Well our plan was to strike off from Calve on the north west coast of Corsica to head for the south of France our ‘old stomping ground'.

Thirty years ago Tony and I camped in the South of France. It was in a simple frame tent which took 4 hours to pitch….not like the instant wired tents of today which explode out of their bags and almost pitch themselves !!

We drove from the UK on the old roads avoiding the tolls in Tonys then ‘very sporty’ capri car.

Our kit took hours to unload and put up and we erected a small larder stand with a camping stove on top for cooking.

The tent had a separate groundsheet with lots of pegs and thankfully the inner tent had a complete ground sheet and zip to sleep in……sanctuary from the mosquitos for me.

The hot earth bought in large ants which formed lines in and out of our tent to anything sweet and not completely sealed and our tent was always surrounded by a snow dusting of white ant powder.

The tent didn’t have a loo and so the nightly 100m dash to the loo block is something to smile about 30 years on but not then.

The worst part of coping in the heat was not having a fridge…only a coolbox which was fed each day with a large block of ice from the on site shop. Each morning the hot sun rose and forced us from our bed.

We looked on with envy if a touring caravan arrived with a fridge 

It was simple, basic but we loved it.

Today there are super pitches, loos, cooking tents all quite luxurious and already on site no transporting.

In 1986, there was camping in the cold UK and camping in the South of France and despite all the lack of comforts it still gave us access to the Cote d’Azur with our car to explore.

We showered ourselves in the unisex shower block, so much simpler than deciding who goes first and then put on your ‘best’ summer ‘Cote d’Azur’ clothes. We drove to Saint Tropez, Port Gramuad, Nice, Saint Rafael etc and paraded with the rich and famous along the seafronts looking at the superyachts with their owners and guests sitting on their aft decks.

We walked, looked and promenaded but we couldnt afford to buy a thing. Eating in a restaurant was out of the question, drinks in bars a fortune, we managed a beautiful homemade ice-cream… which the assistant constructed like a work of art… her palette knife creating petals of ice-cream from a bud to a flower on the top of a cone.

In 1986 they cost £5 each... can’t imagine how much that would equate to now…..we enjoyed it and remember it as a quality moment in St. Rafael.

Now nearly thirty years later, we still enjoy the travelling life, the simple things and also to walk along the waterfronts looking at the superyachts…..could we have ever imagined our own yacht might sit alongside the superyachts in these places.

Sadly the strong headwinds have stopped us from sailing to our old ‘stomping grounds’ and we can go to buy one of those ice creams again another day in the future.

Instead we are going to continue to sail around the north of Corsica to Saint Florent and circumnavigate the island.

Love to all

T and T xxx