Bonjour from Castellane
We left Nice after a week (with a day trip to Monaco - the photos are on Flickr).
We're now in Castellane, our home for the next month. We are staying in the Grand Hotel du Levant, which is owned by Gwil's family friend, Marie-Therese. She is completely spoiling us - giving us a great hotel room, as well as feeding us chef-prepared meals every day that we eat with the hotel staff... which are always full of cream and cheese and taste delicious!!
The Hotel du Levant
Marie-Therese, Laura, Tibor with Em & Gwil
Castellane is a very small town. It has no traffic lights, one round-about, and everything closes each day between 1-3pm so that people can have lunch and a siesta. There are fantastic markets here twice a week - every Wednesday and Saturday morning - which bring amazing cheeses, breads and fruits to the town square (which in the afternoons doubles as a boules court for the older men of Castellane!)
The rest of the staff in the hotel here speak very little English, which makes for interesting meal times. Em thought that it would be good to practice her French... but they all speak so fast here that it's difficult to keep up in conversation! But we're getting on with them, and we both make them laugh with our attempts at French!
We were here for the France v Spain World Cup match (where France won - sorry Sal!), and the atmosphere was crazy! We're looking forward to Saturday night, when France plays in the quarter-finals. There are a few bars in town, but we're going to watch the match in the hotel with the staff, and then head to the town's only Discoteque!! Allez les bleus!
posted by Emily @ 10:55 pm
1 comments
1 Comments:
I thought this place might be interesting to check out. I found it while googling Castellane!!
Hats
In the "Modes" hat shop they are serious about their hats, and have been for a very, very long time. The lady who looks after the shop sometimes to help out her friend is 87 years old [1995]. The proprietor is responsible for the design or purchase of everything she sells, and is knowledgeable and proud of her wares; she's 102 years old.
[Sept 1999] The proprietor is now 105 years old. She's relaxed her work to only half-days now, attending her shop only in the afternoons, and she no longer makes her own hats. She does, however, personally select all wares that are offered for sale (and there's a great selection, including some for hiking and strolling). During the mornings, you'll find her granddaughter looking after the shop, maintaining the family's friendly service.
Meg.
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