Frejus

Our visit to Frejus was yesterday, but due to having a few wines, and chatting with Walter, Hans and Gerrit, my blog was never written last night.   It was a really lovely evening though.  

Today we did nothing, just coffee with a friend, and then grocery shopping.   I finished off the book I found on my Kindle, the one I had downloaded and then forgotten.   The weather was glorious today, and the campsite was filling up with people, not just retirees, but families as well.   As I write this I can hear children's voices.   

But back to Frejus, a lovely old town with heaps of history attached to it.   It was not as charming as the hill top villages we have visited or as well looked after but it certainly had heaps of character.

It was market day, so we arrived to find stalls everywhere and crowds of people.  

I took the photo below so that I would know which street we needed to walk along to get back to the carpark.   One time we parked the car, and in our attempt to find somewhere to buy lunch, we did not look at the street sign, or take note of anything around the car.   It took ages to find the car again.  We learnt our lesson well.  In fact there were no worries in Frejus as it was easy to find our way around this town.

Another narrow street.

 The beautiful plane tree shading the market square.

 I saw a stall selling women's cotton trousers, and I thought a pair would be perfect for next summer in Adelaide.   The seller pointed to the extra long ones and insisted that I needed an XXL size.   Now I know most French women are very slim, and a 42 or 44 trouser often does not fit me in France.  However I did not think I was that huge.   Anyway I parted with twelve euros and off I went.   I tried them on  this morning and they were hilarious, the bottoms come down below my feet and the waist nearly came up to my armpits.   And I am going to have to take them in as well.   Never trust a man.   I washed them today, hoping they will have shrunk!

 It was time for lunch, not long after we arrived, so we chose a pizza place in the old square.   It was a glorious day.

 The view of the restaurant next to us.   Remember, Aaron and Kylie, this was were we chose to eat lunch when we were with you.

 A very large vegetarian pizza, with a thin crust, so we managed to eat one each.

 The Mairie, the town hall.   A lovely well maintained building.

 Now before I continue with the photographs I must give a little information about Frejus.  The Roman city of Forum lulli was established here under Julius Caesar about 49 BC on the banks of the River Argens, and on the edge of a large bay.  It was an important place in terms of communication routes, either by land or by sea.   Later on an amphitheatre, a theatre, an aqueduct and thermal baths were also built, and it became a town of great status.

Last time we came here with Aaron, Kylie, Mia, Abi and Raphy we visited all the Roman buildings and they were most impressive.   Yesterday we decided that we would explore the streets instead.

The Medieval Cathedral with its cloister in the centre.    This photograph is taken from the side of the building.

The inside of the Cathedral, dark as usual due to the lack of windows.

 The Cathedral from the front.    There is an archaelogical museum beside the Cathedral.   So much history in this building.

 We continued on and found ourselves outside the Museum of Local History, which portrayed the social, economic and cultural life of Frejus in the 19th and 20th centuries.   The building itself was fascinating, as it reflected the changes it went through in the 19th century, although probably originally built in the 16th century.  It had a huge stone sink in it, a wide fireplace, beautiful stairwell and every floor was tiled.   We also noticed that the steps at the back of the house were made of marble.   A house which belonged to people who had the means to live extremely comfortably.

There were various scenes set up through out the house.   This one was the kitchen scene.

 The back garden, with the beautiful old plane tree.   Various scenes were set up out here showing farm land village life in the area.

 The beautiful staircase and tiled floor.   The house was also large, and spread over three floors, with two or three rooms on each floor.

 I loved the lace caps that women wore in the 1800s.

There were also displays showing a grocery shop and a living room, plus lots of pottery and other artifacts.   Plus a display of the costumes that were used in the yearly procession of the Bravado, in honour of St Francis of Paolo.   He was a Calabrian monk who was said to have stopped the plague in Frejus in 1482.

The school room.

 We went back outside again and were immediately drawn to the elegant building opposite.   Very grand.

 I could not resist taking a photograph of the electricity lines that were attached to the side of the building in the lane way.   One would have to be careful about sticking one's head out too far and getting zapped. 

So after a couple of hours of wandering around we decided it was time to head back to camp.   This took some time as we decided to go back via the coast road, and it was extremely slow going until we passed the turnoff to St Tropez.   It is certainly not our idea of a holiday to stay in such cramped and busy areas, even if they are deemed to be very upmarket and exclusive.