Paris

Still the D559 up to BANDOL, the most famous resort of this part of the cote. Screened by the ravages of the Mistral by an arc of wooden hills. It attracts numerous visitors to its sandy coves, but, but, the horror is that from April on, you cannot even step out of your car to buy a newspaper, seen the busy traffic and the legendary patience of the French car drivers :-) (this was irony, of course!). Juts look for a parking garage. After having admired the palm and plane tree boulevards, loiter along the allée Jean Moulin and chemin de la Corniche, take a look at the shops, in the main shopping street and there is the sea, stubbornly slashing its waves against the quays of the yacht harbour. It's funny, I see a tanned man with rolled up pants, probably living here, struggling with a difficult folded beach chair. Do you know that it is here, in Bandol, that Jacques Tati, of whom you might have seen some picture, like "Mon Oncle" and "Les vacances de Mr. Hulot", took a lot of scenes of his last movie. He was a master in describing the little, stubborn, French native in its stereotyped behaviour on a beach. When Tati filmed that in 1953, he could not guess how frightening this mass tourism would develop in the later years. Other famous guest was Katherine Mansfield, who wrote "Prelude" in the villa Pauline in 1916.
Besides the port, Bandol offers three sandy beaches, gravel beaches with all possible water sports, but also an air of calm sophistication. You are looking for a picturesque little square? Head for the centre and you'll have restaurants n cafes and terraces as a bonus.
Getting tired of all these cafes, shops and tourists? Make an excursion to the tiny island of BENDOR, 2km off the coast of Bandol, enterprisingly transformed into a holiday village by the pastis magnate Paul Ricard in the 1950s. This island was created by an earthquake and a tidal wave that cut it off from the mainland.
Stuffed with houses, car free, you can take advantage of a tiny beach, a recreation of a Provencal kitsch village, a café, hotel, a clutch of rather expensive cafés, a small zoo and a sort of museum devoted to alcohol and Bandol wines. In fact, I must say with regret, bad taste seems to be elevated here as Grand Art. The whole island has an air of artificiality but its shady paths, lined with mimosa and eucalyptus are reason enough for a summer excursion.
Back on main land, step into your car and continue, always via the D 559 to La Ciotat.
But that's for next article.

Bibliography

Mary Blume, "Cote d'Azur. Inventing the French Riviera" (Thames and Hudson, London 1982), The Twenties, From Notebooks and Diaries of the Period, by Edmund Wilson (Cannes 1921), Les Calanques jusqu'à Sanary, by Denante and Lucchesi (Sormiou, Edisud) , "Bandol", by M.Wijngaard (Citypers, Amsterdam 1994), "Oostkust aan Middelandse zee", by Koos Steenhouwer (1998)