Esterel Caravaning proved an excellent and enjoyable campsite in terms of facilities and nearby places to visit. The town of Saint Raphael, however, was to be our last trip from the campsite this year. It was almost time to move on into Italy.
Saint Raphael was never on my radar as a place to visit but it is now. It is a sizeable, lively seaside town (perhaps the largest in the Var Department) and it offers most everything you would expect of a decent French resort on the Cote d’Azur: a wonderful climate; a wild rocky coastline (especially the Esterel) with magnificent beaches and a beautiful turquoise sea; colour and culture; style and elegance; glitz and glamour; history and monuments; world famous food and restaurants; festivals and fetes and; of course, close proximity to plenty of other exciting resorts on the Riviera (e.g. Antibes, Cannes, Menton, Monaco and Saint Tropez to name but a few).
We parked up at the Convention Centre adjacent to the Port de Santa Lucia at the east end of the town (Nice one, Park4Night!). The Port de Santa Lucia is Saint Raphael’s second port and more of a marina really for recreational boats (the original old port is to the west of the town) but; it has a fair range of shops and restaurants and from there it is just a short palm tree lined walk to the old town.
We didn’t get far walking the ‘marina’ before being seduced by a smart little fish restaurant right on the water’s edge, the ‘A La Maree’ restaurant. We were spoilt for choice by so many interesting fish dishes. It took a while to choose but I opted for a mixed shellfish entree from the restaurant’s ‘La Mer sur un Plateau’ menu. The dish was out of this world and included two different oysters, being 3 Fines de Claires no4 and 3 Creuses de Bretagne no2. The latter, when washed down with a good Sancerre were perfect. Vanya was equally pleased with her dish; one of the day’s specials, a duo of St Jacques et Gambas a la Provencale. There was a wide range of desserts to choose from and we both selected the highly recommended Soufflet au Grand Marnier. We had seen another customer order one and it looked great. Moreover, the restaurant claimed it as “notre specialite depuis 30 ans”. The souffle itself was without fault but there was such a strong taste of Grand Marnier, Vanya couldn’t finish hers and I’m certain I must have screwed my eyes up at least twice. Having said that, I’ll not let a surfeit of alcohol cloud my judgement, we enjoyed an exceptionally good lunch in a wonderful setting and then; it was time to explore Saint Raphael.





We ambled in the direction of the old town centre along what the Italians call a lungomare (which proves we’re in Italy now and I’m almost two weeks behind with the blog) but which in Saint Raphael is known as the Promenade des Bains. This promenade leads from the ‘marina’, past the town’s primary beach (the Plage de Vaillant) to the Jardin Bonaparte (and the nearby Ferris Wheel) and then on to the town’s Old Port on Le Pedegal River. By the way, the Pedegal separates Saint Raphael from Frejus.

The Plage de La Vaillant is a fine beach (one of many on the Cote d’Azur) but, to my mind, the best parts of the Promenade des Bains are the Jardin Bonaparte (a pleasant well designed English landscape garden which serves too as an area for outdoor concerts and shows) and, most especially, the Old Port. This is the original harbour where Napoleon landed upon his return from Egypt and, later, where he embarked from to take up his (temporary) exile on the Isle of Elbe. The Old Port is also the place to watch a local sport known as ‘Provencal Water Jousting’. This sport takes place between late May and early September and entails two opponents, each on their own boat, jousting (with shield and lance) from a platform mounted at the stern of the boat until one is tipped into the water.

From the park and the port it is easy to find the old town. We simply turned inland and headed towards the 19th century Basilica de Notre Dame; it’s dome easily visible from the shoreline. The full name of the church is the Basilica de Notre Dame de la Victoire de Lapente and it is one beautiful church inside and outside. It’s built of pink sandstone which I thought was quarried from the Esterel but, no, it seems the sandstone was actually brought from Provence. And the origin of the church’s name? It was named ‘de la Victoire de Lepante’ in recognition of the huge naval battle in 1571 (the last major battle between galleys) which saw a Christian fleet soundly defeat an Ottoman fleet. That’s the Battle of Lepanto to us Brits and it was the battle in which a young Miguel de Cervantes (he who wrote about “The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha”) lost his hand.








From the Basilica we headed into the narrow well shaded streets and alleys of the old town (or old quarter as it is more often termed in Saint Raphael)…


… and came across a former 7th century church, the presbytery of which houses the Musee Archeologique de Saint Raphael. You’ll rarely see me in a museum unless it’s raining but I’d have entered this one, were it open, just for the views from it’s 13th century medieval tower (the San Rafeu Tower). It supposedly offers one of the finest 360 degree views in Saint Raphael.

On the way back to the Van we passed another museum (the Louis de Funes Museum) which showcases the life and career of France’s greatest comic, Louis de Funes. He died in 1983 and yet he is still recognised as France’s greatest ever comic. He was ranked No.1 in the country’s box office figures for the best part of 20 years.
We enjoyed our brief visit to Saint Raphael town. I think there’s more to the old town than we actually saw and I would very much like to experience the town at night. Yes, Saint Raphael is a little touristy but that is to be expected on the Cote d’Azur.
The French Riviera has no shortage of beautiful places to visit and Saint Raphael is deservedly included amongst them. We stayed 7 days at the excellent Esterel Caravaning campsite and enjoyed chilling by the pool, wandering the Esterel Forest and taking day trips out to various places along the Riviera. I’d do it all again. I think also that, next time, I will make a point of walking part of the Sentier Littoral around Saint Raphael. I was advised the stretch from the Port of Santa Lucia to the Fournas Cove is a ‘must’ but there’s also Maubois Cove and, further along the coast (past Agay), is the Ile d’Or from Cap Dramont. We simply have to return (next year).