As with the previous day we had decided not to pay the extra for breakfast and headed straight out. It was, thankfully, a much drier day so the drive was more beautiful as we drove across the massif towards an ever larger mountain range. We had agreed over last night’s burgers to push for the coast and our progress was going to determine the exact stop off point. We had considered St Tropez, but it is very expensive.
Massif Central 
Driving through Massif Central 
Coming into the mountains
Our initial coastal stop was at La Ciotat, but it was under considerable construction and, as we arrived after 2pm, nothing was open at all. We climbed back into the van and continued to Saint Tropez where we stretched our legs and admired the yachts, the beautiful people in the cafés and tried to avoid the renovation works before heading off for our overnight stop in Saint Maxime.
I had never heard of Saint Maxime before, but it is a lovely resort town. We found our hotel relatively easily and were pleased to discover we had been allocated a room with a balcony again and this one had sea glimpses, although not when we arrived as it was already getting dark. Saint Maxime reminds me of Giardini Naxos in Sicily; A long sea front with an parallel row of restaurants and bars. However we found a great bar in the side road close to our hotel where we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink and were provided with some generous snacks including a lovely slab of pate. From there we went out in search of the rest of dinner. The roads just in from the front were nearer our price range although a number were also closed on Tuesday. Sadly the dinner options were not promising and although it was our last night in France we ended up eating in a Pizzeria. Tomorrow Italy.
