Heading West

 Monday morning, we left San Remo and started making our way west  We made sure we filled up our gas tank before leaving Italy even though it was still showing 3/4 of a tank.  The gas shortage in France continues due to the refinery workers strike.  .  President Macron has announced replacement workers will be brought in so that has triggered unions calling for a national strike on Tuesday.  While it is possible to find gas, sometimes the lines are long.  I think I heard about 33% of gas stations in France have no gas; however, the situation is much worse in the north than here in the south.  Our plan is to keep topping up our gas tank whenever we see an open gas station.

So, we got on the A8 and our first exit was Eze as we wanted to try again to visit this very famous "village perche".  It was still tricky as there was a sign at the public parking lots saying the lot was full (in three languages) but a woman standing near the entrance said that, in fact, there were lots of spaces.  So, I took a chance and drove in.  When I asked the gendarme he said there was space and, because it was Monday, parking was free - bonus!  I have visited this village at least 3 or 4 times so, because of my sore back, I just installed myself in a cafe at the base of the hill, ordered an "orange presse" (freshly squeezed orange juice) and waited while my friend did the hike up the medieval alleys to the summit.  What she found disappointing is that the fabulous views from the top can only be seen from the gardens and you have to pay a 6 euro entrance fee.  However, she did that and got some wonderful photos of the vista over the Mediterranean.  

From there, we got back on the A8 continuing west.  Now, this is a toll autoroute and it seemed every 15 to 20 km there was a booth where you either paid a flat rate (usually around 2 euros - thank heaven for "tap" credit cards! - or sometimes a lot more depending how far you had gone.  We think one of the charges was around 12 euros so it sure can mount up; however the upside is that you can get from A to B pretty quickly.  Also, it appeared that it might be easier to find gas along the autoroute because every 2 out of 3 rest stops had gas available so that was encouraging too.   

Our destination was Bandol and it was about a 2 hours drive from Eze.  When we got there, it was easy enough to get parking in the casino parking lot across from our hotel - that was so much easier than our somewhat disastrous arrival in San Remo!  From the parking lot to the hotel was only about a 3 minute walk across the street.  We managed to have our rooms changed to ones with sea view for a small fee.  So, it was a great start.  

We wandered along the quay, checked about the boat trip we want to do and admired some of the yachts, watched some people playing boules, stopped for an aperitif (a glass of sangria this time) and went for dinner at a nice restaurant called La Caravelle - it was Monday so we didn't have a lot of options as in many towns and villages restaurants in France are closed Mondays and Tuesdays.  Anyway, our meals were good and it was just a short walk back to Hotel de la Baie where we are staying.

Now, nothing says market day in France than the early morning sounds of vans and trucks arriving around 6 am to get set up for un marche!  Yes, Tuesday is market day in Bandol so we were woken up pretty early.  After our breakfast, we sorted out the plan for the boat trip which we decided we will take tomorrow.  After that, we spend two or more hours checking out the various stalls in the market and we both found a few "treasures" which, for me, included a provencale tablecloth I have been trying to find for 20 years to replace the faded one I bought then.  There were lots of interesting stalls and we enjoyed perusing the offerings.

Unfortunately, the restaurant we chose for dinner was dreadful.  I think it was the worst meal I have ever had in France - or possibly anywhere.  There weren't too many options for places to eat because it was Tuesday but we certainly picked the wrong one!  The French fries were limp and under-cooked, possibly because the oil wasn't hot enough, and my fish dish was cold so it was sent back.  Even when it was reheated, it still wasn't good.  The panna cotta, however, was delicious so they somewhat redeemed themselves - barely.  Tomorrow we go on the boat trip and I am really looking forward to that.