On Thursday I e-mailed our friends Cynthia and Ian, who recently moved to the town of Bandol on the Mediterranean coast.
“Any chance you’d like some company on Saturday or Sunday?” I wrote. I closed my eyes and prayed, “Please let them say yes, please let them say yes….”.
The truth was that I needed the company of good friends... a change of scenery… the opportunity to speak English over a leisurely meal… croissants for breakfast… and perhaps even a long, hot shower.
Lucky, lucky me. My prayers were answered. After the strange and very awkward experience of Friday’s couscous dinner, I had a wonderful weekend with Cynthia and Ian in Bandol.
Cynthia and Ian are the now former owners of La Bastide Vieille, the very special house that our family rented when we lived in Provence during our long trip to Europe. I first met Cynthia in the fall of 2003 when we began corresponding about our six month rental, and we stayed overnight with them in the house when we arrived on October 2, 2004. They quickly became good friends, a relationship that deepened when our family assumed temporary care of Cynthia’s dog Juno, a very sweet blind poodle. We’ve managed to be together several times over these years, and keep in touch by e-mail. Last September they hosted lunches for our Luberon Experience groups at La Bastide Vieille, a highlights of those autumn weeks. We were surprised when they wrote us a month or two later to say that they had decided to sell the house. The ownership of such an old house in the country had become way too much work, and for their retirement years they wanted a change, an apartment on the coast, right in a town.
Cynthia and Ian enjoying their new life in Bandol
The house sold all-too-quickly (and it’s still available for rent, by the way), and less than a month ago Cynthia and Ian moved into an apartment in Bandol, a town of about 8000 between Marseille and Toulon, further east around the coast from Cassis. It’s in the department of the Var, still Provence but a very different Provence.
Cynthia and Ian are still unpacking boxes and furnishing their new place. This weekend I was their first overnight guest. I was thrilled to inaugurate their new fold-out couch in the living room. (And yes—they had a fabulous shower with no limitation on the amount of water I could use!)
I walked to the train station in Aix where I ran into a woman I knew from the IS school. It has been quite interesting to run into fellow students all over Aix. The train from Aix to Marseille turned out to be a bus, and it let out right outside the St. Charles station in Marseille, where I had an hour’s wait before the train to Bandol, less than an hour’s trip from Marseille. Cynthia and Ian live just five minutes from the Bandol train station, and Cynthia was there to meet me.
Their apartment is about five minutes up a slight hill from the waterfront in Bandol, on the third floor of the building, with a long terrace and an absolutely fabulous view of the rooftops of Bandol, the port with its many boats, and the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. It was so relaxing and so absolutely lovely. I was immediately relaxed. And it was wonderful to be welcomed enthusiastically by such good friends and to see them so excited about their new lives.
The view of the port and the sea from the apartment terrace
Ian took me on a quick walking tour of Bandol while Cynthia took Juno for a walk. I definitely liked what I saw of Bandol. We walked down to the broad main street of the town, lined with palm trees and tropical flowering shrubs. On one side of the street there are restaurants with outdoor dining, and on the other side there are hundreds of boats. Ian has joined a tennis club, and he showed me the sailing club that he plans to join next. He doesn’t have a boat, but he can crew for other people and rent boats owned by the club. He was definitely excited about the possibilities in Bandol—and definitely not missing the projects associated with La Bastide Vieille.
Cynthia and Juno in Bandol
We were late to lunch, but found a restaurant willing to serve us moules marinara (mussels) and frites, along with a cold bottle of rose. That’s exactly what I would have ordered anyway. I love mussels. I sat watching the sea and the people strolling by, enjoying this leisurely afternoon.
The tropical environment of Bandol
After our late lunch and a lot of conversation, we took a very short ferry ride to the Isle of Bendor, just off the coast of Bandol. Juno, the little blind poodle I’d cared for a few years ago—went with us on this excursion. She is a very sweet dog who taught me a lot about courage, and I am always glad to be with her. Bendor is a small island developed and owned by Paul Ricard, the founder of the liquor company that makes a famous pastis. The island has a few hotels and cafes, some shops, a diving school, and a couple of small beaches. We also discovered a huge museum of liquor and spirits that is being renovated and an art gallery. We followed a broad path around the island, a walk that might take 20 minutes if you don’t stop. But of course we did….
Bandol from the ferry
Bendor was a nice little side trip. I told Cynthia that it reminded me of a small DisneyWorld resort in a way. It could have been a movie set. Everything was so perfect and almost too fabricated—rocky cliffs reinforced with concrete, a paved walking path, some old-looking buildings that we thought probably weren’t too old, and a picture-perfect little port. It would be a nice little place to spend the day and enjoy a quiet little beach, and a round-trip ferry tickets was only eight euro.
We explored a little more of the town and bought a few provisions for an evening meal. Later, back at the apartment, Ian and Cynthia fixed a great meal that we ate out on the terrace watching that beautiful view once again. A neighbor had given them a mackerel he had caught, and Ian cleaned the fish and Cynthia made an anchovy butter. I trimmed some green beans. We had gazpacho to begin, followed by the fish and beans, then some cheese, and finally ice cream… and of course a couple of bottles of wine. After dinner we walked down to the waterfront and explored an evening crafts market and had a beer at a café with live music. The moon apeared—perfectly full. And après (since this is sounding like a recitation from my French class), we walked back up the hill and I tested out that brand-new sofa bed.
