When my sister asked me to take her to Provence (see Provence, Provence, wherefore art thou Provence?  post), the original itinerary was a few days in Paris and then Provence, seeing the towns and sights I had seen on my first bike trip.   But in looking at my guide book, which included the Cote d’Azur,  it seemed silly not to see this area which is about two hours from Avignon (or closer to 4 when you get lost in Avignon and then again in Frejus).  I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did but I would totally return.  As a semi retired attorney and teacher, I don’t fit into the Cannes and St. Tropez lifestyle of huge yachts and uber wealth but St. Raphael is fairly laid back (if you go in the fall) and there’s so much beautiful countryside within an easy driving distance.

Day One: Getting to St. Raphael

A fun filled travel day spent mostly on the road from Avignon to St. Raphael.  I asked the concierge at Hotel L’Atelier for the best way to pick up the A7 then misread his map and went north for a half hour then had to circle back to Avignon where I ended up going the long way through Avignon south to the autoroute, almost getting hit in a traffic circle by a crazed, angry French woman.

Once on the A7, we had no problems getting to Aix and then to the A8 and the Frejus exit.  We found some parking near the centro, stopped in the tourist office, then wandered to a little square where they were willing to let us share an antipasto plate plus have a glass of wine, even though they were getting ready to close.

Getting out of the parking turned out to be a challenge ‘cause there were 10 bazillion parents in the lot picking up kids from a school across the street plus I didn’t realize we had to pay first and had to back out from the exit, pay and then try again.

We headed back toward St. Raphael following the directions I’d printed out but then got in to a warren of streets that I couldn’t figure out.  Luckily we ended up in the marina and the B&B owners had sent me directions from there so we found our way to du Soleil fairly easily.

Where to stay

Hotel du Soleil

Although Hotel du Soleil is a 15-20 minute hike to the marina and center, it’s in a beautiful residential area with plenty of parking and a pretty garden/patio area.  Our room was small but had a nice balcony and the owners turned out to be helpful and friendly, bringing us glasses for our wine and giving us  information on where to eat and what to see. (You can read more about it in my Where to Stay post.)

Where to eat

Francesco’s

Our first evening, after settling in to our rooms and cleaning up, at the suggestion of our hosts, my sister and I walked to the marina where we ate at a little trattoria–Francesco’s–which became our go to place every night, watching the sun set behind the yachts.

The menu leaned toward Italian favorites and our meals varied; pizza, salad, pasta, including penne arrabbiata one evening, but almost always ended with their divine profiteroles.  While I didn’t make note of it in my journal, I’m sure we had at least 2 glasses of the delicious rosé wine that southern France is famous for. 

Le Dock

This is another charming bar/restaurant in the harbor.  Like Francesco’s and other restaurants in the area it’s open to the sea breezes and makes you want to stay there for hours.  We stopped there the afternoon of our first day after walking all over St. Raphael and had an antipasto and wine.

 

 

 

Places to Go and Things to Do

Fannying about in St. Raphael.

I’m not sure how I found St. Raphael, probably in my DK Eyewitness, Provence and the Cote d’Azur, guide book, but I loved it.  It is charming and laid back and easily walkable.

Our second day we spent wandering through the town, starting with the residential area near du Soleil.  I have to say it has some of the loveliest  homes I’ve ever seen, many with views of the Mediterranean.  If I ever win the Power Ball, I’ll be moving here.

We continued down to the marina, then to the older part of the city, stopping first at the cathedral of Notre Dame.  There was a UPS truck in front of the cathedral which we found amusing and my sister texted a picture to her son who drives for UPS.  ‘I’m putting in my transfer papers today.”

From there we walked into the centre to an outdoor  market with a vast variety of fresh flowers and produce, one of the many things I love about the Mediterranean lifestyle.

St. Raphael Archaeological Museum

https://www.esterel-cotedazur.com/en/experiences/archaeological-museum-saint-raphael/

For a small local museum, it has some fascinating archaeological exhibits including diving suits from the early 1900’s and Roman and Greek amphorae, used to carry wine and oil throughout the Mediterranean. 

 It also has two floors of prehistoric artifacts, and then you can walk up through the tower to see the gorgeous panorama of St. Raphael.

[As an aside to readers our  B&B owners had tons of brochures of places to see in and around St. Raphael and you could spend days doing and seeing everything.]

We stopped along the marina on the way back at Le Dock, sharing an antipasto and a wine, then our usual routine of cleaning up, walking to Francesco’s, having a leisurely dinner, walking back to the hotel and having a last glass of wine in the garden.  

A Day in Grasse

We decided to go to Grasse on our second full day in St. Raphael and drove along the corniche/coastal highway to Cannes.  It was spectacularly beautiful but crazy busy with cars and bikes.  I was too nervous driving to stop for photos which I now regret.

It was fairly tricky getting into Grasse and finding parking but I did locate a garage (where once again I almost banged up the bumper). While Grasse is not as pretty as St. Raphael, we enjoyed walking around the town, especially the area closed to traffic with its cafes and shops.

The main reason we visited was because I’d read both online and in my travel guide that Grasse is the epicenter of perfume making in France.  There are several company headquarters there but most sources recommended those of Fragonard.  We found the Fragonard museums fascinating although my sister almost got us arrested when she tried to take photos.

Post trip postscript: I filled out a form at the Fragonard shops to receive ‘catalogues.’  While I didn’t receive a catalogue as such, I did start receiving e-mails. I  was able to set up an account with Fragonard and found they have wonderful products that have made great gifts, especially for my daughter who loved their scents.

Wine Tasting in Les Arcs Sur Argens

https://www.francethisway.com/places/les-arcs.php

Instead of coming back along the corniche or through the esterel [as recommended by our B&B owner], I got a wild hair to drive west through a mountainous area then south into the main wine making area near the coast.

If you look at the map at the link above, it  shows the ‘normal’ way to reach Les Arcs from Grasse but of course I  went the challenging way along the D562 to the town of Draguignan then south on the D55 to Les Arcs sur Argens.

Les Arcs is a small pretty town in the heart of the rosé wine country and after dealing with a rude woman in the tourist office and walking around the ‘place’, we found an enoteca our hotel owner recommended and had a great tasting of wonderful rosé wines along with meats and cheeses.

I drove us straight south to the coast just west of Frejus, stopping a couple of times for pictures.

I got us turned around a bit in Frejus but we finally made it back to the marina and the B&B.   We had another lovely walk to the marina in the evening and a nice dinner at Francesco’s.

A Trip to Isle Sainte Marguerite

On our last day we decided to divide our time between wandering through the town and a boat trip to Isle Sainte Marguerite which is off the coast near Cannes.  It was one of the best days of the trip.  We walked to the marina late morning and bought tickets for the afternoon boat ride to the island of Sainte Marguerite. [I had originally planned to do the boat ride to St. Tropez but it got mixed reviews on several sites and I’m glad we chose Île Sainte-Marguerite.]

We then walked back to the old town and had an early lunch outside.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a half hour to kill when we got back to the marina so went up to a park above the marina and I relaxed and my sister took pictures.

It took about an hour to get to the island and the views across the Mediterranean to the esterel and Cannes were absolutely spectacular.

And the island is gorgeous; dozens of trails crisscrossing the island, several interesting cemeteries including one where soldiers from the Crimean War are buried, a fort where supposedly The Man in the Iron Mask was held prisoner, and a pretty but pricey restaurant where we had 10 euro glasses of wine and talked with an odd little guy from Switzerland.

We were both reluctant to return and wished we could have had at least another hour there.

I think we both felt sad having our last dinner at Francesco’s and both it and St. Raphael will remain one of my fondest memories.

The next day we drove into Nice and had a seriously difficult time finding the train station and car rental office which you can read about in my More European Driving Adventures  post.

2022 update:   I wrote in my first version of this post that if I ever returned to the Cote d’Azur, that I would stay at least a week and split it between St. Raphael and perhaps a small house near Cannes.  In 2021 I returned with my sister and niece and we stayed Hotel Mistral in Cannes.   While Cannes worked for us since we didn’t have a car and we were able to go to Antibes plus spend as much time as we wanted on Isle Sainte Marguerite, the town itself doesn’t have the appeal of St. Raphael.  So I highly recommend the Frejus/St. Raphael area for exploring the Cote d’Azur.

Read more in my Three Days in Cannes post.

 

 

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