This posting is aimed without apology at the English-speaking people who, increasingly or so it seems, head for the southern French resort of Le Lavandou, roughly midway between Toulon and Saint-Tropez, between Marseille and Nice.
What you see above, a little late for an instalment in Salut!'s Photos du Weekend series, is our favourite street in the town. It is called ....
... and runs more or less parallel (OK, and up a bit) with the port.
I have no recent experience of the restaurants of rue Patron Ravello. About a year ago, I had a reasonable meal in one and ate well, but accompanied by stale bread, in another. There's another place in the same street where I have eaten well and also badly. Try them for yourselves.
But the real issue for me, someone who spends nearly half of each year here, is that I cannot think of many really good restaurants in Le Lavandou. Are owners taking the Mickey, knowing they have a more or less captive market or have I just been unlucky? I cannot, after all, pretend to have tried each and every place.
But after yet another indifferent meal - a light dinner on the marina - I am left wondering what I would recommend to a visitor seeking local knowledge. Not a great deal, is the honest response.
Here goes all the same:
* Flamenco: on the seafront going towards La Faviere. Not been overwhelmed on any of my four or five visits, but never disappointed
* Bo: a relic (back from the port) of the excellent Pavillon Thai that did such great business on the seafront but is now closed. Bo is pricier but retains the flavours of SE Asia
* Rackham le Rouge: for the live jazz once a week. Main dishes are average but they do have a good summer tapas menu
That may seem slim pickings for a popular Mediterranean resort, and others will be easier to please. I have dined badly in restaurants, unnamed here but praised by people I know. Chez Laurent, awkwardly placed beside the big market car park and at first sight rather basic, has a very good reputation and I will one day go there.
There are, of course, options just outside Le Lavandou:
* Chez Jo at Layet plage provided you are open-minded as it's a nudist beach, though customers wear at least something.
* Chez Sylvia: 2km outside town on the main road out towards Hyeres. As good a pizza as you'll find in these parts if you exclude takeways from Gaby's van, also near the market-place car park
Plus a few posher ones I would not feel the need to mention here, since I am dealing with a more inclusive section of the market.
I am open to suggestions. The Ryanair service from Stansted to Toulon, a great little airport 20 minutes down the road on a good day, means more and more English voices are heard here. My semi-residence in le Lavandou, on the other hand, means I eat superbly at home; adventurous visitors may be able to introduce me - and Salut!'s francophile readers - to undiscovered gems.For now, I am persuaded that while you invariably eat better n France than the UK when invited to a French person's home, you can now expect better food when dining out in London - unless, in France, you are able to push out not just the boat but an ocean-going liner.
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