Fun in Le Lavandou

This was, unexpectedly, a highlight of our trip along the coast.

Hyeres: From the port of Le Lavandou, we took a bus ride to this medieval village, passing through Bormes-Les-Mimosas on the way. Both are known for their flowers, although this is also wine and olive country. Hyeres is lovely, with its ancient ramparts and narrow streets and flowers.

One of my pet peeves is the use of fake shutters on modern buildings in a failed attempt to give them character.  Here, of course, the shutters are very real and very practical and, almost always, very charming. I took a close-up photo of a window in an old house -- planning to use the picture in a forthcoming magnum opus (read: rant) about fake shutters. As soon as I had snapped the picture, an old gentleman leaned out the window and yelled at me. I apologized, or tried to,  using my very poor French. In spite of his protests, I'm still going to use that photo in the forthcoming shutter screed. You've been warned.

Wandering narrow cobbled streets never gets old. In Hyeres, the views were stunning, looking out over groves of olive trees to the glittering sea.

The lanes, as advertised, are lined with flowers, blooming even in late October.

Of course, Hyeres boasts a town square with an old church and nice restaurants. I don't know quite what it is about these places, but I feel very peaceful (and a little snobbish), pretending vainly to act like a local, just hangin' out.

Domaine de l'Anglade: From Hyeres, we went back through Bormes-les-Mimosas to the outskirts of Le Lavandou and stopped at a small winery. A brief tour and a short presentation about winemaking and the history of this winery, then into the tasting room. Kathy's California cousins, because they are Californians, are wine experts. They pronounced the white wine very good (even ordering a few cases shipped back to California), the rose very good, and the red just so-so. I enjoyed the toast with tepanade (well, yes, and the wine, too.)

The winery was founded as a hobby by a family that had made its fortune in the reed business: reeds for clarinets, bassoons, oboes, saxophones, and English horns. The plants from which the reeds are made grow well in this microclimate. Vandoren reeds (sold exclusively from their Paris outlet) are, we were told, famous.


The hillside setting and the friends and the wine and the lovely weather -- such a pleasant afternoon!

Le Lavandou: Back to Le Lavandou and a stroll through the busy waterfront district. It's a warm Saturday and the place is busy but not crowded.

Sttraying a little from our usual practice of eating lunch in a small outdoor restaurant. We got street food instead -- a very nice big crepe with some kind of chocolatey fruity filling, from a one-man stand next to some boules courts (like bocce except the French use steel balls).

The pedestrian walkway was a delight because someone had constructed a half-dozen interactive sculptures which also served as games, made from reclaimed lumber, tree limbs, springs, string, tennis balls -- all kinds of clever and cool stuff.

The coolest was a contraption that had a long metal arm balanced on a stack of old books. On one end of the arm a full-sized upright piano was suspended. On the other end, a platform with a red plush carpet on it. The operator would seat four or five people on the carpet, crank up the machinery to make the whole thing rotate, then climb onto the piano bench and play sprightly music as the magic carpet made slow circles. I took a video but I'll be damned if I can find it now. The still photo here doesn't do it justice.

Everybody was smiling and taking photos. Pretty neat!