Danilo the campsite manager was extremely helpful in telling us about the local area and any excursions we might like. The town of Sestri Levante is a 15 minute cycle ride away and is typical rather old fashioned Italian resort with two wide sandy beaches and a harbour area. We spent our time here cycling to beach to have a picnic lunch and a relax in the sun (as long as the numerous beach sellers don't bother you!) The sizzling heat continued but peppered with the occasional storm which sent everyone scurrying for cover from the rain.
Once again we were impressed by the hospitality of the campsite staff with expresso on the house on our first morning and a small carton of milk on the next morning, it seems the Italians are generous people and like to give a little gift. Almost all the Italian campsites we visited we have found to be friendly and hospitable from the outset.
We left Italy on Saturday thinking it would be a quieter day on the road but travelling along the coast road from Genoa to Nice was not a pleasant experience! It was busy, the most expensive Italian toll payment at 27.50€, only two lanes for most of the way and had more tunnels than you could keep count of. Eventually we arrived at campsite Les Pecheurs at Roquebrune near Frejus on the Cote D'Azur. Our intention being to get out on our bikes into the peaceful French back roads to discover the sleepy little villages. Sadly, over the couple of days we were there we didn't really find too much of that - being so close to the coast the roads were pretty busy.
On our first night we had a huge thunderstorm in the early hours of the morning, a months worth of rain fell in half a hour and we woke later to find our van marooned in a very large puddle of water! Luckily it dried up over the next couple of days so we could get the van off the pitch without it sinking in the sandy mud.
One of our cycle outings was moderately successful as we did find some beautiful scenery and quiet villages although the route culminated in cycling a few miles along a busy main road. What I hate most about that is the feeling you are going to get sucked under the wheels of a gigantic juggernaut at any moment, I just put my head down and cycle as fast as I can to get home! And after 36 miles of cycling that day we were ready to get back and relax in the sunshine.
Our next stop was just an hours drive west along the coast towards Marseille, a campsite we chose for it's closer proximity to the coast. Although it was a near a busy motorway Campsite Campasun L'Esprit du Sud was a friendly and well run site with a lovely swimming pool and a short cycle ride to the pretty town of Sanury sur Mer which actually boasted a coastal cycle track as well as a very attractive coastline. Here we could cycle along the coast, relax on the beach or swim in the pool and enjoy the glorious South of France sunshine for a while. At last the storms of the last week seem to have passed over.
The only downside of the site was the constant drone of the motorway traffic in the background and the very busy road we had to cycle to get to the seafront, we have really enjoyed our holiday but crave a day or two of traffic free cycling. We knew this part of the south of France would be busy and avoided the major resorts like St Tropez and St Morritz but perhaps didn't realise just how busy it would be!
So after a few days here once again we move on further westwards along the coast to pastures new in search of the perfect campsite. Did we find it? Well you'll have to wait and see won't you?
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