Cavalaire - History - Histoire

The name Cavalaire comes from the Greek colony "Heraclea Cacabaria" which founded a settlement in the bay. It evokes memories of Carthage and Hercules. The story of this young town (which has just celebrated its 70th birthday) of 5300 inhabitants began in 800 B.C. when the Ligurians occupied the fortress of Montjean. The Count of Provence, Guillaume I, built a watchtower on Cap Cavalaire, which was subsequently fortified by the Counts of Grimaud. the fortifications were destroyed in 1646.

In the 18th century, Cavalaire was a small fishing village, attached to the neighbouring village of Gassin until 1929. On August 15, 1944, the Allied Forces chose the site for the landings of the American army's 3rd infantry division. Cavalaire's main activity is now tourism and the town possesses a 1200 berth marina, famous throughout the Mediterranean. The remains of the Ligurian fortress, inhabited from 6 to 4 B.C., can still be admired on the heights overlooking Cavalaire Bay.

Le nom de Cavalaire provient d'une colonie grecque "Heraclea Cacabaria" qui avait pris position dans le baie. Il évoque le souvenir de Carthage et rapelle le culte d'Hercule. L'histoire de cette jeune commune (elle vient de fêter ses 70 ans) de 5300 habitants commence 800 ans avant notre ère avec les Ligures, installés dans leur oppidum (forteresse) du Montjean. Le compte de Provence, Guillaume Ier, construisit sur le Cap Cavalaire une tour de vigie à laquelle les comtes de Grimaud ajoutèrent des fortifications, détruites en 1646.

Au XVIIIe siècle, Cavalaire devint un petit hameau de pêcheurs qui, jusqu'en 1929, dépendait du village de Gassin. Le 15 août 1944, les alliés choisirent ce site pour le débarquement de la 3e division d'infanterie américaine. Depuis, l'activité principale de la commune est le tourisme avec un port moderne de 1200 places, renommé dans toute la Méditerranée. A noter également les vestiges de l'oppidum Ligure, habité du VIe siècle au IVe siècle av. J.C., sur les hauteurs du Montjean dominant la baie de Cavalaire.

La Récolte 2006 - the 2006 Harvest

La récolte 2006 sera inférieure à celle de l’an dernier en raison de la sécheresse. Moins de sorties de raisin donc, mais des grappes très saines d’où une bonne qualité d’ensemble. Selon les prévisions, la production totale devrait avoisiner les 7000 à 8000 hectolitres contre 10000 en 2005.


Le cave tropézienne rassemble 174 coopérateurs pour 200 hectares. Les surfaces vont du petit jardin de vignes au domaine de 25 ha. Les bennes des coopérateurs ont afflué au quai de réception de la cave tropézienne tout au long de la semaine dernière. Avec le traditionnel cycle : conquêt peseur, pressoir pneumatique en inox de 80 hectolitres, cuves de décantation de 250 hectolitres et enfin cuve de fermentation.

The harvest of 2006 will be lower than last year’s because of the drought. Less grapes have been produced but are very healthy with a good overall quality. The forecast is for a total production in the region of 7000 to 8000 hectoliters compared with 10000 in 2005.

The wine cooperative of St Tropez gathers crops from 174 producers with a total of 200 hectares ranging in size from small garden vineyards to fields of 25 ha. The grapes poured into the reception area throughout last week and went through the traditional cycle: weighing, pressing in the pneumatic stainless steel pneumatic press (capacity 80 hectoliters), settling in the decantation tanks (cap: 250 hectoliters) and finally ending up in the vats for the fermentation process to begin.

Romarin - Rosemary

Le romarin est un arbrisseau des régions méditerranéennes poussant sur sols calcaires, à l’état sauvage ou cultivé.


Partie utilisée : la feuille pour ballonnements, douleurs et spasmes abdominaux. Ses feuilles renferment une huile essentielle à laquelle il doit ses propriétés sur le système digestif. Le romarin stimule le fonctionnement da la vésicule biliaire. Il est indiqué à ce titre dans l’insuffisance hépatique et en cas d’inflammation chronique de la vésicule. Il agit sur les fermentations intestinales et sur les douleurs abdominales qu’elles entraînent, en calmant les spasmes d’origine digestive par son action spasmolytique sur les intestins et l’estomac.

Par son effet relaxant sur les muscles lisses du système respiratoire, il calme aussi la toux et contribue au confort de l’asthmatique.
Il s’utilise pour soigner les bronchites grâce à son huile essentielle antiseptique.


Rosemary is a widespread in Mediterranean regions, thriving in the chalky soil in both wild and cultivated states.

Its leaves contain an essential oil the properties of which make it a good plant for treating disorders of the digestive system. Rosemary stimulates the function of the gall bladder. For this reason, it is often used in cases of hepatic insufficiency and for chronic inflammation of the gall bladder. It has an anti-spasmodic effect on the digestive process, easing associated abdominal pain by calming spasms in both the intestines and the stomach.

It also has a relaxing effect on the muscles of the respiratory system, calming coughs and having a comforting effect for asthmatics.
It is also effective as a treatment for bronchitis due to the antiseptic properties of its essential oil.

Tea in France

Historically, tea is associated with England but tea was as popular in France from the 17th century as it was in England. In 1671, the first cafe in France opened in Marseille and 15 years later came the first Parisian café – these were for drinking coffee and the customers were mainly men. A few years after these first cafes came the "Salons de Thé”, these were as popular as the cafes but were places for wealthy, upper class women to gather.

Tea drinking became increasingly fashionable for the nobility and wealthy. However, France did not become a huge consumer of tea. The fact that the French colonies were mostly coffee producing countries no doubt influenced the market. As a result, tea was much more expensive than coffee - and so more people preferred to drink coffee

Over the last 20 years there has been a marked increase in tea-drinking – including flavoured and fruit teas. In 2005, the tea sector showed a healthy growth with the income from sales up by 7% and the volume sold up by 4% compared to 2004.

11,044 tonnes of tea was sold in France in 2005, generating 342 million euros.

On At My Site two of my members are tea-sellers. They sell via the internet and at local Provencal markets – they are : à l'heure des thés and Terre et Volup'thé

Tea or coffee ? Which do you prefer ........

Latitude 43 - something special in St Tropez

Here's my first bi-lingual blog - je m'excuse ma français très mal écrit.

Hotel Latitude 43

This historic hotel, designed by Georges-Henri Pingusson, is situated on an elevated site overlooking the town of St Tropez and across the bay to Ste Maxime and was opened in 1932.

The hotel was built in 6 months of hollow bricks that were filled with reinforced concrete. The original plan was very comprehensive – in addition to 110 rooms (90 en suite) there was a restaurant, a sports complex, a casino and shops. There was also a service annex which housed a laundry, garages, staff accommodation and the water and electricty installations.

During the Second World War, Latitude 43 was requisitioned by the French, Italian, German and American armies in turn. From 1945 to 1947 it was a respite center for ex-concentration camp prisoners. In 1948 the building was converted into apartments.

It has been a protected building since 1964 and has been carefully restored – interior, exterior and the gardens – since 1992.

You can visit the gardens and see the exterior of the building : daily 10h - 12h and 15h - 17h

It can be seen in all it's glory from the sea - take a trip with Paradise Cruises and look for "Latitude 43"

Hôtel Latitude 43

Un hôtel historique "Latitude 43" était réaliser par l'architecte Georges-Henri Pingusson en 1932, inséré dans un site surplombant les villes de St Tropez et de Ste Maxime à l'autre côte de la baie.

L'édifice étais construit en six mois, en béton armé avec des remplissages en brique creuse. Le programme d'origine étais très compréhensive - outre l'hôtel de 110 chambres (90 en suite) il y avait un restaurant, un complexe sportif, un casino et des commerces. En plus un service annexe (château d'eau, buanderie, transformer éléctricité, garages, chambres de personnel).

Au cours de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, il est réquisitionné par les armées française, italienne, allemande puis américaine. De 1945 à 1947 c’était un centre de repos pour les anciens détenus au retour des camps de concentration. En 1948 le bâtiment était reconvertir en appartements.

Un bâtiment protéger depuis 1964 il a été restaurer – interieur, exterieur et les jardins – depuis 1992.

De 10h - 12h et 15h - 17h visite des extérieurs et des jardins. Alternativement, voyez-le de la mer – dans tout son splendeur - avec Paradise Cruises.

La Croix Valmer - quiet and peaceful, except for the cowboys ...

La Croix Valmer is one of the quieter of the coastal towns that "At My Site" covers. It is an hour's drive from Toulon-Hyères airport and 15 minutes from St Tropez the quiet months. The town has views out to the sea, as well as two butchers, two bakers, three bars, excellent restaurants that won't cost you a limb and a bustling Sunday market. The locals welcome all with typically impeccable manners - except perhaps the Parisians, whom they loathe more than any foreigner.

Cowboys are welcome - this weekend there were scenes of the "wild west" during "la Fête du Cheval" - the festival of the horse. On the plage de Débarquement there were activities for the children - rides on horses, ponies or in a cart. There was a treasure hunt with plenty of gold nuggets to be found. There were animals to visit including Marguerite the cow - symbol of the association - "La Provence à Cheval" - that organized the weekend.

On Sunday there were lasso-throwing demonstrations by the cowboys and dancing later in the afternoon - country and north american indian dance traditions. There were also wolves and stunt-flyers - but by Monday morning the town had regained it's normal genteel charm.

J'accuse - Zola and Dreyfuss

I've just seen a documentary about "J'accuse" - which was an indictment written by the French novelist Emile Zola (1840 - 1902) in his open letter of 1898 published in a newspaper. It led to a prison sentence for Zola on a charge of impeachment of French military authorities. He evaded imprisonment by fleeing to England. Addressed to the President of France, the letter denounced the French army's persecution of Captain Alfred Dreyfus (1859 - 1935), a Jewish artillery officer on the general staff, who had been accused unjustly of delivering defence documents to a foreign government. Dreyfus was court-martialed and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. As a consequence, French political life seethed in the chaos of militarism and virulent anti-Semitism. Zola's "J'accuse" did much to move the government toward reopening its investigation, and Dreyfus was retried and found guilty again, but he was pardoned. It was not until 1906 that the verdict was reversed and Dreyfus was restored to his army rank. He fought in World War I and was decorated for his actions in that war.

It was a fascinating documentary of two brave men. One who spoke up for justice and one who was a war hero. Then the thought struck me that whilst there are many streets and public buildings named after Emile Zola, I have yet to see or hear of a rue Aflred Dreyfus or a CP Dreyfus.

Was he really pardoned - or was it just a technicality ?

Always Partridge

So - here's a little perdrix - short and stout (a bit like me) - "Toujours Perdrix" means "Always Partridge" ie: too much of a good thing.

My inspiration today was the story of William Petre who, after 50 rejection letters from agents and publishers, has managed to get his book accepted by a literary agent. I have a piece of writing that I have been hawking around - a disheartening and expensive task - and have been getting letters like William got - "client lists full" ... "unable to take on any new writers" .... "of course ... only our opinion" ... I've only had about 12 such letters so far - even so, not so much of a good thing ....

William Petre's book - "The Alexander Cipher" - is described in "The Times" as "a fast-paced story which mixes fact and fiction. It focuses on the search for the tomb and fabulous treasures of Alexander the Great who died in 323BC having ruled an empire that extended from Thrace to Egypt and from Greece to the Indus Valley."

I'm looking forward to reading it - and take great heart from William's comment - "I treated evry 'no' as a signal to do better."

What it's all about.

Well, not socks for a start. I live in the Gulf of St Tropez and have started a site which is a directory of services and businesses in and around 16 villages of the Gulf.

It serves 2 purposes - in addition to providing information for visitors and residents, it gives a small website to the service providers and businesses. The idea came about when a number of people asked me to design a site for them - but could not afford it or would not have been able to maintain their site once it was published (due to lack of time, interest or know-how).

So - "At My Site" was conceived, gestated for 9 months (honest!) and was born last week. Actually, a prototype was published for a few weeks in May and June - just to test interest and viability - then it was stuffed back into the ether whilst I got the business plan together.

Now I'm working full-time on the sites.

I'm still a bit slow at adding new pages - I get distracted by dreams of a forum and a classifieds page, ideas for articles and searching for potential link partners. However, today I added two sites - Mark Wallace Golf School and Mark's wife's business Moods Provence a renovation and interior design concern.

Now, unless you live in the region or are planning to visit, these sites will not be much use to you. But Mark is the publisher of a super photo blog of Ste Maxime which I have listed elsewhere on this blog as a link worth a visit. Mark's wry, dry, amusing and insightful commentaries are a great read - and the blog will give you a good "feel" of the region and of Ste Maxime in particular. It's well worth a visit.

Do pairs of socks have a left foot and a right foot?

Well - of course they do.

Although at the philosophical discussion held in Cogolin last night - "Ces chausettes sont dépareillées" - there was some disagreement. The simple proof that a pair of socks - just like a pair of shoes - are so designed that one unit of the pair is designed for the left foot and the other is distinctly for the right pied. Proof - holes ! People who respect socks and therefore wear the left sock on the left foot and the right sock on the right foot - rarely have holes in their socks. Except in very elderly socks - or socks that sock-dissing people have borrowed from a sock-sympa person.

Even bedsocks are made for left-and-right-foot usage.

Stormy, cold weather here in the Gulf today - socks drawers were opened for the first time in about 4 months. How come - when they were put away in pairs back in April, they emerge as a knotted pile of odd socks. I have a excess of right socks......