Hello from Bandol on the Mediterranean

Dear Everyone,

I’m still in Bandol, which is the little village across the harbor from the island I stayed on last night. Or rather, the island is across the harbor from Bandol. I swam this morning in the Mediterranee and it was divine. It wasn’t easy getting past my mind to get in and I had to laugh at the conversation in my head as I stood at the shore. It went something like this:

Adventuresome Spirit: Let’s go swimming! Look at how it sparkles!
Mind: Are you crazy? Look at those white caps. That’s from the wind. It is cold!
AS: Ah C’mon, don’t be a stick in the mud. How many times do you get a chance to swim in the Mediterranean?
A boat goes speeding by with two men in wet suits, who happen, it seems, to point at me, or not, but my mind seizes on that and runs…
Mind: Look at those men. They’re wearing WET SUITS–they’re smart–and they’re pointing over here–probably can’t believe you want to do this!
AS: Ah C’mon, it will feel soo good!
Mind; Well, just get it over with then, I can see that I can’t talk you out of it.
AS: 1,2,3–Yikes, it is chilly, but GREAT!
Mind: Can’t wait to get into a hot bath…

So it was great! It felt wonderful and I could taste the salt in the water and it was so cool, fresh and refreshing. Then I jumped into their very chilly pool. Then I took that hot bath and that was great too.

I took the ferry back across the harbor and ended up at a hotel in Bandol that is also on the Med, so swam again this afternoon. Lovely.

It took me most of the afternoon to find a hotel, mostly because the Tourist Office was closed from 12:00 till 2:30–that’s the south of France for you.

I wanted to talk to them about hotels and also leave my bags there while I looked for one. So finally, at 4pm I had a hotel and was headed back to the beach. It occurred to me that a lot of traveling, when you’re living on the edge and it is not all planned out, it about where you’re going to sleep and where you’re going to eat! Such basic necessities.

It turns out that my friend with the chateau was trying to reach me and wanted me to come but I didn’t have a phone for her to reach me and she didn’t get my emails. Darn. I sure wanted to go! But we talked tonight and I’m going to work on getting an assignment to do an article on wines of this region and come back. I would have gone to see her in a second if I’d known that she wanted me to come. Oh well.

Tomorrow, I go to visit a hotel and spa in a little village about 20 minutes from here. I could have stayed there but they were all booked up. But they invited me to come for lunch and to have a massage at the spa. It sounds lovely. I’ll take a taxi from here because that’s the only way to get there without a car.

After that, I plan to go back to Aix for one night. (That means trains and busses with my luggage). Being on my own is good, but it gets kind of lonely and so I’m headed back to Aix and friends. Saturday night I’ll have to spend the night near the airport, unfortunately, because my flight leaves at 6:15am on Sunday. So I have two more days of fun before heading home.

Last night at the hotel on the island, it was deserted. It turns out that a bank had booked tons of rooms for a conference but with the banking crisis going on, had to cancel. It was so empty. I met a lovely couple from Amsterdam and since we were the only people in the restaurant, we chatted and laughed. It is hard to follow all that is going on from here, (the financial crisis) but it sure sounds serious! What a mess.

My hotel room is so tiny! Another 10×10, but at least it isn’t orange! When I’m on my own, oh well–and it is still $100! I miss the luxury of the Cinderella rooms. It is so easy to get spoiled. But the sea is lapping against the rocks under my window and it sounds wonderful. I should have time to take a swim in the morning before heading off to the village of La Cadière d’Azur for lunch and the spa.

More soon,

Diane