The first weekend of May was four days due to holidays, and I was fortunate to spend this weekend near the French Riviera (côte d’Azur) at a friend’s lovely summer home overlooking the sea. Biking to the sea from the house was awesome, and there were lovely animals, creeks and landscapes along the way. I’ve been to the French seacoast, but never this far east. It is great to get there at this time of the year before the hoards of tourists (with their cars) rush in! Here are some photos from Fréjus, Roquebrune-sur-Argens and Saint-Tropez. See more info after the cut by clicking ‘Continue Reading’.
wild poppies, everywhere!
Saint-Tropez, view from hill
Fréjus
signs near the coast in Fréjus
the beach in Fréjus
ahhhhh
Organic wine-tasting at Domaine des Planes, Roquebrune-sur-Argens
I thoroughly enjoyed my first wine-tasting experience at Domaine des Planes! I bought a few bottles of my favorite rosé and a couple bottles of the red as they were fantastic. Organic means no hangovers right? 😉
The entrance to the private community the house was located in (where I stayed). Here you can see the path to the pool.
My favorite little path in Saint-Tropez … if you go down further I believe a film or two were shot there (if you know the details let me know in the comments).
Cassolette de moules
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My overall impression? Fréjus is lovely, of course you can see the gorgeous beach shots for yourself — keep walking along the coast, in both directions, and enjoy. The Fréjus town is really quaint and cute, so I recommend spending the hour (or less) it takes to walk around it if you like that sort of thing; there are some cool architectural elements, old archways, a church, views of the sea, etc. The coastal town Saint-Raphaël is just next door and I hear it’s lovely over there too. Saint-Tropez I nickname as “St. Trop” because it doesn’t live up to the hype at all. It’s really small; I spent about two hours there and left. It did not capture my interest at all (maybe because it’s no longer the 1960’s and Bridgette Bardot is now a scary old lady). In the same gulf as St. Tropez it may be more interesting to visit Port-Grimaud and Sainte-Maxime, which are just are short trip North of St. Tropez (I didn’t get to check them out myself). Definitely check out a vineyard (or three) and taste some of the local wines.
Any tips? Leave them in the comment section so people finding this post via Google /etc. as well as fellow readers (and myself!) can get more info. Merci d’avance !
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8 Comments
Emmanuel
May 23, 2012 at 8:47 amPlaces to sea in the area are old villages of Gassin, Ramatuelle, Grimaud and I’m really crazy about the pedestrian walk between the Escalet Beach (Ramatuelle) and the Gigaro Beach (La Croix-Valmer) all along the sea shore, above the cliffs of Cap Taya and Cap Lardier. Just before drinking a Chateau Minuty rosé or another one coming from the Grimaud’s or Gassin’s wine cooperatives.
Enjoy.
grenobloise
May 23, 2012 at 10:13 amMerci beaucoup for the tips (or shall I say ‘secrets’) Emmanuel! I will use this plethora of marvelous info for when I am back in the area (what a treat for my readers too)! I love that you include nature trails and rosé. Oouh là. Now I’m already itching to get back there 😉
Nikki
May 23, 2012 at 8:55 amI love the poppies! I also spend the first weekend of May in the South of France (not quite on the coast, though), and saw those flowers everywhere. It definitely reminded me that I was in Europe. I’d never seen wild poppies in the US before. 🙂
grenobloise
May 23, 2012 at 10:20 amHi Nikki! YES, poppies were everywhere and I had never seen such a thing! The color is amazing, usually amongst all the greenery too — they are like fireworks, yet humble and sweet at the same time. What a treat it is: our first May living in France. Up in the mountains there are some crazy flowers at the moment as well (photos to come); yellow ones, royal blue and purple ones, etc. I am definitely reminded that I am living in a different land with all of these new floral beauties for my eyes to enjoy. You just reminded me: I’m going out on my bike to collect a wild bouquet right now!
Nikki
May 23, 2012 at 3:02 pmSounds amazing! I wish I wasn’t stuck inside an office on such a beautiful day… enjoy! 🙂
grenobloise
May 23, 2012 at 10:08 amThanks!
Ella Coquine
May 25, 2012 at 1:36 pmHow amazing is the color of the water? When I went to the riviera a few summers ago I was seduced by how clear and blue it was! I describe it to friends back home as looking like the color of arctic blue flavored Gatorade (Got to make it all American).
I’m dying to go back. As always, I love your photos!!!
I see that you added a watermark on your photos, bravo! I’ve looked into resizing and found a website that reduces images down to 600 pixels so they be printed and enlarged without looking pixelated. Do you want to the site’s address? It’s a bitch and another annoying step but it’s what you have to do these days. It’s a shame.
grenobloise
May 25, 2012 at 2:26 pmHello darlin’!
The first time I saw blue Gatorade water (love it! yes, very American, wohoo!) was when I visited lac d’Annecy. I go there a lot. Then, when I went to the French seacoast for the 1st time last fall in Marseille and Cassis I was like “woah”. I think now I’m a little more used to it, so I don’t notice it as much. I was amazed with the new landscape as I’d never seen the French Riviera. Speaking of this color… the most crazy-blue Gatorade water I’ve even seen was at this lake just south of Grenoble; it’s insane, look: https://grenobloise.wordpress.com/2011/08/21/balade-autour-du-lac-du-monteynard-isere/
It’s like blue Gatorade on drugs…
I said the G word so much I’m now thinking of alligators! Damnit! Happens every time …
Yes, I feel better now that my photos are water-marked. Yeah, a little bit of a pain though! I have to ‘attempt to’ translate my posts into French as well so it ends up taking a while to make a post. If this was an English-language blog it would probably be more words, less photos. I don’t think I need the site, thanks anyway! — I do everything in Photoshop since I edit the images in there already; just add the extra step. Your photos are really inspiring and beautiful, so your compliments means a ton!