A day at Sanary sur Mer

Yesterday the group spent the day at Sanary sur Mer – a charming port town which borders on the more famous Bandol and is more or less equidistant between France’s biggest port cities of Toulon and Marseilles.

It has a literary history.

Aldous Huxley and Cyril Connolly lived here and during World War Two various Jewish writers – notably Thomas  Mann and Bertholt Brecht – set up a refugee enclave.

The writer Sybille Bedford wrote a memoir of her youth here (A Legacy) which is worth reading.

We had lunch at its best restaurant Hotel de la Tour on the quayside but the weather was still rainy.

In the evening Bob Tickler’s ex Mirelle, who is an outstanding cook, gave a dinner party.

The food of canapés served with champagne and a chicken curry followed by cheese and a chocolate gateau Bob had bought was vastly superior to any British dinner party.

We started to watch the Presidential Election but it was clear from preliminary polling that Macron has won.

Marine Le Pen was regarded as too divisive and the fact that her campaign was financed by a Russian bank for €12 million did not help her either.

This morning we leave for Cannes.