After selecting the Esterel Caravaning site as our next stopover, Vanya is now in charge. This 5 star campsite, on the outskirts of San Raphael and alongside the Foret Dominiale de L’Esterel (Esterel State Forest), appears to have all the bells and whistles you could ask for in a campsite and looks as if it could beat any of those we have used in the last years, except perhaps the one in Serignan (because of it’s food). Time will tell but, enough about campsites! You can google Esterel Caravaning if you want to know more.
That’s what I wrote almost two weeks ago (although I didn’t finish writing the blog) and I’m now playing catch up from somewhere in Italy. We stayed at the Esterel Caravaning site for an almost unprecedented 7 nights (not least because the weather was great) and we used the place as a base from which to make various sorties in the Van. These included visits to Figanieres (which involved driving through Callas, Bargemon and Montferrat; not all of them by choice), Agay, Port Grimaud and, of course, Saint Raphael itself. I’ll write separately about those visits. For the moment I’ll concentrate on the Esterel State Forest.
Esterel is a 250,000 year old volcanic mountain range (hills, really) of some 32,000 hectares, which includes almost 6,000 hectares of colourful natural forest (the Foret Dominiale de L’Esterel). The forest is criss-crossed by trails for walkers and mountain bikers and there are a few roads (built by the occupying German forces during WWII to provide easy access to the hinterland) but, the use of these roads is restricted particularly during the high season.
I made three visits to the forest and it is a beautiful place to walk although, even out of season, you will rarely have the place to yourself. You’ll stumble across the odd local walking his dog and it’s very popular with mountain bikers (one day I saw hordes of them) but; stay away from the wider trails or, better still, follow some of the many narrow gorges and/or deep ravines and you can avoid most everybody. There was one occasion when I felt I did have the place to myself. I was following what I at first thought was a dried up river bed but it led me to various small pools (complete with fish) and then a stream with some quite fast flowing water which ultimately disappeared underground. I was tempted to take a dip in one of the pools but the water was too cold. It’s pleasant stumbling across such places in what is a mostly arid park.
I mentioned the roads. Short stretches of them are open to the general public all year round. Some lead to small ponds or lakes; others to local tourist attractions, whether it be an old hermit cave or, the one I eventually picked up and which took me part of the way up to the Rock of Saint Pilon on the Pic du Cap Roux.
Okay, some photos and a few words about Esterel Caravaning. They operate a very impressive campsite. The first photo, below, is an official publicity photo providing an overview of the site. The others are mine and, to some extent, they capture the mood of the place…
There was a nice looking restaurant (two actually but, it being out of season, one was closed) although, in truth, the menu didn’t particularly appeal to Vanya. The wine selection in the restaurant is phenomenal – forty pages of wines, many of them very fine wines, including a Chateau Lafite Rothschild Premier Cru 2012 at 980 Euros a bottle. Sadly, that is well beyond my price bracket. The main bar was excellent, albeit a little expensive, but ‘happy hours’ (one at noon and another in the evening) made it very good value.
Of course, campsites are not just about a prime location and decent facilities (although you would have to go a long way to beat the natural beauty of the Esterel Forest and the broader Cote d’Azur and; the facilities/options at Esterel Caravaning are many, varied and, believe me, quite excellent). It is also about what you make of the opportunities while you are there. We were very fortunate in that during our stay we were able to visit some interesting and attractive places (I’ll write about those when I have more time) but, equally important, we met a pleasant and well travelled couple in Jan and Ian and they very much helped complete our stay whenever we met them during the ‘happy hours’. My goodness, I learned a great deal from Ian about Stoke City Football Club’s halfback line of Pejic, Smith and Bloor but; nobody and certainly not a Stoke City supporter (no offence Ian), will ever convince me that Gordon Banks actually saved Geoff Hurst’s penalty at Upton Park in 1971 to deny West Ham a League Cup Final appearance against Chelsea. I was there at the time; standing directly behind the goal in the North Bank and; I saw the ball bounce off Bank’s head.