It's Philippe Thorn's big day down here in the Var, the day the superbly renovated seafront building known as Le Château is officially opened as the new Maison du Lavandou.
Philippe, president of Le Lavandou's tourism department, could have done without the thin rain and grey skies with which his day has started, but you can bet on bright sunshine restoring normal service before long.
And with the help of Raphaël Dupouy, the man from the town hall who juggles numerous functions but also tacks a decent set of pictures, I decided to restore a little brightness to Salut! too after the sombre tone of my last posting.
There is another dark cloud. Anyone venturing to the continuation page will encounter Raphaël's warts-and-all picture of me passing myself off as a reporter again to interview Philippe the other day. Mme Salut! looks on, suitably blasé about the whole proceedings.
When we met the other day, Philippe was proudly giving me an illustration of Le Lavandou's growth as a holiday destination. Only 15 years, he said, ago people would say it was near Bormes-les-Mimosas, whereas now Bormes is described as being near Le Lavandou.
Beautiful old pictures displayed outside the Maison du Lavandou - the resort's tourist office - and elsewhere around the town capture Le Château as it was in its original state in 1881 after its construction, reputedly a feat taking 40 years, by a successful herbalist from Toulon, Lord Honnoraty (the Lord, I assume, being an unusual prénom rather than suggesting British ancestry).
In those days of the Lord, the beach reached all the way to the front of the building, covering what is now a road and promenade.
The sort of changes Le Lavandou has experienced in the intervening 127 years have also occurred in countless other fishing villages, of course.
But Le Lavandou is fortunate in that behind the promenade, an old world charm is maintained in the winding little streets.
That, perhaps, is enough of the place for now. But I suspect that my words will strike a chord with the many Britons you bump into these days, mainly visitors but also including more and more living here for all
or part of the year.
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