French Riviera in winter

We are in #Bellegarde -en-Diois, our base to even more southern. Here at 850 meters altitude it is sunny in winter but also cold and a lot of snow. For the following days, even more snow is predicted. We decide to drive to the South today.

January 1, flights from the snow.

We descend to sea level. Bellegarde, Lamotte, Remuzat, Serres, Laragne, Sisteron and then at Chateau-Arnoux towards Aix-en-Provence. From Château the snow is completely gone and we seem to end up in a different world. The setting sun illuminates the rocks of Les Mées and the entire Durance Valley. Gray-green landscape in strange contrast to the snowy white world of the previous days. Not nicer or uglier but safer with the motorhome. We can travel on the roads again without stress at a normal speed. Between Chateau and Manosque near Villeneuve we see several places with dozens of caravans and campers. Winter places for gypsies, as there are many more here. Would we be allowed to stay with them? But we continue to Manosque, where we stay overnight in a beautiful parking lot Les Drouille just outside the old town.

January 2, via D roads to the Cote 'Azur

Until the Cote d'Azur. Via Vinon-sur-Verdon (typical village with parking under the plane trees, sleeping place for the next time) to Rian and St Maximim la St Baume Here we stop. According to the municipal information, this would be the 3rd most important place for Christianity, whatever that means. We buy a French newspaper, a magazine and some bread.
From D 3 we arrived on the N7, Brignoles, Vidauban and then Muy, where we drive straight to the sea via the yellow D7 to St-Aygulf. From here we have a constant view of the Mediterranean Sea, although there are often one row of villas between road and sea. There are regular parking spaces, where unfortunately no campers can access (barriers at a height of 2 meters). Yet, now in winter, there are still plenty of places to park or spend the night with a view of the sea. You won't see me here in the summer!

St-Maxime, a camper village by the sea.

We also want to do some shopping and arrive in StMaxime, where we discover a new camper camping spot at the mouth of a small river Le Préconil. To our surprise there are at least 15 motorhomes around 15:00. We decide to stay here as well. By 20.00 the entire parking lot is filled with stray wagons of all kinds. We are flanked by a burstner A576 and a graceful Fleurette Jumper. Laika's, contemporary Hymers, Elnaghs and French Chausson are also well represented. Further secretly looking around I see a beautiful Mobilvetta and a chic Carthage. Suddenly the relative silence is broken by a rattling sound. I'm gonna go find that jamming device. A haunted Mirage Grosso tries to generate some electricity with a crackling generator. An experienced Germans also comes and growls something of 'scheisse generators'. Fortunately, the machine is switched off quite quickly and there is only a slight buzz of people and television voices in the air. A small village on wheels. Each in his own little house completely like at home.

3 January, St-Tropez

For the first time visited a so-called service station in St Maxime. Refueling fresh water and discharging stale water.
And then towards Sttropez! We'll take a look around the port de Cogolin. And a little childhood memory for me, my very first own vacation was 38 years ago in this region.
We park and stay overnight at the parking du port. Between Italian motorhomists, but with the Hymerneus by the sea. We stroll in the winter sun along the expensive boats and terraces through the narrow streets and discover the cemetery of St-Tropez outside the village. Here familiar and unknown people rest forever at the surf of the sea.
We try to eat a trifle in this fashionable St-Trop, but also trifles cost a lot of money here. Just outside the plage we will discover a Brasserie Tropézienne, where we can eat an omelet fries for 8.50 euros.