St. Raphael is a small port town on the French Riviera, nestled between Cannes and St. Tropez. It is a sweet little place, nice and calm this time of year, not particularly exciting but made very enjoyable as a result of our lovely hosts Christiane and Roger, an adorable old couple who hosted us for 2 nights. We enjoyed exploring the old town with its cute little churches and interesting buildings, and thouroughly enjoyed the Sunday markets, stretched along the waterfront (which reminded us a lot of bondi) from Frejus to St Raphael. The beaches were flat as a rock and so pretty, blue skies pierced the even deeper blue sea, the sand bare and perfect for sitting with a crepe and watching the sun warm the world, even though you still needed a jumper to enjoy its rays.

Christiane took us to one of her favourite spots yesterday, and it was such a wonderful day. She took us to Agay, an area of bays and headlands just next to st Raphael, with this cute little island called L'ile d'or (island of gold) and the port du poussai. From here we hiked up this mountain-like thing, called la semaphore du dramont, which was pretty intense (I was so impressed with how fit she was for a such a little woman in her 60s!) and sooo nice from up top. Mindblowing views in every direction, we could see everything around us. As Christane said "we are king of the world!"