Kathrin, a reader from way back, has asked that next time I'm in Saint Raphael, that I show more photos. Which I'll be delighted to do, of course! But why wait for the next trip? It's ridiculously cold here in Paris (some sort of Siberian cold front is sweeping across central and southern Europe and it's quite bad in some areas east of here) and I could use a reminder of warmer climates -- although I hear it may actually SNOW in Saint Raphael this week! Here's a selection of some of my own personal favorites from the sunny south.
Tiki Plage, a small cove about a 10 minute drive from downtown Saint Raphael. One of our favorite spots to spend a day as they have a beach-side restaurant where you can walk right off the sand and get an excellent meal. I look at this photo often when I'm sick of the grey cold weather in Paris; it does wonders for my morale!
Our spot on "Melon Beach", where Georges popped the question. Those aren't birds in the background, they're people parasailing even though this was off season and rather cold.
This must be April rather than the full summer season, because the beach-front restaurants are open but I don't see the rows and rows of beach chairs and umbrellas. These restaurants have to close completely in winter because the storms can get so bad that the restaurants flood; they've already had a lot of damage this year before Christmas, and winter had barely even started. Hope the rest of the cold season will be kinder but it's still early.
Sunset at the old port.
Ice cream on the terrace at the Poussin Bleu.
Part of the old town. I love the colored stucco and painted shutters. Nearby Frejus is even older, with Roman ruins and a still-in-use amphitheatre.
The old port and the cathedral.
Summer sunset.
And here's a short (40 seconds) clip of the view from our spot on Melon Beach, taken last April 20, 2011 -- exactly 3 years to the day from when Georges proposed.
