Villa French Riviera

Comiche de l'Esterel
Laid out bythe French Touring Club way back in 1903, the Comiche de l'Esterel (N98) is dotted with panoramic belvederes overlookingthe extraordinary red, blue and green seascapes below. The largest beachesofsand or shingleare served by snack wagons in the summer and, in between, with a bit of climbing, are rocky coves and nooksyou can haveall toyourself.<br />
Headingsouthfrom La Napoule,Theoule-sur-Mer,which claims to beonlyten minutes from Cannes'Croisette, has small beaches and an 18th-century seaside soap factory converted into a castle. This isn't bad compared to La Galere (the next town south on the same road), infected in the igyos by a private housing estate that looks as if it were modelled on cancer cells.This is a suburb of fashionable Miramar, where the bestthing to do is avoid the strings of stuffy private beaches and walk out a long Pointe de
l'Esquill on for the view of the sheercliffs of Cap Rouxplunging into the sea.The nearby slopes and jagged shore, pierced with inlets and secret coves, belongtothe villas and hotels of LeTrayas.<br />
Beyond LeTrayas,a road at Pointede l'Observatoir ascends to the Grotte de la Ste-Baume,where St Honorat resided asa hermit when four-star views were free of charge. Meanwhile the comiche road itself twists and turns towards Antheor, which has a good little beach,and the Esterel's biggest resort.Agay, a laid-back village set under porphyry cliffs, around a perfect horseshoe bay rimmed with sand and pebble beaches. For all that, a corner of it has sold its soul to the developers, who have constructed a'model Provencal village': a brash, synthetic concrete lump which has ali the charm and authenticity of a TV dinner. In 1944 the American 36th Division disembarked just to the west at the Plage du Dramont, whereyou can pick upthe path tothe Semaphoredu Dramont (about an hour's walk)for panoramas over the Culf of Frejus and the two porphyry sea rocks (calied the'Lion de la Mer' andtheliondelaTerre') at its entrance.The 'medieval' toweron the minuscule island now called the Ile d'Or was in fact built du ring the Belle Epoque by an eccentric doctor, who liked to invite celebrities to his'Kingdom ofthe Black Isie'and patronizethem from histhrone.The island and the mad doctor became the inspiration for Herge's book Tintin and the Black..The area also seemsto have madean impression in Neolithic times, there's a menhir and other, rather mysterious engraved stones on the ancient road from Dramont to Agay.