We arrive to Le Saint Martin, Moliets Plage. Arriving here feels a little like a homecoming. It’s hot and sunny, The stores, cafes and bars just outside are bustling and busy with customers,.We can pull up just outside reception.
Across the road, the huge pool complex [which didn’t exist when we first came] is sporting a new ‘pool bar’. Otherwise, things look comfortingly familiar. We check in- how long is it since we came? Four years! Yes, we have the same van. Yes, we’d like to be in the area we stayed last time. We’ll need shade, too because it’s feeling a little too hot [again].
There’s a large area near the beach where we’ve always stayed. The pitches are mostly shaded by lime trees which have been clipped to form umbrella-like structures. The pitch that’s been allocated to us is on a corner and looks, to begin with, ok. But there’s hardly enough space for our van and when it’s manoeuvered in, the wheels spin into the soft sand [not the first time!]. We change to a large space under the lime trees, opposite a young German couple with a small baby. The baby cries- a lot, her mum walking her up and down in a sling constantly in an effort to soothe her. I can only feel sorry for the young parents, recalling the ceaseless squalling of my own firstborn.
Once we’re installed we can relax. Down beyond the site it’s possible to get most things: Bread, pastries, fruit and vegetables, eggs and dairy plus of course- beer and wine. There’s a supermarket but now, at the end of the season, the shelves are starting to become sparsely filled. But we won’t starve. There’s a good range of restaurants. The only change that I can spot is that a corner bar we used to frequent has closed and has a burger van parked on its forecourt. This seems a poor substitute. The bar was a great place to relax and people watch and had a lovely tree shading it. We can’t expect everything to stay the same!
There is, however, a new bar near the beach. At Le St Martin, you can either scale the steep sand dune inside the site to access the beach or go out of the gate, turn right and walk up a path, past various bars and restaurants and across a square, then down a sloping path. The challenge of the dune seems beyond me at the moment and we take the pathway option. Moliets Plage is a superb stretch of unblemished, almost white, soft sand with surfer-friendly waves crashing over it.
Myself, I’m not neither a competent nor an enthusiastic swimmer and will not be taking to the water any time, but still enjoy the beach for a relax, a read and occasional glances at the seascape, the surfers or fellow visitors. Husband, now that his bike is usable, can go off cycling- peddling the tracks that we’ve been along so often. There is plenty of scope for me to walk, too.
Novels by Jane Deans [Grace]: The Year of Familiar Strangers and The Conways at Earthsend. Visit my website: janedeans.com
