The family had an apartment in the city but while i was there they moved to an old mill they were fixing up as an out of town place. Is au bassat a place up in the mountains near by? In addition, I was 16, on my own, and spending the summer in France. We even took a two week trip to St. Tropez. It was perfect!Were you actually living IN Saint-Etienne ? Because in that case, you must have a case of rosy memories - the city is famous for being the second ugliest in the region
The country around, though, is quite mountainous and so might have been really pretty.