From Gare de
Lyon where we took the TGV it was a four and half hour journey to St.Raphael.
Having come to St.Raphael we took a Taxi to Cap Esteral and to the
Pierre
et Vacance and presented ourselves at the
Reception around nine thirty in the evening. We had to wait a while
until the over tanned tourist with her daughter was getting instructions to
treat her sun burns.
The young receptionist at the counter received us
and indicated the place we were allocated. It was a studio overlooking the golf and my wife did not like
it as she who had reserved a place six
months ago expected a more spacious and a better location. The receptionist was
prepared to offer a place outside the main
complex which was far and
separated from all
facilities. We finally opted for the
small studio. It is really small, satisfactory though it had not been well
cleaned. We wandered weather Pierre et Vacance have
their preferential clients to whom they reserve the best apartments and
studios.
It was later we
found that they palmed off to us a studio perhaps rejected by others. There is
a ” chaufferee tableau Electrique” attached to the studio, which keeps working through out the night, making it
impossible for us to sleep.
When we brought this to their
notice the following day they said they could not help it, but if we would change over to another studio we should pay
the cleaning charges of 20 Euros. That is how they profit from residents,. we
did not go to argue, and preferred to
stay on with the noisy attachment, as we did not know what would await us at
the next studio they may offer.
In the map of the Cap Esterel- le Village, it is written
“ Cap Esterel est un village sans voiture….”-
The Cap Esterel is a village without
Motor Vehicles”. But the studio 001 of
E2 is constantly disturbed by motor vehicles- Buses, and the service
vehicles of the Cap
Esterel Village.
The welcome was
rather cold and indifferent, though they could make an effort to be more pleasant
and agreeable even if there are a large number of clients.
The studio though it was an exchange cost us 79 Euros for three weeks
and the TV rental costs 20 Euros per week.
The opening the telephone line costs 5 Euros, and the use of the swimming
pool for one person for three weeks cost 37 Euros 50.
The Pierre et Vacance at Cap
Esterel has an International Clientele. Yet they have no internet facilities
for any one to get connected to the internet
from their laptops. But moving
more towards the interest of financial benefit rather than a service to their
clients they have set up a Cyber Café
within the ensemble of holiday homes. The charges are very high at 2 euros 30
for 15 minutes, or you buy a “carte orange” at the reception for 10 Euros for
just three hours. I was disappointed I carried my laptop all the way hoping to
get connected to the internet without having to run in to cyber cafes and here
you are in a said to be a top class holiday resort without internet
connection.
I hope Pierre et Vacances will
eventually cater more efficiently and provide modern facilities to their
clients without fleecing them. They could do that and even reduce the charges for the apartments, if they give the
Golf Links to a private company, as the charges of its maintenance may be
exorbitant. The number of persons
profiting from the golf links is very small.
*************************
We went shopping
to the SuperU in the place and bought the necessities for the week it cost us 48 Euros 70. We had a
light lunch. Annie had a beer, and found to our amusement the packet of chips
we had bought had by mistake put into the wrong caddy ….. After lunch we had a short nap and Annie went
to the swimming pool. I was badly in
need of a short…our suit cases- which we had the clever idea of sending before
us by train have still not arrived ! I went to
a shop in the place and bought a pair of shorts for 28 Euros. It was good and made me comfortable in the
hot sun. At 6 in the evening we ventured
out to find a short cut to the sea beach.
The sun was too hot and the walk was tiring. We stayed laid on the beach and walked back.
We had a short dinner- watched a film.
Annie is tired and she has gone to sleep.
The Sunday ends
thus……..
Gusts of heavy
winds that marked the warm night is being
carried on to the day. The still wet earth after a passing storm lay
lazily undisturbed in a sunlight that promises to be warm. We wait like lazy
lizards lying on bed awaiting the arrival of our baggage. The baggage had
arrived and we collected them at the reception. At last we have the amenities
necessary to pass the rest of the vacation comfortably.
I was preparing
the lunch and found that we were short of a frying pan. I called the reception, they asked me to come
and collect it, but when I went to collect it , it was not there. The receptionist made a note if it and asked me to collect it later. We had a sumptuous lunch. It is warm and the
sun relentlessly bright and warm. We took a short nap before taking our
activities of relaxation. I went once
again to the Pierre
et Vacances Reception, to ask for the frying pan and also a easy chair to
stretch comfortably in the veranda. The frying pan was not there and the chairs
are not available. I am getting a little
fed up with these people, because they are like robot machines. Even if they
smile you feel that they are not sincere it is part of their job- like the
uniform they wear.
The tourists are
no better. They come to relax. But they come with all their complexes and
prejudices acting like a special sort of human beings. They could learn a lot from the East, where
the people poor they may be, but much
more rich in their human qualities. Wealth
goes to the head of these people. Their
cars, their clothes, and the need to
show off their affluence to the utmost. Human relationship is far
from their thoughts. To meet people and share a little of their time with others are not qualities in their character. They go for their jogging , game of golf, swimming, dancing or
eating with their families or their own group of friends is their meaningful
vacation. Except for that they live the same lives they are used to in heir
homes. They hardly exchange a smile or a
wish of a good day to those whom they meet. They love to live in isolation and
tell the world how they should live.
This is the make up, the same mentality of the International Community
towards the developing countries.
Yesterday the 30
July, 2007, the death of Michel Serault was announced. He had died at 79 of a cancer. That marks the end of a great actor, who is
at home in all characters he plays. It
was sad news.
July ends
to-day. We have information that there
are three visits for our house put on sale.
The day is warm. Yesterdays storm has passed away. We were surprised that there is within the Pierre et Vacances a
Restaurant named “ Le Buddha Restaurant”.
What a shame, as my wife said, there would never be a Allah Restaurant, nor Jesus Restaurant.
TheBuddhist world should take note.
We took the small
train that takes the residents to the sea beach. It stops at an old quarry from which stones
were taken for the construction of the Napoleon’s Tomb in Paris. It has
been closed since 60 years
ago. The natural lake with clean
blue water lying at the bottom of the tall granite precipice is picturesque.
There is a tunnel by the side of it that leads to the beach- Plage du Dramont.
Besides the beach is a monument built in 2004 to commemorate the landing of the
7th American Army led by Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt, and join forces
with the French army for the military campaign against the occupation army of Germans
on the 15 August, 1944.
The sea water is
very clean here, but the beach has large round stones they call galettes and they are rather slippery and difficult to
walk on. We washed ourselves in the
clean water and took the small train
back to the residence. After lunch we
took our nap and while Annie swims at the swimming pool. I did the editing of my
book.
Pierre and Vacances at last after three reminders delivered the frying
pan. The evening is rather cold and
after watching the film in homage to
Michel Serault-Nelly and Arnaud we decided to call it a day.
First of August a
calm windless day. The trees, and plants
stand in their surroundings unmoved like sentinels dressed for a grand ceremony. The sun still young in the sky has not
been able to move away the cold veil of
the night. That makes the day sunny fresh and calm. The intermittent chirping
of the birds breaks the morning’s silence. I got up in a bad mood. Half the night I was awake, an attempt to
meditate failed. It may have been
because of the tea I had late last
evening. I thought I will get up to the
smell of the morning coffee, but it was not to be. That put me in to a real bad
mood. 11 -30 in
the morning we took the Bus to Saint Raphael. It is just 8Km away and the fare
for one person one way costs 2 Euros 70.
It is extremely
hot and walking to the beach area was tiring.
The familiar sights brought back memories of
12 years ago when we did the same
walk with Lalith in company. After a round of seeing some of the boutiques we
decided to have lunch . We went to a
restaurant one of the
many-L’Alsacien. We ordered moule and
frites (mussels and potato chip). They
say one Kilo gramme of mussels and chips but half of it turned out to be
empty shells. It is unbelievable how
these people make money on the back of the tourist. A couple on the table
behind us complained to the owner. He
was silent, owning his fault and gave
them an extra helping. We did not want
to take more from these day light thieves and paid
the 23,60 Eros and cursing them in
silence walked away.
If you go to St.
Raphael Avoid eating at Chez Alsacien, 465 Bld de la Liberation at Frejus
Plage.
Annie had her number 53 in porcelain. She was making an effort to
make me spend the cash I had which I resisted from spending. We were looking for a shady area in an
intolerably hot sun. We sat on a bench
surrounded by young Nordic girls of all sizes and beauty. We enjoyed the shade
and the surrounding beauty for some time and continued our walk looking for
another shade along the Frejus beach
along side the sea in St. Raphael.
We walked up to
the statue of Senagalese soldiers put up in memory of a France for the
liberation of which all nation of all colours jointly fought- the history which
the French now try to forget in their search for racial purity separated from
the coloured and the poor.
The poverty for
which they themselves contributed. The International Community , excepting
Germany which was the aggressor, who made use of the poor colonized nations to
win their wars and rebuild their war ravaged cities, now does not give a hand
for their emancipation and economic development. They make a noise about their financial aid,
which are repayable loans, but do
not transfer technology for a real
development of the under developed countries, to see an end to their poverty. The poverty from
which they themselves some how profit by sale of arms, building holiday resort,
and sale of luxury items..
It is getting
late and the “terrible” sun has sufficiently scorched us and further moment was
forced and tiring.
We walked into
shops buying nothing but looking at things. In one of the incursions to a shop
I fell on the canson paper I had been looking for, which I bought and
walked to the Bus stand. It
was another adventure looking for a bus
to come back to Pienrre et Vacances.
However, we made our way back tired and warn out neither rich nor poor intellectually or materially from whence we
had started. After a recuperating nap
and a wash, I walked to the place where local products were on exhibition along with artists, and
vendors of articles of amusement.
***********************************************************************
This morning is
rather fresh, without wind or storm. While other young , robust, adventurous
and courages went their way to the beach or
get scorched in the afternoon sun in Saint Raphael, we lazied drinking
a late coffee and being happy about it.
Finally Annie had decided to go to the beach and I followed. The beach
is less crowded. We bathed and dried
ourselves alternately. We laid on the
sand watching the children at play and men with big bellies and joyous women
swam in the sea or occupied in various
ways on the beach. Finally reluctantly left the calm and enticing beach back
for a lunch quite simple but satisfying;
After a reviving afternoon nap and a fresh shower, woke up to live the
rest of the evening two of us in our different ways.
It is already
the Friday, 3 of August, The strong windy night has left a fresh morning. The sun is strong announcing another hot day.
The TV provided by the Pierre
et Vacance for which they charge a tidy sum is
not functioning well. I informed the reception , which promised the
visit of a technician. How long it would take is any body’s guess. The joyous
sparrows our regular visitors are their pecking in the grass looking for the
morning breakfast. Some holiday makers
have finished their vacation and are leaving behind the sun and fun for their daily cores. The ones who leave behind their
daily cores for sun and nu will arrive tomorrow. We have no special programme it is either
getting sun baked on the beach or relax
and feel free for a while having
left behind the burdens. Silence and
calm is a rare commodity even here_ cars, buses, golfers dragging their bags,
lawn mowers, beep beep of service vans,
helicopters, and dragging feet of pedestrians. E2 001 at Pierre et Vacances seems to be the most
affected noise wise as well.
The technician
for the TV arrived and repaired post. As
it is we went to the beach to get sun baked.
The sea was calm and bathed and dipped to the hearts content. It was quiet with less number of people. The children were either making their sand castles, playing
beach balls or simply running about. The
sun was hot and dipping in the shallow
waters was a pleasure. We returned for lunch the recuperating nap and a other
work that pleased us to while away the time.
The Saturday
woke us with the noise of the departing
holiday makers driving away in their big posh cars. The next door neighbour with her cute baby
Enso left as well. The day is warm and
the morning is sunny and agreeable. We
have no programme and still do things as
it pleases us. The day is still young and we will find other pleasures as we go
on. Tomorrow we have to get up early to join the tour visiting the fete du lavandes, departure for which is
scheduled for 6 a.m.
To-day it is extremely
noisy with people coming and installing themselves. We went for a long walk venturing to get
acquainted with the place. Some of the residences are on the hill and access by
foot is extremely tiring. The view the
residents up their command is extremely
beautiful, and between a view of beauty
and physical ease of access I prefer where I am on the ground floor close to sea,
bus and other facilities.
We decided to go
to the beach and took what we thought was a short cut and completely lost ourselves and had to walk rough land and
traverse the golf course and finally arrived at the beach tired and completely
exhausted walking under the cruel old sun.
The cold waters of the sea was a tonic that soothed our weary
bodies. After lying about in the sea for
a considerable time we came back as
hungry as wolves. Luckily we had prepared a grand salad before
leaving for our adventure and that stood in good stead.
We were up as
early as four thirty in the morning even though we had set the time for five. A
chance of missing the morning bus kept
us awake. We left at six thirty in the
Beltram bus that came to pick us up. The bus goes from one holiday resort to
the other collecting passengers who had reserved a place to visit Digne Les
Bain for the festival of Lavender
harvest called corso de fête des lavandes .
We went past beautiful landscapes of
pine wooded hills, forests and intermittent old villages with their churches and farms . We stopped at a small village preparing a festivity
for the harvest of wheat.
They had
organised small market places in the open air
displaying various ornamental
ware, food items and clothes with designs peculiar to the Province. The people
were dressed in ancient medieval clothes women of coloured long skirtswith
flower designs, long armed blouses and coloured scarves around their necks,
with hair tied in a knot on the top of the head. They were preparing fruit juices and even fruit jams on the
way side pavements. The village was clean and tidy, with lots of
lookers on.
We left the
village drove eighty kilometres to arrive at Digne les Bain at noon. The parade of decorated carts the main attraction of the festival was to
take place at three and we were well
ahead of time. The restaurants on the
road along which the parade was to take place had arranged tables to be
reserved for those who would like to take their lunch watching the parade as it
goes past. The menu we found was all the same in the restaurants and chicken,
pork and calf meat was dominant. We
preferred a sandwich , a fruit and a drink and carried them with us to a shady spot on the road.
The area was
lined with old trees on either side with their branches casting a protective
cool shade from the scorching hot sun.
There were comfortable long wooden benches. We sat on one strategically situated to rest
and watch the festive road over
shoulders of the people standing in front of us. The exercise seemed difficult but there was
ample time for us to exercise, to become adept at watching what was going on
over the people’s shoulders.
In the meantime, we had our lunch and started
the long wait watching people commenting on their dresses, sizes and
faces. There were those that had come
with their dogs other with their girl friends or wives, others in family with
the children and yet others with the family, the children and the dogs. There were women the old, very old, young
beautiful and not so beautiful. The thin
the fat and the very fat. Some were
dressed simply others gaudy and some even comic.
I took out my
book of sketched and sketched a tree of all things I could have sketched, while
Annie went for a walk and I stayed on as some one had to keep the bench. Then the crowds began to come . The bench we were occupying
meant for four was too big for
two, but three was company ,and Annie allowed a
smartly dressed middle aged Vietnamese
woman to sit with us. Annie never
short of a conversation if it is a woman went on and on with the Vietnamese
woman allowing me time to watch the people as they began to crowd all around
us. There was a couple from Martinique
with children and sisters and aunts. The
children were running all over calling each other and shouting and crying
making a real din in Digne !!!
There was man
with a big dog, and his wife or at least someone who seemed to be so. There was
yet other couples and boys in groups, giggling girls with their boy
friends. We knew at some stage we will
have to give up the seat and keep standing as the crowd will soon cover the
view of the road which is now under a scorching hot sun. The seats at five euros arranged for
people to sit on either side of
the road were bathed in the heat of the
hot sun, and most of them were empty, while those in the shade were
full. Why pay when you could watch it standing ?......and lot of the spectators
were standing on either side of the road.
At three they
announced the arrival of the parade and
a tuneful brass band went by
clapped and whistled by the appreciative crowd. Then came a host of young boys
clad in coloured satin dresses
throwing bunches of dried lavender at
the crowds. They were followed by a march past of young girls always a very
loudly acclaimed event in any festive
parades in France. Next came a cart decorated in flowers ( they said some 300
thousand flowers), depicting dancers and musical instruments., with a bevy of
girls some seated and others standing accompanied by musicians and dancers.
There were eight other carts that followed most of them decorated in
coloured paper, depicting different
motives – a pack of cards, medieval scenes, or modern scenes of Mickey Mouse. There were Brazilian Dancers
or girls dressed in colourful Mexican
dresses. The parade was very beautiful the young girls who danced some of them
as young as four or five years were pathetically fatigued moving in dancing steps in the hot
sun. The carts did not follow one after
the other in an unbroken cadence, but spaced at long intervals which made it a little boring at times having had to wait
long for the next cart having seen the one that had just gone past. There was however
nothing extraordinary to have come that far to see. But the way side landscapes, and little
Medieval villages niched in their particular environment of forests and hills in the shade of a range of mountains
were attractive.
On our way back
Annie reminded me that Digne les Bain is the
village where Alexandra David
Neil was born. She was the pioneer
French woman to visit Nepal
and write about the place, the people, and their beliefs. She was the first
Western Woman to visit Lhasa in Tibet, and to have
written books on Buddhism . She
visited Nepal
several times and when she was too old
to travel settled down in her native village and died their. Annie told me all this, and as we were
returning back showed me the house where she was born and later died. It now
houses the Foundation of Alexandra
David Neil. The area around the
house was decorated with numerous poles bearing flags
of different colours. Unfortunately, we
had only a glimpse of the place, as the bus did not even slowed down at the place. The people in the bus may
not have known who was, Alexandra David Neil.
The following
day was not as bright as it was yesterday. Annie was complaining of a bad stomach,
and went for a session of aquatic exercise, while I filled page with words. I went shopping and met a girl with a nice
name Nyama. She is of Arab origin.
I had the lunch
ready when Annie returned. She was
really out of sort and slept after lunch.
There was too much of noise, which the Pierre et Vacance does not seem to pay much attention
to curb. They repaired a barrier at the entrance which is not far away from where we are. Each time a vehicle passes the barrier goes
up automatically and comes back to rest on a metal device. Since its reparation, each time the barrier which lifts
automatically allowing a vehicle to pass comes back to rest on the metal
devise, it makes a very unpleasant
noise. No body seems to care and least
of all the Pierre
et Vacances. That has added to our “heap” of suffering .
In the evening
we went for a long walk arriving at Plage de l’Agay. Not being quite in form we did not bathe. Annie had her cake
and ate fruits. I had something light as
well and went to sleep. The peculiarly
self centred attitudes anger me and make
me say things which are not very palatable. At my age when I think of people
who I have met, some have contributed to my
growth some have regrettably
contributed neither to my social nor to
my intellectual growth.
7th
is the worst day since we arrived taking into account the weather, and the
general atmosphere of dullness. A cat walked in. It is lost he made a survey of the house, and
went away crying. I wondered whether he
had been abandoned. He looked quite
smart and coming from an environment of plenty.
Aruna called to
say that she is busy and will soon be going to America to participate in her
nieces Gayathram or what ever. I bought the The Times. An interesting report
about Russia and China
carrying out joint military exercises in
a new alliance interested me. I wrote an
article which I would be sending to Lanka Web.
I am rather disgruntled having had no access to the internet to find out
what is happening in Sri
Lanka. I would like to go to the Cyber Café
at Pierre and
Vacances, but I would not on principle
,I think it is day light robbery to charge 2 euros 30 for 15minutes of internet
connection.
We wanted to do
a walk around the Pierre
and Vacances. At the end of the parking is a big forest area the path we had to
take was derelict and unsafe. We thought it safe to abandon the idea. We went to the childrens’ sports area and
walked back. It was windy and cold.
There is a cold
wind blowing, it was unsafe even to walk so strong is the wind. I read the
paper I had bought yesterday. Annie went to the piscine
9th Day . The wind has not completely subsided,
and the cold subsists. The sky is clouded. In the afternoon we took
the baby train up to the old stone
quarry, and walked past the beach and through
the town of Dermont. The traffic was heavy. We walked on the
narrow pavements. The beach has sharp reddish almost volcanic rock
formations. The sanded beaches almost
non existent. The sea water is clear, the sea agitated in the still blowing
wind beats against the wall of rock
making pretty splashes of water.
The hotels and
restaurants are reminiscent of the embarkation of the allied forces, with names
like Hotel de l’Embarcation, Brassarie de Quartier Generale. I stopped now and then by the side of the beach to just look at the sea, or make a sketch or
two. Annie did not come ready for a bath
in the sea and we came back. The evening
was colder than it was when we began our walk.
The weather has
not improved much. The sky was heavy and
cloudy. The wind is still trying to make itself felt. The
swimming pool, reading and painting took
most of the morning. In the afternoon we decided to walk to Agay to see the exposition of
paintings. It was an exposition of amateur
artists. Some of the paintings were good.
What attracted us most were the paintings in coloured sand . It was a lady artist who had studied the
method in New Calidonia and adopted it to her own method of painting . She uses clean sand, washes it and mixes with different paints of colour. Then she dries them and puts them in to
bottles. She uses a special gummed papers
with an ordinary covering on which she makes her design and cuts and
removes the cutting and paints taking
sand into an ordinary brush.
We went to a
farm on the way and bought vegetables
and fruits. We walked down the beach and
came back, bit tired after the exercise.
Saturday 11th
A perfect day, there is a brilliant sun
a soothingly satisfying wind. A SMS from
our dear son has upset Annie. A lot of the holiday makers seem to be going away
today. It is a sad day when people are leaving a place they had made their home
for a week or two. We had no contact with any of them yet hearts soften with a
sense of togetherness. The children, with
their pet dogs, dolls and lollipops pass by with tears of sadness of parting in
their baby eyes. Our neighbour for the last one week is leaving too. It is
nearly eleven in the morning , but sitting in the veranda I feel the cold
wind………
I read the
Herald Tribune. There are many articles
that give contrary political analysis.
Kisinger’s article about Putin’s
proposal for an alliance with NATO,
comes at a time the Times reported a joint military alliance of Russia and China, with joint military
exercises lasting a week from the 9th. In Lebanon USA supported Gamayel lost the
election , which is being interpreted as a v ote against American Intervention
in Lebanon. A report quotes El Rasheed a Turkish commenting American support as the kiss of death, adding that “ the
minute you are counted on or backed
by the Americans , kiss it good bye, you
will never win.” Lebanese think that the Americans should help Lebanon as a
whole without taking sides. That is food
for thought for the American Establishment.
What irritates
me is the comedy being enacted by the Human Rights Watch, and the Amnesty
International becoming real spoil sports making sport events to take up their cause.
They did that in a cricket match some times back and now they have woken
up again to spoil the Olympic Games, in China. They should
know when to act positively to win their cause. Olympics is something to
look forward to by all sports lovers the world over without distinction of
politics. Americans did that once to
stop the Olympic Games in Russia. Are they going to do that again to China
?
There are so
many other countries including America
where human rights are violated. It is
time the Amnesty International and Human Rights watch reassess their tactics, without mixing
politics with sports.
After lunch we
went for a walk to the beach, It was not
very warm. The water is cold and not clean either.
12th
August. I meditated and after wards slept a while. Annie is still
asleep. I sat to make a retrospective
view of my past. Are their areas of my
life of which I could be happy or
areas to be un happy ?
Is there a balance between the two…?
The day is not
too warm not different from yesterday. It is sunny and bright though. The day
is as usual with our normal activities. The swimming pool is too crowded with
the new comers making a bee line to it in the morning. We decided to go to the beach .
The water is cold though the sun is hot.
It was nevertheless a pleasure to dip in the sea and wobble on the
sand…. We came back around one thirty in
the after noon. We had time for a salad pizza and home made
potato fritters. We were not going for our usual walk, but read, write,
and lay on the bed…..
Lalith has no
sandy beach or warm beds but a wounded
friend who seems to have had a fall and in bad shape. Perhaps he has anger in his heart, for a
friend who he says has betrayed him. He
should turn a leaf in his life and realise that he has himself to blame for
what he has done of himself and that it is he that can take himself out of his predicaments. Any way that is his life and he should know
how to live it, if he does not want others to tell him what he should do with it.
I read the Le
Monde- the news is less engaging , mere dry reports of Sarkozy-Bush meeting in Kennebunkport,
Sharing the Arctic by the five nations around it, 20 000 km of
European Coastline threatened by
erosion, A case against a band of youth who terrorise a community in Essonne,
on Lustiger- the Bishop, and other mediocre articles. This article by Jean-Luc
Marion on Lustiger ou L’Intelligence de fois, is the most boring, I have read
imparting no intelligent information about the man or his intelligence, but the writer is described as a Philosopher,
professeur à l’université de Paris-IV Sorbonne et à l’unversité de Chicago. I
admit I am not proficient in French , but a good article should be able to be
understood by the least educated. I
would chose Herald Tribune to read rather than the Le Monde.
Motor Vehicles
are a nuisance here in the Cap Esterel
Holiday Resort. It is a calm day if not fo the motor vehicles. It may be
warm out side but typing in the Veranda which is in the shade just now, I feel
the air a little fresh. I hear Annie
booking the SNCF for carriage of baggage for our return trip. A clock some
where strikes ten reminding me that the day is still young. I wanted to do
a walk
in the morning. I saw a number of the residents doing a group exercise
to Music led by a young woman. Same thing was going on in the big swimming
pool below. I looked for Annie, but I
could not see her. I bought a Herald Tribune and went to the
Reception, and coming out of the reception I turned left and walked up the so far
undiscovered territory. I climbed to-wards
the hills past the balcon de Cap
Esterel. The scene from there is really
beautiful. I climbed on until I came to the
children’s club house, which is a large
space. From there you have a view of almost whole of Cap Esterel. I walked through paths between well laid flower gardens and green lawns. I turned
right which was the down hill opposite the golf link and
where the new golfers practice putting.
There were
beautiful flowers I had not seen in the lanes I had frequented below. I could see the Swimming pools crowded with
the young and the old . I could see the
volley ball ground where a match is in progress
I came past the children’s
playing corner, past the farm
yard through the apartments down and back and read the news.
There is nothing
special except China’s new role in Africa, where they dig for
Petrol in Chad. And Africa
which was let alone to develop on loans
by Western Powers, has found a new World leadership different from the old and
help the Africans’ to develop their countries in a more positive way. The
problem as always is with the African Political leaders unable to use the petrol money for the
benefit of the people. If they
eventually learn that Africa could be another
continent to recon with. China
was also a poor country economically massacred by the western powers. India too is seeing the light
through the tunnel of poverty and suffering.
Russia
has surprised every one with its economic
development enriched by petrol and gas earnings. So why not Africa with its petrol, with which
China
will certainly finance the development of the Country.
The sky is
cloudy and it is beginning to get cold.
We stayed home to read, paint,
and watch the television.
To-day is the 14th It is Annie’s day to see the Marine Land.
We have to be ready by 11 am so we may
have to skip the lunch substituting it with some snacks. It is not very warm ,
but it is only 9 and 30 in
the morning. The residents are on their way to the beach or to the swimming
pool. Two old women are in their long dresses going to the parking to take
the car probably to go to St.
Raphael. The place is already noisy with
cars, buses and other vehicles.
We left Cap
Esterel by a Beltram Bus. The passengers
were taken at different places and the
when the bus was full of the scheduled number of passengers the driver
introduced himself as Christopher and that we would arrive at Marineland at two
thirty pm. When we arrived he bought the
tickets and distributed them. We hurried
to see the big Dolphins . They were
really big the skin is a deep black with a white underside. They showed
unbelievable intelligence in different exercises they were made to
perform. They are in a huge basin of
water with glass panels on one side.
There were a large crowd seated in a stadium. Of course it is a show more for the
children. But it is a real experience
for the adults. Of course when one
thinks of these animals out side their natural environment with their freedom
stolen by man to make them an element of their personal entertainment, it is certainly
an un acceptable way of treating
animals. But it is how it is and
even reluctantly the reality of survival of the fittest has to be
accepted. But as an entertainment it is
very mediocre and lots of people and
specially children seem to appreciate it.
Then there were small dolphins made to go through the same type of
exercises as the bigger ones.
There were a
score of penguins. They looked
pathetically miserable. But to see them here in France is a rare opportunity. Besides a
very well constructed aquarium with small and big fish was attractive
and it is a splendid reconstruction of
the sea environment in which they live.
There was also a tunnel of
dangerous roquins . It had several specimens of them. It is a tunnel with a glass base you could
see the sharks in the sea water above
the base of the tunnel and on the sides.
They really look ferocious but the way they glide about in the water is
remarkable considering their size. When
we had seen all that it was five pm and we hurried back to the bus which took
us back in time for the TV news caste.
We prepared a
quick dinner and went to see a Bolywood show put up by the entertainers of Capesterel Holiday Resort. There was Indian music to fit the dances, but
the dances themselves were of poor
quality in performance. The Indian
Bolywood dances are more rhythmic and attractive. Nevertheless, the attempt is worthy of being
appreciated.
After that there
was to be a display of fireworks, in
commemoration of the embarkation of allied forces in Dremont to free France
from the German Occupying forces. The crowds were nervous an elderly man with a
brood of children got involved in exchange of
angry words with a young couple, which ended in the young woman leaving
the place and the arrival of a Security guard.
The fire works were short but really beautiful.
The place was
being prepared for a Ball, there was techno music and several hectic dances followed one after the
other. It was interesting watching the
gyrating dancers from the fringe of the dancing floor. Annie went through several of them and was
still not tired… how ever when the music became too techno we decided to call
it a day.
It is the 15th
and I have been up since seven am or earlier.
Annie is recuperating after the dance and is fast as sleep. The day seems to be warmer than it was yesterday. Bu the sky is covered and the day looks dull. In the afternoon we went to the beach. There were lots of big boats anchored in the
sea close to the beach. The boats have
thrown their waste into the sea and the beach area has been dirtied. We did not
got to dip our selves in the sea. The
wind is cold . We left the beach.
Today we took
the bus to St Raphael . We took with us
sandwiches. We walked almost up to the Frejus Beach Annie did her
last minute shopping. It is sad to see
how dishonest are the merchants in this seaside resorts . Last time we came to
St.Raphael it was a restaurant that made us the victim of their fraudulent
business. This time it was a woman at
a news paper kiosk. I bought a Herald Tribune which costs 2Euros
20, when I gave her 2 Euros 50 she
pretended I gave only 2Euros 20, luckily she had no time to put the money in
the till , when I pointed out that what I had given her was 2 Euros 50, she put a look of
exasperation and returned the
balance. We had our sandwiches seated on
the shady walk beside the sea, and took the bus back. In the evening we went to the beach. Today
the beach is much cleaner. We bathed and
enjoying the refreshing sea side air, and walked back. It suddenly became very
windy in the night. We packed our bags
which have to be given to the carriers tomorrow morning.
17th
Friday, heavy winds through out the last nigh which continues this morning. The
wind is cold, the day is nevertheless
sunny and bright. We packed our bag and
handed it over to the reception at 8 and thirty. . We paid our taxes. We have still a day to go and tomorrow
morning at 10 am we will have to leave the studio.The Manager as shown on the wall at the reception is
Olivier Gerez and the Assistant Celine Gateau.
We have stayed three weeks and we
profited from the sun and the beach.
Annie is in good mood and kept
her nerves well under control. We have minimum of things to carry with us and
that is a great relief.. The winds
continue to blow unabated. It is
impossible even to go for a walk. We
stayed home watching the
television. Annie nevertheless had the
courage to go for her daily swim I
cleaned the house so that we need not have to go through the ordeal
tomorrow morning. The provisions are gradually diminishing. We went to sleep early in view of tomorrows
departure. Lalith telephoned to ask how
we were. Annie gave a call to Ginette to inform her of our departure scheduled
for tomorrow.
The day of
departure has finally arrived. We were tired after a broken sleep by being
disturbed by the occupants of the apartment upstairs who were making a noise
preparing for their departure. We were
to take the bus to St.Raphael at 11 thirty seven .
