It was a happy inspiration which gave this name to the district between Hyères and Saint Raphael, photo above. It is a region for those who wish to enjoy the winter sunshine of the Mediterranean coast in conjunction with country life, or to spend a summer holiday alternately sea-bathing and sun-bathing under free-and-easy conditions.
There are charming bays and coves, fine scenery, a wealth of flowers, wonderful woods, and a multitude of strange and quaint sights, and the water along the coast is much cleaner than it is in the neighbourhood of great towns.
From Hyères, the road traverses a rich and highly cultivated plain.
The little old town of Bormes, 8 miles from Hyerès, ( 1,600 population), is perched on a hill, 2,5 miles from the sea.
It calls itself “Bormes les Mimosa” how aptly only spring time visitors can realise.
In the chapel of St. François is a modern statue of the saint St. François de Paule – who came to the town in 1481 when it was stricken by a plague which he subdued. St. François had landed, it is said, at Le Lavandou, a fishing village only 1,5 miles farther along the road, where he was given a dish of freshly-made bouillabaisse, every morsel of which he ate and then expressed his gratitude by blessing the village and the fishing, with the result that the fish taken of Le Lavandou excel those caught elsewhere on the coast.
Bouillabaisse is a dish for which every Provençal longs when he is living in a part of France where it cannot be procured. The proper cooking of it is alone sufficient to establish the reputation of an hotel.
Here is a recipe obtained it one hotel.
Mix together garlic, laurel leaves, vlnle pepper, and olive oil.
Fry the mixture in a casserole. Then pour over it a glass of white wine and add fish, lobsters and small crabs, and water sufficient to cover the whole. Then add more pepper and salt, boil for twenty minutes and finish with a pinch of saffron.
The village owes its name to the abundance of lavender of the same kind as that which grows so freely in the islands of Hyères. It is the centre of a bay along which pines grow almost to the water’s edge.
A sloping sandy beach offers safe and pleasant bathing.
To the right, forming the western horn of the bay, is Cap Bénat, with a lighthouse and a seven-teenth-century castle. During summer motor-boats maintain a regular service with the Ile de Port Cros, and there are always motor and sailing boats for hire.
Eastward of Le Lavandou is the sandy beach of Saint Clair, photo above, but on account of holes, bathers should exercise great care.
Between Saint Clair and Aiguebelle on the right of the road is a monument to Captain Thorel who was killed here in 1944.
Aiguebelle, 1,5 miles north-east of Le Lavandou, photo below, is very small but boasts a few hotels.
The next place along the coast is Cavalière, which must not be confused with a place farther eastward. It is a flower-growing centre, backed by heath-clad hills and facing a sandy cove so closely shut in by pines that in rough weather the trees are washed by the sea.
Cap Nègre separates Cavalière from Le Canadel, a charming little winter and summer resort, 25 miles from Hyères. It has a sheltered, hard, sandy beach, excellent for bathing.
There is here a cemetery and monument to the African commandos who lost their lives here in August 1944.
Le Rayol is another small summer and winter resort, with good sands and other attractive features.
Then comes Cavalaire sur Mer, photo below, beautifully situated in a pine forest on a large bay which has a beach of fine firm sand. One may freely ramble in the adjacent forest. Sea trips and land excursions are organized. There are several hotels, shops, cinema, post-office, etc. There is a small harbour and jetty. Among the attractive walks is that to the Sommet des Pradels, the highest point (1,720 feet) of the Maures.
Beyond is La Foux, a tiny hamlet that was destroyed by the Germans during the occupation. There are important cross-roads here, the left branch leading to Cogolin and Grimmaud, and that to the right to Saint Tropez.
Saint Tropez, one of the most cool place in the world, is a quaint picturesque, commercial town of 4,000 citizen, has changed little since the eighteenth century.
It has for many years been a favourite place with artists.
It stands on a gulf named after it and overlooked by a citadel.
In its church is a bust of Saint Torpetius or Tropez.
He suffered martyrdom under Nero, and his body was sent adrift in a boat with a dog and a cock, which were to feed upon it. But they left it untouched, and an angel steered the boat to what is now Tropez.
On the quay is a statue of Vice Admiral Pierre Andrè de Suffren (1729-88), a great opponent of the English in the Indies.
He was killed in a duel.
The first turning beyond his right hand leads to the office of the Syndicat d’Initiative the next, to what remains of Suffren’s château, marked by a tablet on the landward side.
In the thoroughfare are an elaborately carved door and the Hotel de Ville, and at the far end is an arch giving access to La Ponche (the point), where is the fisherman’s port, attractive to artists.
From May 16th to 18th an annual fête, called the Bravade, commemorates the repulse of the Spaniards in 1637. In the Hotel de Ville are three pictures representing the contest. Less than 2 miles from Saint Tropez, is Plage Pampelonne, a cool sandy beach nearly 3 miles long. With the bus you can reach the famous village of Ramatuelle (7 miles), which retains its ramparts and the gate in them – the Portail des Sarrasins – from which the population repulsed the pirates by casting down upon them swarms of bees.
The ancient church is decorated in the Spanish style.
Saint Tropez is well served with motor services to Saint Raphael, intermediate places to Toulon and to Draguigan.
At Cogolin, a busy industrial town of some 2,000 inhabitants, there is an oriental carpet factory open to visitors. Other industries include cork-cutting and the manufacture of briar pipes. In the Romanesque Church is a triptych of 1540.
On the northside of the Gulf of Saint Tropez is Port Grimaus, the French Venice and Beauvallon sur Mer, a small settlement of attractive houses set before a sandy shore, and with a modern hotel and its major attraction, a golf couse.
Saintrop.com, a pure exctasy.
