France – Page 2 – DJmotortouring

La Ferte (Bourgogne-Franche-Comte) France September 2025 (Tour 12)

We were on a day trip from Dole to Arbois when we decided to pause in the tiny village of La Ferte to check out the local cheese. We have long been fans of Comte Cheese and while travelling the D469 to Arbois through La Ferte we noticed La Fromagerie de la Ferte which specialises in the production of Comte to AOC standards. We decided to take a look…

… and what a find! This cheese factory, unlike others we have seen, operates a ‘Cheese Bar’. It’s brand new, light and airy, with plenty of seating inside and outside and there’s sooo much cheese to see and eat.

The staff proved attentive and well informed regarding the cheese and the menu offered plenty of choice. In addition to a selection of Comte cheese of varying ages) there was Morbier, Bleu de Gex, Raclette, Tomme and others. To accompany the cheese there was also a range of cold meats from Jura (dry cured ham, sausages and terrines) and a selection of locally produced craft beers. Oh and, of course, yellow wine. Yellow wine and Comte is a marriage made in heaven.

We settled down for a small feast with me opting for a mixed cheese and ham charcuterie washed down with one of the artisanal beers (the cheeses included Old Comte AOP, Fruity Comte AOP and Morbier) and Vanya going for a Comte Fondue which she made herself following instructions from one of the staff.

It was pure luck that took us to the Fromagerie de la Ferte but we’ll be back.

A little bit about the production of Comte Cheese in the event you’re interested…

(a) Comte is an unpasteurised cheese and part of the Gruyere family of cheeses. It is favoured by a great many of our top chefs.

(b) The milk used to make the cheese comes from Montbeliarde cows which eat only grass and hay and are recognizable by their dark red and white coats. They are milked twice a day at regular times to avoid stressing the animals.

(c) AOC recognition requires that Comte cheese be made with milk that is not transported more than 25 kilometres from where the cow was milked and within 24 hours of milking.

(d) The cow’s milk, with a fat content of not less than 45%, is transported to large copper vats. A few centilitres of natural rennet (obtained from the dried intestine of a calf) is added to help clot the milk and the resulting curd is then stirred and heated to 54 degrees centigrade for 1 hour. The curd is then drawn off and pressed into cheese wheel moulds before being stored in the fromagerie’s cellars to mature.

(e) The cheese must remain in the cellars for at least 4 months before it can be called Comte. Of course most of it will be matured for much longer. The average is 18 months but it is not unknown for Comte to be left for 36 months which makes for a considerably stronger tasting and more friable cheese.

(f) So many factors affect the taste of the cheese (e.g. the microclimate of the area the cheese is produced in, the time of the year the milk is collected, the time allowed for maturing etc) and every cheese wheel differs in terms of smell and taste – Just look at the aroma wheel below. Generally however, a young Comte will have a milkier taste and aromas, while more mature cheeses can have fruitier (citrus and hazlnut) and smoky flavours.

And on to Arbois….

Dole (Bourgogne-Franche-Comte), France September 2025 (Tour 12)

Eleven completed tours and not once have we visited the Franche-Comte part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comte Region. That had to change and so we came to Jura. Jura, together with French departments of Doubs, Haute-Saone and Belfort forms Franche-Comte; a beautiful land of mountains, lakes and rivers, picturesque villages and towns, small vineyards and a huge forest (the Foret de Chaux – the second largest forest in France). We started in Dole, a small attractive town on the banks of the River Doubs which is dominated by the impressive Collegiale Notre Dame de Dole on Place Nationale.

At least part of this imposing church can be seen from just about any point in the town but it is the view from the Avenue de Lair, on the south side of the river, which most appeals. Inside it is stunning. It houses several small chapels, the Sainte Chapelle du Miracle de Faverney being the one which attracts most attention. This renaissance style chapel serves to house a relic that was miraculously saved from a fire at Faverney Abbey. However, to my mind, two other chapels are worthy of special mention – one dedicated to France’s fallen in WWI and another to recognise the surprisingly large number of church officials in Jura who were guillotined during the French Revolution.

Notre Dame de Dole (from the south side of the River Doubs)

Dole was once the capital of the Jura although this honour now belongs to Besancon. It’s a small attractive riverside town of less than 25,000 people. The old town, which was built around l’Eglise Notre Dame de Dole, is not very large but neither is it lacking in character. Connected by a jumble of stairways, narrow winding streets and passageways, most of the town’s older buildings are made of pale pink or white stone and date from the 17th century or even later. The most impressive of these is the Hotel de Dieu, the main part of which was completed in 1636. It served as a hospital for the poor until 1992 when it was transformed into a mediatheque (a multimedia library and storage centre for the municipal archives).

To ensure I didn’t miss out on any of the town’s more interesting features (not that my debacle at Les Riceys is still fresh in my mind) I visited the Dole Tourist Office on Place Grevy and obtained a map of what is known as the Circuit du Chat Perche (which broadly translates as the perched cat trail). It’s a 4 kilometre circuit connecting the town’s principal features and the map provides a brief description of each.

I’ll let the photos do the talking…

… although the area behind Rue Louis Pasteur does perhaps warrant special mention.

Louis Pasteur was born in Dole in 1822 and the house he was born in is now a small museum dedicated to his memory while the street he lived in (at least until he was 5 and the family moved to nearby Arbois) is now named after him. Louis was raised in the poorer quarter of Dole (his father, Jean-Joseph Pasteur, was a tanner there) and yet he grew up to become a biologist, a chemist and the father of microbiology. Most famous for developing the treatment of beer, wine and, later, milk to prevent bacterial contamination (i.e. the process now known as ‘pasteurisation’), he also discovered both the rabies and anthrax vaccines.

The south side of Rue Louis Pasteur, running alongside the Canal du Rhone au Rhin(e), was filled with tanneries; so much so it is named the Canal des Tanneurs. Properties in this part of Dole are now amongst the most sought after and the area has become known as the ‘Little Venice of the Jura’. Again, it is not a large part of the town but it is one of the prettiest…

The man himself in the nearby Jardin Public Dit du Cours Saint-Mauris…

And the final word of this blog entry must go to food. After all, this is France and the French like to talk about food as much as we British like to talk about the weather.

At the last count, there were three Michelin Restaurants in Dole but we didn’t check even one of them out. That’s not to say however that we were not well fed during our stay in the area. No, our concern while in Jura was not so much with visiting the local restaurants (although we did our bit in that regard, as can be seen from the photos below) but; with sampling Comte Cheese (and we would be heading for La Ferte for that) and; Cremant de Jura (we’d be going to Arbois for that) and Yellow Wine (perhaps to Poligny).

Oh… and the local markets. Opposite the Collegiale Church on Place Nationale is the Marche des Halles. There’s a farmers market held in this covered glass and steel market hall every tuesday, thursday and saturday morning and, during the summer months, there’s an evening market on Fridays.

Les Riceys (Grand Est), France September 2025 (Tour 12)

Last April, during Tour 11, we travelled to the south of the Champagne region and, while there, passed by the more than interesting little village of Les Riceys in the Aube Department of Grand Est. We didn’t see much of the place but what we saw was very pretty and I’d previously read that it was home to a Rose Champagne unlike any other produced in the Region and which was the favourite drink of no less a figure than Louis XIV. We said then that we would return and… we did!

Vanya had discovered that the Pascal Walczak Winery at the edge of the village allowed motorhomes to park on their premises and even went so far as to provide electrical hook ups. There are no sanitary facilities available to visitors outside of office hours but our Van is well equipped in that respect so, who cares. The only condition of this free parking and electricity is that visitors partake of a free wine tasting session. Now, hold me back!

A few words about Les Riceys before I write about our wine tasting. The village comprises three parts being, Ricey Haut to the south, Ricey Haute Rive in the centre and the much smaller Bas Ricey in the north (and the Pascal Walczak Winery sits at the edge of Ricey Haute Rive and Bas Ricey on the on the Rue de la Presle). Now, I have a confession to make although I’ve yet to tell Vanya.

We approached the winery from the north and passed through Bas Ricey. I rather mistakenly thought Bas Ricey to be the centre of Les Riceys and that the adjacent Ricey Haute Rive was simply a small residential area. I was oblivious to the existence of Ricey Haut throughout our stay. I fully explored the tiny Bas Ricey but saw nothing of Ricey Haut and only a few houses at the edge of Ricey Haute Rive. Whoops! What an idiot I am. We missed so much! This explains why, wherever possible, I research the places we propose visiting – so as not to miss anything. This once, I did no research at all. To rub salt into the wound, the local tourist office describes Les Riceys on their website as being “the largest wine-making village in the Champagne region…. complemented by an exceptional heritage: no less than three churches classed as historical monuments, fourteen chapels, two chateaux, numerous bourgeois houses, wine-makers’ homes, wash-houses, crosses, as well as “Cadoles”, strange stone shelters built in the middle of the vines”. Read Trip Advisor and you’ll discover also that Les Riceys has numerous restaurant-bars. I, that is Vanya and I, saw one church (the Saint Pierre in Bas Ricey) and missed everything else. Moreover, because the one restaurant in Bas Ricey (Le Marius) was closed we ended up eating cheese and biscuits in the Van. Once again, whoops and… so sorry Vanya.

The wine tasting at Pascal Walczak was thoroughly enjoyable. Between us we sampled half a dozen champagnes including two of the rose champagnes so favoured by Louis XIV. Vanya wasn’t too enamoured with the rose’s probably because the one she sampled first is made by adding Pinot Noir (and she’s never been keen on red wine) while I opted for the macerated version. She should have tried the macerated one. Overall I thought the Pascal Walczak champagne was not as good as the Charles Mignon we had been drinking in Epernay. Of course, we were not comparing apples with apples and the ambience will surely have influenced me – in Epernay we were drinking the champagne while seated in a restaurant serving good food and in Les Ricey’s we were standing at a bar in the tasting salon. We still spent almost 200 Euros on Pascal Walczak champagne but I consider the Charles Mignon was lighter and smoother. But then, almost as an afterthought, we tried the Cyries. It has a taste all of it’s own and it is fantastic – easily my favourite champagne of the tour. Wonderful. Thank you Pascal Walczak.

The remainder of the afternoon and early evening, we spent lounging in the sunshine by the Van; watching and listening to the ducks in Pascal Walczak’s duck pond and; enjoying a full bottle of the Cyries. We’ll be back both to get a proper look at Les Riceys and to buy more of that delicious Cyries.

Epernay (Grand Est), France September 2025 (Tour 12)

We’ve visited the Champagne Region (including Epernay) many times before but that will never stop us returning. Even when the sun isn’t shining, there is something special about Epernay. There was no fancy hotel this time. We booked into the Municipal Campsite and it wasn’t at all bad; it’s best features being it’s close proximity to the town centre and the food and wine served in their pop-up restaurant. More about the restaurant later.

Being so close to the centre of Epernay provided plenty of opportunity to wander the town and I took advantage of that. During previous visits we were primarily concerned with visiting the Avenue de Champagne. This one kilometre long avenue, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015, is bordered with impressive 19th century neo-renaissance mansions, most of which house the great champagne producers such as Moet et Chandon, Perrier-Jouet, Pol Roger and Mercier and; many of these have massive underground cellars where champagne is stored. Indeed, there are over 100 kilometres of chalk wine cellars holding millions of bottles of champagne under the Avenue. We’ve toured a few of Epernay’s champagne houses and they are fascinating (Mercier is my favourite) but the focus on this occasion would be towards two other buildings on the Avenue, namely Chateau Perrier and the Hotel de Ville.

I started with Chateau Perrier at the western end of the Avenue de Champagne. This mid 19th century mansion was built in a renaissance style and was the home of Charles Perrier, a director of the Perrier-Jouet champagne house and one time mayor of Epernay. During the First World War it served as a hospital and during World War II it was used as the Military Headquarters of first the British Army (1940) and then the German Army (1940-1945) and finally the United States Army (1945). It was later purchased by the municipality and now serves as a museum. Of course, it being a Sunday, the museum was closed but it was pleasant enough wandering it’s gardens for a while and practising with my camera.

The Hotel de Ville is also at the western end of the Avenue de Champagne, almost directly opposite the Moet et Chandon champagne house. This neo-renaissance mansion was donated to the town by the Auban-Moët family after the previous Hotel de Ville was destroyed during the First World War and the town’s impressive war memorial featuring the Greek Goddess of Victory (Nike) now takes pride of place at the building’s entrance. It’s a fine enough building but it is the gardens at the rear which are it’s best feature. They were designed by the Bühler Brothers, landscape architects who plotted gardens all across France in the nineteenth century, and they are impressive. I spent a fair amount of time practising my photography in these gardens also.

The 19th century Eglise Notre Dame on Place Pierre Mendes is perhaps the most impressive of the churches in Epernay but, it is the Eglise Saint Peter and Saint Paul at the end of Avenue Paul Chandon on Rue de Magenta which I most favour. It’s a gem with it’s wonderful stained glass windows and it is well worth seeking out. The windows reflect various historical events associated with the Champagne area; my favourites being one of Pope Urban II triggering the Crusades by offering forgiveness for all sins to those who would help wrest Jerusalem from the Muslims and; another of Charles VII being crowned King of France at Reims Cathedral with Joan of Arc in attendance.

Epernay suffered badly from bombing during the World Wars and there are few monuments remaining which date back to medieval times. One which dates back to 1540 and is believed to be the oldest surviving monument in Epernay is the Portal Saint Martin near the Place Hugues-Plomb. It was a side entrance and it is all that remains of the renaissance Abbey of Saint Martin.

While strolling back to the campsite along the banks of the River Marne I made a point of stopping by Champagne de Castellane on Rue de Verdun. This champagne house is easily identified by it’s iconic tower (the highest point in Epernay). A wine tour with this producer includes access to it’s underground cellars (there are 10 kilometres of them – Moet et Chandon has 30 kilometres!) and, it’s champagne museum (dedicated to explaining champagne production methods over the years) and; to the top of the tower (which offers unrivalled views over the town and the River Marne). It was the climb to the top of this tower which most attracted me to the De Castellane tour but, having said that, the tour used to be free and it included champagne tasting. I don’t know if that’s still the case (the place was closed) but I’ll be back.

Last words go to the Blue Nautic pop up restaurant at our campsite. They made us so very welcome and served great food. As for the wines, the Charles Mignon Special Reserve Champagne was very good. Slightly better was the Pierre Mignon Premier Cru and, best of all and Vanya’s favourite (and the most expensive of course), the Pierre Gobillard Blanc de Blanc Premier Cru. All these from a Pop Up Restaurant in a Municipal Campsite! Only in France.

Saint Valery sur Somme (Hauts de France), France September 2025 (Tour 12) Days 1&2

So, we’re off to mainland Europe once again and, as always, we’ll follow the sun. The south of England has been wet and windy the last week and the rest of Europe (at least in the north) looks much the same. Therefore, we will be heading directly south in the first instance.

Day 1 took us around the M25 to Dover and across to Calais on the P&O ferry. The ferry is much cheaper than the Shuttle these days. It’s also considerably slicker in terms of passing through customs and immigration etc and, with P&O providing a pet lounge, it’s not an unpleasant experience.

Not wanting to drive too much that first day, after arriving in France we made first for Saint Valery sur Somme. It’s near the coast, on the Somme Estuary, about an hour and a half’s drive south of Calais. It being a Friday and with French campsites often fully booked up over the weekends, Vanya had booked us into the Yelloh campsite at Estreboeuf, just outside Saint Valery, for two nights. That allowed plenty us a full day to explore Saint Valery and plan our route south. We’ve used this Yelloh site before.

Saint Valery proved a pleasant surprise. There’s easy parking in the town’s motorhome site (for just a few euros) and it’s a pleasant walk down to the promenade by the Somme, to the Quai Jeanne d’Arc. We followed the pretty Rue Des Moulins all the way to the promenade but there’s another almost equally pretty route running parallel to Rue Des Moulins (at least until the last part of the walk). I think it is called the Rue des Pilotes.

This house divides Rue des Pilotes (left) from Rue des Moulins (right)

Looking south along Quai Ste Jeanne d’Arc

Initially, we planned to walk north along the promenade to the Baie de Somme, hoping to see some of the Grey Seals and Harbour Seals which bask on the flats in the Bay when the tide is out but, we never completed the walk. Nala, our German Shepherd, had been sick during the night and was clearly struggling. We revised our plan and, instead, settled for the old medieval part of the town.

Follow the promenade north towards the old town and you soon reach the 12th century L’Eglise Saint Martin. It’s about half way. Like many churches on the French side of the Channel Coast, Saint Martin is built of dressed flint and shingle. It’s a most unusually shaped church and this can be attributed to various extensions being added over the years. Not very impressive from the outside, it is definitely worth a look inside.

Little of Saint Valery’s old medieval town remains. I suspect much of it was destroyed during World War II but it is worth visiting. It has history being, amongst other things, the place where William the Conqueror assembled his fleet before invading England in 1066 and; much later in 1431, where Joan of Arc was held in the local prison overnight on the way to her demise in Rouen.

Notwithstanding the above, Vanya and I found the newer parts of Saint Valery Sur Somme to be far prettier and of more interest than the old town; with the walk down Rue des Moulins being particularly noteworthy. We didn’t stay long in the old town but started back to the newer part by way of Quai du Romerel and then Rue d’Argoules. We could have carried on along the promenade, using Rue de la Ferte with it’s many riverside restaurant-bars, but we were both intrigued by the many unique boutiques which fill Rue d’Argoules and; besides, we found a good fish restaurant there which served good oysters and mussels.

Both the promenade and the Rue d’Argoules end at the town’s small marina and alongside the marina is the ‘Chemin de Fer de La Baie de Somme’. This is a preserved narrow gauge steam railway which offers trips around the Baie de Somme during the period March to December. We had missed the last one of the day or we would have been tempted.

In conclusion, Saint Valery Sur Somme proved a fine day out and a pleasant start to another tour in the Van although the day didn’t quite end there. We had each eaten well during the day and decided on a light supper in the Van that evening, namely a cheese and ham charcuterie and a botte of wine or two. Joy of joys, the cheese selection included a new one to me which I absolutely adore – Le Trou Du Cru.

It appears Le Trou Du Cru is actually Epoisses (a strong pungent French cheese from Bourgogne) but it comes in smaller bite sized rounds which, I am reliably informed, are an appropriate size to finish and so not stink the refrigerator out. I like that logic.

One other point on the subject of cheese; while researching Le Trou Du Cru I discovered that Epoisses/Le Trou Du Cru is made with unpasteurised cow’s milk and is therefore banned from the USA. Other French cheeses that USA citizens are missing out on for the same reason include Brie de Meuax, Reblechon de Savoie, Camembert de Normandie and Bleu de Gex. These cheeses all rank amongst my favourites – you poor Americans don’t know what you’re missing! By the way, the USA has also banned Morbier (another wonderful cheese) because of it’s thin line of vegetable ash. Tragic.

Saint Omer (Hauts de France), France June 2025 (Tour 11)

We arrived at the Chateau du Gandspette campsite, near Eperlecques, on Monday 23 June. We were booked on a ferry back to England the following Thursday which, with the dogs already sorted, would give us one full day to explore nearby Saint Omer and another to visit the local supermarkets (so Vanya could replenish her stocks of Cremant). We’d then undertake the half hour drive to Calais (and take the ferry to Dover) early on the Thursday.

The Chateau du Gandspette is a campsite we’d use again given the friendly welcome we received; it’s spacious pitches; clean facilities; half decent restaurant-bar and; best of all, it’s close proximity to Calais. The only downside is the outside toilets are some distance from the bar!

On Tuesday morning, after an enjoyable evening on the terrace of the campsite bar, we headed into Saint Omer for the day. The Cremant could wait. There’s a sizeable car park on the old market place (the Place du Vieux Marche) near the centre of the town. It’s located between the Place du Marechal Foch (the new home to the town’s colourful Saturday morning market) and the Place Victor Hugo (a lively little square lined with numerous shops and and cafe-bars). The city’s cathedral is nearby.

We decided to start with breakfast outside a small cafe, Le Saint O, on Place Victor Hugo. Thinking back on it, the Place du Marechal Foch is a larger and livelier square than any in Saint Omer but; Place Victor Hugo proved the perfect place to soak up the local atmosphere; just sitting; drinking copious cups of coffee and; people watching.

It is thought that the town was formed some time in the 7th century by Saint Audomar – whose name was subsequently shortened to Saint Omer. It’s known as ‘the yellow brick town’ on account of the gold colour of many of it’s older buildings and, when the sun is shining, there are few better examples of this than the former Cathedral de Notre Dame de Saint Omer. It was once the seat of the Bishop of Omer but the seat wasn’t restored after the French Revolution. Nevertheless, it is still commonly referred to as the ‘cathedral’.

The interior of this flamboyant 13th century Gothic style building is even more impressive than the outside and; it contains so many interesting features. Amongst other things, there’s the tomb of Saint Omer himself; a several centuries old statue of Jesus Christ; several paintings including ‘The Descent from The Cross’ by the local Flemish artist, Peter Paul Rubens; an astronomical clock dating back to 1588 and; an RAF flag commemorating the birth of the Royal Air Force which started life as the Royal Flying Corps at the nearby Longuenesse Aerodrome during World War I.

To the north of the town, near the train station and the River Aa, are the ruins of a much older religious institution – the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Bertin – which was founded by Saint Audomar in the 7th century. It was rebuilt many times and grew to be one of the most important abbeys in northern Europe. The abbey was destroyed during the French Revolution and much of it’s stone was used in the construction of new buildings in the town, including the Town Hall.

In addition to housing the weekly farmer’s market, Place Marechal Foch (sometimes referred to as La Grande Place) is home to the former town hall. Known locally as the ‘coffee mill’ because of it’s shape, the town hall is now used mostly for civic ceremonies but; it also contains a small lavishly decorated theatre complete with a magnificent trompe l’oeil ceiling. The large square serves as a car park when the market is not on and a handful of cafes and restaurants border the square.

The former Town Hall on Place Marechal Foch

I don’t think we saw Saint Omer at it’s best because we visited out of the holiday season and on a Tuesday (and in France, Tuesdays are almost as quiet as Mondays) but, we liked it sufficiently to warrant a return and; as indicated at the beginning of this blog, Saint Omer is not that far from Calais.

I suspect there’s much to see in the surrounding area too given that the British Expeditionary Force were headquartered in Saint Omer during WWI and that the German Military had a strong presence here during WWII. There’s a vast concrete bunker at Eperlecques which was built in 1943 as a combined assembly plant and launch site for Hitler’s V2 Rockets and; 4 miles to the south west of Saint Omer is the super impressive La Coupole complex which succeeded Eperlecques. This latter complex now serves as a museum covering the German occupation of France, the flying bombs and the history of space travel. It also includes a planetarium.

Saint Omer and then Calais were the end of our Tour 11 except that as we approached Brighton I pranged the Van on the A23. 6,500 miles driving around Europe and with just 10 miles to go I scraped a Mercedes. Not a good ending to a a great tour. I estimate it will cost at least £2,500 to fix the Van. I just hope we’ll be able to get back on the road before the year is out.

La Colle sur Loup (Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur), France May 2025 (Tour 11)

I write this very short blog for completeness’ sake only.

This was to be our last day in France. We were on our way to Italy. However, shortly after we left Saint Raphael in the Van, the mother of all rainstorms hit us; a veritable monsoon; a deluge of biblical proportions. We continued driving, making no more than 20 kilometres an hour on the motorway and then; after 30 miles or so, we decided enough was enough. We paused, reprogrammed the Sat-Nav and drove through a very flooded Antibes to a small campsite in a place called La Colle sur Loup which is in the Les Alpes Maritimes Department of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur Region.

I cannot recommend the campsite because we saw so little of it (although what l saw looked fine). We were confined to the Van because of the wet weather and because the onsite restaurant-bar was closed because of a domestic emergency.

We hunkered down until the next day still some 30 miles from the Italian border. No matter; it was better than driving in such atrocious conditions and the weather forecast for the following day was (typically France this) nothing less than wonderful.

Saint Raphael (Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur), France May 2025 (Tour 11)

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.

Just waiting for coffee now and a liqueur courtesy of A La Maree.

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.

Basilica de Notre Dame from the Old Port

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).

Port Grimaud (Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur), France May 2025 (Tour 11)

Another trip out in the Van from Esterel took us 30 miles or so back along the coast to Port Grimaud (yet another Venice of Provence, I hear you say). Vanya visited the place many years ago while on a cruise around the Med. I’d not been there before. It proved a really pleasant outing. We arrived out of season but most places in the village were open and we were very well received by the locals wherever we went. As an example, it was raining as we arrived and we looked to a small cafe for coffee and croissants until the rain ceased. The cafe wasn’t really open at the time and only serving coffee but; we were welcomed inside with Nala and Beanie and told that we could buy food at a nearby store and eat it in the restaurant if we so wished. We did just that and stayed until the rain stopped.

Port Grimaud was conceived by the architect (and sailor) Francois Spoerry in the 1960’s and is not to be confused with the old village of Grimaud up in the nearby hills. Building on reclaimed marshland Spoerry set about creating a small harbour town. More than that he designed a town where every seaman could park his vessel in front of his home. And that is exactly how it is. More than 2,000 homes were built (1,100 of which are detached villas) and each house has it’s own mooring. These mostly very pretty colourful houses (terracottas, creams and pinks seem to be the order of the day) are spread across 12 different islands and connected by no less than 14 bridges. There are more than 7 kilometres of waterways and 2 kilometres of quayside. It’s not hard to understand why it is called the Venice of Provence and I am certain it has a greater claim to that title than Martigues (much as I like Martigues).

Take a look yourself…

Of course the village has become a tourist attraction with more than half a million people visiting every year. Much of it is out of bounds to tourists but security was lax while we were there and we were able to go wherever we wanted. One particular island is very much a designated tourist area with it’s shops, restaurants, bars and even a church, the Eglise de Saint Francois d’Assise de Port Grimaud. The church serves more as a viewing platform (for it’s views over the village) than a house of prayer. No one entered the church while I was there and that’s a shame because, despite it’s simplicity, it is an impressive place. There are a couple of features within the church which stand out. First are the stained glass windows which reflect the movement of the sun throughout the day. I’ve never seen anything quite like them before. Second, Spoerry is interred in the church. His tomb is plain to see.

A few photos of the Eglise de Saint Francois d’Assise and a couple from it’s roof…

One thing I learned only after leaving Port Grimaud is that Francois Spoerry commissioned various Trompe L’Oeil to be painted on the walls around the village. I wrote about Trompe d’Oeil in some detail earlier during this tour when we were in Sainte-Marie La Mere. It is French for ‘Trick of the Eye’ and they are life sized murals which look real from a distance. Oh dear, to have missed them in Port Grimaud. There are other features of the village that I overlooked. Spoerry’s own house for starters – He designed it himself and it looks more like a castle tower than anything but, amongst other things, it has a swimming pool which is half inside and half outside. There’s also a pebble mosaic in the covered shopping arcade on the Place du Marche which I would have liked to have seen – Apparently more than 200,000 pebbles were used in the making of this mosaic. I suspect there is a great deal more about Port Grimaud that I would have enjoyed had I seen it. I’d definitely return for another look especially out of season such as now.

Trompe de L’Oiel in Port Grimaux. Not my photos…

The weather improved greatly during our visit and we were able to sit outside a restaurant bar for a glass of wine or two and Vanya even found time to take one of the boat tours around the different islands that make up the village. I should have done the same, if only for the photo opportunities. I think we’ll be back.

Agay (Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur), France May 2025 (Tour 11)

Outside the holiday season Agay is a quiet little village and coastal resort next to Saint Raphael in the Var Department of the Cote d’Azur. More precisely, it is located in Agay Bay, between Cap Dramont to the west and the Pointe de la Baumette lighthouse to the east. The village is in a quite exceptional setting, sitting as it does in a roadstead (i.e a bay which is wider and deeper than it’s opening to the sea) and is completely backed by the red rock mountains of the Esterel Massif. Little wonder it has been described as a ‘Jewel of the Cote d’Azur’.

The resort was recommended as a pleasant place to visit and I decided to walk there. It’s a 3 mile walk from Esterel Camping but it’s an easy 3 miles along a cycle path which follows first the Avenue des Golfs and then the Avenue du Gratadis and leads directly to the beach front.

Once there, I walked the length and breadth of the village and; I can tell you Agay is not the most exciting of places. It’s more a place to relax although it does have a tidy little marina and three fine sandy beaches and can offer much in the way of water sports. The marina is at the western end of the village at the mouth of the Agay River. Alongside it is the tiny Maobi Beach, most if not all of which seems to belong to the hotel of the same name. To the east of Maobi Beach is the village’s principal beach, the Plage d’Agay, which is backed by a string of small shops, bars and restaurants. Finally, at the very eastern end of Agay is my favourite beach, the small but beautiful Plage de la Baumette. I started my visit by walking the length of the three beaches until I reached the lighthouse (now privately owned, I think) at Pointe de la Baumette and then returned to take a cold beer at one of the bars behind the Plage d’Agay. It was in the bar that I started reading up on the village and learned, amongst other things, that the famous French author Guy de Maupassant was one of numerous authors who regularly visited Agay.

Looking west along the Plage d’Agay towards the marina

The view across the bay from a point above the Plage de la Baumette

I did stumble across one interesting feature during my walk along the beaches. In a small recreation park behind the campsite which separates the Plage d’Agay from the Plage de la Baumette is a small war memorial. It serves to honour a U.S bomber crew whose Liberator was shot down by German Flak and crashed into the bay while on a mission in 1944. Four of the crew parachuted to safety (and captivity) but the remaining six men were killed. The wreckage of the bomber lay undiscovered in Agay Bay at a depth of just 42 metres until 1984. Finding that memorial made for a very sobering moment; this beautiful, tranquil little bay is the last place that you would think could be touched by war or… so I thought. While reading up on Agay over the aforesaid beer, I also discovered that much of the village was destroyed during WWII both by the occupying German troops and by allied bombing in preparation for the invasion of Provence. Indeed, there used to be a medieval castle in the village which was totally obliterated.

obiter dicta: The memorial incorrectly identifies the Liberator heavy bomber as ‘Ophelia Bumps’ when in fact the plane was named ‘Miss I Hope’. This error is pointed out on a nearby plaque.

I enjoyed my stroll to, from and around Agay (I covered almost 9 miles in total) but I do wish I had focused more on the surrounding topography and less on the village’s war history whilst drinking my beer. If I had, I would have learned that Agay is also a gateway to the Esterel and my subsequent hike up the Pic du cap Roux (see the blog on Esterel) could have been accomplished in half the time.