Ramatuelle Reunion

We have landed in Paradise again. There is something about Provence that just makes us feel like we have come home. The sun, the dry hot days, the fabulous light, the medieval villages, the food, the swimming . . . Wow!

On Monday we drove to Lourmarin for one night en route to Ramatuelle. Ramatuelle is the hilltop village we would be staying in just above St. Tropez, on the Mediterranean. We had a slightly difficult night in Lourmarin, however, because we had not been given the right keys and could only get into one room with the result that we had no kitchen or refrigerator for all our food. vLuckily we had beds and a bathroom, so at least we were able to have a good night's sleep. It was too late to go get food elsewhere, so we opted for breakfast cereal on the floor of the bedroom which was a real hit with the kids after a really long drive (not!)

On Tuesday, we began our day with new found energy and drove down to the Mediterranean. The drive was stunning! After about a three hour drive we made it to Ramatuelle (seen below in the picture) and met up with Waneta. This has been a fantastic turn of events -- for Skye to have five days with one of her best friends in such an amazing place as the South of France.
The amazing thing is how this all came about. I am going to have to be cryptic here for reasons of privacy but it will be fun to have you all guess the identities of our sponsors. Waneta was flown here and treated to a holiday by a very good friend who is a big celebrity (currently acting on one of the most popular TV shows). They went to acting school together and have continued to be best friends over the years. This actor had to fly back to New York for some filming which enabled us to come and stay with Waneta while she is away. She is due to return on Sunday by which time we will be off back to Lourmarin.
The other amazing thing that happened is to find out whose home we are staying in here in Ramatuelle. Again, for reasons of privacy I am not going to reveal his identity but this actor was huge in a 1970's sitcom that we all watched. He was the height of cool in his day. See if you can guess based on the pictures of his place. Might be a tough one, but someone out there will get it. I will happily reveal details in a private email. All said and done it has been fun for us all to flirt with a little bit of fame. The house is filled with fabulous art and photo's of all kinds of celebrities. Ooooooh!
The bulk of our time here has been spent hitting the fabulous beaches in the region. Thanks to Waneta doing some sleuthing we were able to find a very quiet, stunning little beach with fantastic swimming and incredible views. It really reminds me of Lundudno (sp?) in Cape Town, except the water is much warmer. The kids have been swimming for hours everyday and having an absolute blast.
Waneta is all about having a good time and her energy has been infectious for the kids. There has been lots of laughter and telling of goofy stories. She is quite the entertainer.
Here is something we have not done before - a little video link! Here we are on the beach. Enjoy my lovely gut displaying all the fine pastries and cheese France has had for the offering. As we say: I have a "washboard made for fine silks"!

Pippin is the original water baby. She will literally stay in the water for the entire four hour beach visit.

Kai in the meantime will be interspersing his water fun with rock and stick hunting - a past time he has enjoyed since he was a toddler.

We have all completely embraced the beach culture while we have been here: reading, sunning, swimming, playing beach bats, riding waves, napping . . . it has been blissful! We have actually decided that for the rest of our time here in Europe (only one month left) we are going to make daily swimming a priority.
We have shared some great meals together while we have been here. One of the local delights in Provence are the Rose wines. They are light and fruity - kind of like "drinking summer in a glass." We have even treated ourselves to the occasional meal out especially since our accommodation has been free.
Yesterday we went to the very famous St. Tropez for a morning walk about. We were pleasantly surprised by the feel of the village. A gorgeous old village with a serious Gucci factor. In fact it felt like the streets were paved in gold!
There is wealth and then there is wealth. The money in St. Tropez is not the kind of wealth we have ever been exposed to. We are talking MEGA bucks. Multi-million dollar boats and properties are everywhere and the locals wear nothing but high end designer clothes and higher than high heels. Even the parking parkade looked like it was fine enough to live in!
Some lovely local flavour was evident. Lovely French accordion being played amongst the stunning blue skies, the colourful flowers and the great people watching opportunities.
One unfortunate event that did cloud our time here is that our car got broken into on one of our beach days. The f...ckers literally pulled out the entire window from the car. Luckily we have been on top of things and left no valuables in the car. The hassle of finding garages and dealing with insurance has, however, been a drag. We have refused to let it dampen our moods and fun!
May the culprits rot in hell!

We will leave you with a lovely picture showing the fine time being had by all.
Until next time . . .

Ronato, Skye, Kai & Pippin