Summer 2008 and the kitchen is finished. Although the existing washing machine was nearly new, it wasn't worth spoiling the ship for a bucket of tar or whatever, so we fitted a new one. ( click here for the pictures). The new plants on the patio are growing well and should provide an effective screen in 2009. The DVD player is region-free and can also be used to play music cd's if the cd player fails---- which it has now!! We will be fitting a new CD player this Autumn.
After another hot, dry and sunny Summer, Autumn 2007 was a repeat of 2006, with rain on only 2days from mid-September to mid-November. (the rainy season!). It was cooler in October than last year (around 21-24C), so we took the opportunity to make some alterations to the terrace. The sky dish was moved to the roof (no dog, sanglier, elephant nor human hand can 're-tune' it now.) which enabled us to increase the 'hard area', thus giving more space for the patio furniture.We intend to add a DVD for the coming season, but the biggest change will be the new kitchen. This will be installed in March and will incorporate a new, larger 'fridge/freezer; ceramic hob and oven; new microwave and best of all, a dishwasher, which will hopefully make the existing one (me!) redundant.
January 2007. Autumn 2006 was again warm and dry. In a seven week period it rained for just one day and for part of the following morning. Great if you are holidaying, but not good for the lawn. The lac de Carces, one of the closest reservoirs and fed by the river Issole, although still looking fairly empty, certainly contained more water than last year at the same time. This lake is about 10 mins. away and the restaurant is convenient for morning coffee or lunch. Another close-by lake - a short drive and a short walk - is found a few miles past Gonfaron on the D65. At this time of year, the grapes are being harvested and the tractors are going backwards and forwards with their loads all day long. Apart from this traffic, the roads are generally very quiet, although they become busier nearer the coast. Heading East from Le Lavandou, on the left hand bend just before the village of Caveliere (NOT Cavalaire s Mer), it is possible to park nose-in to the kerb. Step over the low wall and there is a network of footpaths where you can walk or find secluded, shaded picnic places.
November 10th 2006 Christmas is special at Rouvede. In 2005 Christmas dinner was served on the patio - it was that warm! Most winter mornings start with a frost, but by 11am the temperature has often risen to mid-teens and regularly to early twenties by the afternoon. We recorded 24C one early January afternoon. This is the best time to visit the coast as the roads are very quiet, and although there are still sunbathers on the beaches, it is not necessary to step over them to reach the sea. Because the trees at Rouvede are predominantly evergreen, ( the domain is named after the 'Rouvede chene' - an evergreen Oak) the area is always green. Towards the end of January, the flower festival is held at Bormes Les Mimosas; the village is a wonderful sight with flowers every way you turn.
June 14th 2006. We will be on holiday from June 24th to Aug. 10th., so for late booking and information please ring our daughter on 01509235775 after 2pm. please . She will contact us and we will get back to you. The swimming pool was rebuilt in May, and although we haven't seen it yet, we are told it is 'Tres Beau'. I've made the new cupboards and boxed in the pipes in the bathroom (see below) and put new pictures on the Menu (apartment) page.
November 15th. 2005. We have been back in England for a couple of weeks now and are enjoying the holiday!! After much consideration we had decided to overhaul the bathroom during our recent visit to La Rouvede. It was nice to have the old wall and floor tiles ( this was originally the grape pressing room) but to call them 'rustic' would be a bit of an understatement. This would also be a good opportunity to replace the bath with a shower and fit a new toilet and water heater. We thought that 6 weeks would be ample time to do the job and still have a good holiday, but this is France, and in the event, working more or less 8 till 8, we made it with 1 day to spare. Fortunately, two of our neighbours, Dany and Gaetan offered their advice, the use of their tools and help with the things I won't attempt. Taking out the bath was easy, the concrete plinth and the shower tray not too bad with a little help, but the tiling was a nightmare. It would have been easier to tile a ploughed field surrounded by craggy cliffs. But we got the shower finally in and working, the new toilet and water heater fitted and finally a day's holiday. We had frequent progress visits from our French friends ( "bon courage" which I think translates to "It'll be nice when it's finished") and without the help of Dany and Gaetan we would still be there. So it's finished - well not quite, I still have to box in some pipes and construct a couple of cupboards in the extra space created.
click here for the pictures
I will update the pictures (MENU - apartment) in the Spring when I have completed the cupboards etc.
December 2nd 2004 New for 2005. We have acquired a new barbeque. It is shiny clean right now, but it's condition during the year will depend only on how well the last user cleaned it. We have had problems with the television during 2004. When we left it in April it was fine, but at some point after that the dish was moved ( it's at ground level in the garden). In July I re-aligned it manually, but I only had an hour between 'changeovers', and was not able to give it a prolonged test. So we still had problems until September. When I checked it in mid-September, it was slightly off ; the fine tuning is critical as we are actually outside the Astra 'footprint'. A day spent sorting it out solved the problem and when we came home at the end of October, we had had no further trouble. A couple of evenings before we came home there was a very bad storm, but there wasn't even the slightest blip on the TV. So, although I'm 99.99% certain that it's OK, it's like the weather, not 100% guaranteed. The availability calendar is now up and running for 2005. It is also available on the Chez Nous site.
March 20th. 2004. 'THE YEAR IN PROVENCE' - a bit about 2003 with photographs of the area.
New this year. I am taking a new and slightly larger sat. aerial down there this week, which should eliminate the occasional 'blip' which was occurring on BBC 1 only, after about 10 pm. Also we are fitting a CD/Tape/Radio mini audio unit. (the radio will only receive French stations, but all British radio stations can be received via the T.V.). A fire extinguisher, a portable coolbox and a small safe ( programmable- but don't forget your chosen combination!) complete the list. The jacuzzi by the pool is operational again.
Oh! Almost forgot! My wife has purchased a 'hot waterbottle' ready for those cooler nights next Winter (the 'microwave - it' type). How exciting - can't wait.
Latest, cheapest all-in car hire £111 p/w - email or ring us
December 21st 2003. New special price for early Spring 2004. (£200 for 2 weeks). I have put a link on 'THE SURROUNDING AREA' page to the Flassans sur Issole website. This site is in English and has links to the sites of neighbouring villages. Each of these websites has links to further surrounding villages and as this appears to be a Department incentive, it would seem likely that the whole of Var is covered.
Among the additions and improvements for this year, we intend to add a CD/cassette/ radio (not much use for BBC though) mini audio unit. All the BBC plus virtually all the other radio stations can, of course, be accessed via the satellite system. I have repositioned the satellite dish which has made it impossible to accidentally 're-align' it, as happened at some point this year. In August the BBC cancelled their contract with Sky which meant that all their satellite channels were 'free' and did not require a viewing card. Good, but as the BBC would not support these viewing cards for much longer, and as they also covered ITV/4/5, it looked as though we would lose these channels. In October, Channel 4 pioneered the introduction of a new card, and although mine was still working OK, I have purchased another. In September some BBC channels were changed from the Astra 2a to the much smaller Astra 2d beam. We are technically outside the Astra 2d footprint which ends just North of Flassans, but with the existing 60 cm dish, reception is excellent except for very occasional breakup on BBC 1 only after 10pm. No other channels appear to be affected. I am hoping to fit an 80 cm. dish soon which should eradicate the problem. Forgot to mention that the Golf Rouvede wine - made from the grapes of the estate vineyards is now available. I hope to have completed, and uploaded, a new page 'The Year in Provence' (sorry!) before the end of the year.
November 5th 2003. The 2004 page has now replaced the old 2003 page and can be accessed by clicking on the '20004' flag above or on the 'booking' golfball on the 'Menu' page. Availability and price for Winter can also be accessed from the 'menu' page by clicking on the flashing banner or...............HERE
September 1st 2003. I have added a temporary page for 2004 (availability/booking etc - see above). Also two links to weather sites. The first is current weather and 10 day forecast at Aix en Provence and the other is current weather and 5 day forecast at Nice. The former is on the Menu page and both can be found on the 'getting there' page. Flassans is somewhere between the two towns.
Aug 20th.2003 We have been in Southern France since late June and have now returned to the U.K. If you are a sun lover, it's been a great Summer with no rain since May, but prolonged, unusually high temperatures (often over 40C) have made the swimming pool very welcoming. The 'canicule' ( Heatwave - although our dictionary gives 'dog days' as a rather apt translation) has meant that brown, rather than green, is the dominant colour with much of the flora and fauna aestivating. The forest fires, well documented on UKTV, which raged around Vidauban, about 20 miles away, have not been a problem. We still have vacancies for Winter and early Spring 2004, (although April is already booked) and I will be publishing the 2004 availability calendar shortly. 2003 was our first year advertising through a commercial company and we have repeated the process for next season. The publication date is around the end of October, which means that, if last year is anything to go by, the Summer weeks will be more or less fully booked by mid - November.
I hope to add more pictures soon and also add a bit about driving in France. Apparently there was a programme on UK TV which claimed that the majority of British drivers understood very few of the French road signs. Neither did the programme makers it would appear, as some definitions were incorrect.
June 2003. The summer season is now well on it's way with temperatures consistently in the middle 20's. I've added a couple of weather charts to the 'Getting there' page, which shows why we particularly like this part of the world.
March 11th 2003 **We have been in France for the last couple of weeks and yesterday I flew home for a meeting which I have tomorrow. I return to France on Thursday. This gave me my first chance to try the trip by air as we always go by car. The flight (BMIbaby) left Nice at 2.15 pm CET and arrived at East Midlands at 3.20 GMT. We had left Golf Rouvede at about 10.45 am and dawdled down the N7 via Frejus and over the Massif De L'Esterel to Cannes where we had lunch in the Mountains overlooking the resort. A sunny and warm (21C) spring day, we joined the Autoroute for the run into Nice Cote D'Azur airport, arriving just after 1 pm. We had tried the direct run by Autoroute earlier in the week and it took 1hr. 15 mins.
During the last 2 weeks we have fitted extra lighting in the lounge and a new mains light on the terrace, replacing the old 'rechargeable' which I managed to drop last August. The new TV/video. is also up and working with an FTV card which gives around 50 channels including all BBC, Channels 4 and 5 and, despite all warnings that it would not work, good ITV reception. All BBC radio programmes are also available.
Although we are now virtually fully booked for the year, our friends there have 3 options available for letting:
A house with 2 bedrooms and mezzanines. Sleeps 6. ready now at 1050 euros (about £650) p/w.
An apartment with 2 bedrooms. Sleeps 4. Available from the end of June at 840 euros (about £525) p/w.
A small apartment which sleeps a couple. Available from the end of June at 420 euros (about £265) p/w.
If you are interested please fax direct for further information. 0033494697710
Re. Easycar carhire (below) Apparently the rates are not fixed and bookings need to be made very early. As demand grows, prices increase to rediculous levels. Try the following alternatives. (Cheapest weekly price I could find shown):
www.europecar.com (£128)
www.e.sixt.co.uk (£134 possible mileage limits)
www.hertz.com (£154)
This website is still in it's infancy and I hope to add lots of photographs (I've got hundreds) in the coming months. We will be there in Feb/ March, so I will no doubt take hundreds more. When we get back I intend to make a determined effort to add lots more information to all the sections.
CHECK FOR CARHIRE FROM NICE on www.easycar.com. An example which I requested : for 1 week Saturday lunchtime to the following Saturday lunchtime gave a price of £65. This is by far the cheapest price I can find. The vehicle was a Mercedes A class.
Unlike last year, there has been rain this Winter and we hear that already the meadows and woods are green. No doubt Flassans sur Issole is back 'on the river' again now. There was little or no water throughout the whole of 2002. It should be a very colourful Spring and early Summer.
Although we are fully booked from late May until probably late October, there are still vacancies in April and May. This is the best time of the year if you don't like it too hot and want to see Provence without the Summer crowds. It's also the time when the 'coast run' - Le Lavandou to Monte Carlo is free from continual traffic jams.