We look forward to the day when we won’t have to make any comments on Covid. But it’s mostly good news here. We had our second Pfizer vaccination this week – the process was even faster than last time. What was a treat however was on the following day when we had been invited round to the home of some French friends and where, all of us having been vaccinated, we sat and talked without masks for a couple of hours. It was almost a return to normality. What was also gratifying was that we managed the whole thing in French.
Last Saturday there was a global event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of John Stott, the great and much missed Anglican international Christian leader. Because of his great interest in birding it was, inevitably, an attempt to watch birds. Having been bird-watching with John[1] we felt felt strongly we should participate in some way. The most obvious place for catching sight of some birds was on the old salt pans down by Hyères. They originated in the days when the evaporation of salt from seawater was a profitable business – they are known as les salins.
Things however didn’t go to plan. We arrived to find that courtesy of Covid the sites were, presumably because they are considered in the same category as museums, closed for another week. So we pottered around outside of the one on the Presqu’ile de Giens, seeing some very nice Little terns close up and some flamingos at a distance. As far as we could see, there wasn’t much else about as the photo below shows.
We did however come across a charming set of houses and a chapel on the east side of the peninsula which might have been some sort of worker’s settlement. They looked as if they needed a great deal of investment, but if anyone fancied refurbishing some old buildings about 100 metres from the sea and salt marsh, it would be a great place for an environmental project.
We then drove eastward to the other saltmarshes which were of course also closed. But there were some wonderful wild flowers which were some compensation for the absence of bird life.
At this point we returned to the car park having decided the day was a total washout.
Peering over the fence at an adjacent lagoon which was totally devoid of bird life we were astonished when a pair of Black-winged stilts suddenly landed immediately in front of us and for the next five to ten minutes went through the whole courting and mating ritual. They are extraordinary birds and to see them so close was wonderful.
We then wandered along the coast and had a picnic on a beach. The only interesting phenomenon there was a couple of people using rather extraordinary surfboards with a carbon-fibre hydrofoil underneath. One of the two was able to get up to a very impressive speed on his, while the other failed to even get it going at all. In the background we could see Fort Brégançon, to which we gather M and Mme Macron are just visiting for the long Ascension weekend. As usual we haven’t been invited. Oh well!
[1] You can find the story by clicking on this link and scrolling right until you find Chris’ name.
Chris and Alison's blog 