With the weather being so hot and the news being full of things which have happened or not happened because of it, and the inevitable comparisons to ‘the summer of ’76’, I actually do think back to that year (although I can’t believe it’s so long ago, frighteningly long ago!)
I spent much of the summer of 1976 in the south of France, camping near Menton in the small village of Gorbio, right on the border with Italy. Our days were lazy and delightful, mostly down on the beach, sunbathing and swimming, then retreating to Menton for a drink, or to go shopping for food for the evening meal. Our meals were very simple, bread and coffee in the morning – sitting on our sleep mats outside the tent, water heated on a camping gas stove. Sometimes we might have bought a jar of jam or some ham or cheese, sometimes it was literally just bread. Lunch was light, and in the evening we mostly had pasta and salad, or pasta and a basic tomato sauce.
Most days we would drive down to the beach, park and, wearing espadrilles, find somewhere near the sea, to spread our raffia beach mats on the pebbles, and get ready for a day in the sun. I would go down to the sea and dive into the Mediterranean, swim and float, looking up at the perfect blue sky and the mountains – Les Alpes Maritimes. It was heaven. Maybe in the middle of the day, we’d gather our things and go in search of an ice-cream or a coffee, too hard-up to afford much lunch but in the heat we had little appetite – and anyway, we were young and it didn’t matter!
We did go out on trips too – going to Monaco and wandering the streets of Monte-Carlo, no doubt looking very out of place. I was particularly hard-up, and would always keep one eye on the ground and the gutters, looking for dropped coins. Once I found several francs but not enough for anything – however, for some reason we drifted into a slot machine arcade, I fed my treasure into a one-armed bandit – and wow! I won!! I think it was about 20F – not a fortune, but it meant coffee, ice-cream and maybe a baguette!
We drove out to nearby places of interest, such as Èze, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Vence, Grasse, and of course, Nice. A couple of times we crossed the border into Italy, but the towns and beaches were so busy compared to France that I don’t remember the visits very clearly. It was however, wonderful to drive westwards along Les Corniches, and again, I don’t now remember which of my mental images match which of them except very vaguely. La Basse Corniche – along the coast through the villages, La Moyenne Corniche – described as being between sky and the hill-top villages, and of course La Grande Corniche:
At an altitude of over 400 metres, the Grande Corniche dominates the entire coastline. Built under Napoleon I on the ancient Roman Via Augusta, it links Nice to Menton by following the line of the crests. Wild and panoramic, it is the epitome of the mythical road.
So hot weather – very hot weather, triggers many memories as well as the eternal “phew! What a scorcher!” Yes, the memories flood back whenever the temperatures rise!
https://www.explorenicecotedazur.com/en/the-3-corniches-a-journey-between-sky-and-sea/
My beautiful image is from pixabay and I thank the anonymous photographer. Menton is famous for many things including citrus fruit, and there used to be and maybe still is a festival to celebrate the harvest.
Lois Elsden 
Magic Lo, magic
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