The French Riviera – Look Westward - 50's Chic Without The Lipgloss

To many, including myself, the Cote de Azur ( French Riviera) has become a ‘theme’ park; what with over built massive ugly high-rise condominiums cheek to jowl that run from Nice to Cannes, horrendous traffic jams, over priced restaurants and shops and certainly for me, not a relaxing place to vacation. I much prefer the area west of Cannes, actually, passed the lovely, but packed as hell, St Tropez in the area from Cavalaire-sur-Mer to Le Lavandou. Trendy its not, in fact, it’s unfashionable, that is one of the things that is endearing to me, but it’s beautiful and relaxing with great beaches.
One of the great drives for me is (coming from Provence) is to tack south of the super highway, across the edge of the magnificent Maures Mountains (mountains of the Moors). Climb along a scenic route to the hillside village of La Garde-Freinet ( have lunch) and then drive down towards Grimaud and into La Croix-Valmer ( skirting St Tropez.). The cornice coast from here westward rises and falls with wooded headlands, creeks and beaches. Stop where your fancy takes you, for me, its the small and unfashionable town of Cavaliere.

The hotel, Le Club de Cavaliere ( a Relais and Chateaux property) is a great spot to spend a few days or a week in fact. We'll get to that in just a minute, BUT..............
Keep driving west, and just after Cavalaire something extraordinary happens....You come around a great curve, rise up on the coast road, past an exposed white mansion on a cliff top and bang!.............you are suddenly in the 1950's. At any second ( it's the romantic in me) an open-top sports car will come around the bend towards you, with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, all dark glasses and Hermes scarf.
Sleepy villas sunk in gardens, an old petrol station, a little grocery shop and a wonderful fish restaurant with a wodden terrace overlooking the sea. The roads itrself winds dramatically, vistas explode ahead of you to reveal tantalising glimpses of wooded promontories, golden beaches, pine forest, crags and cliffs and flower tumbling through balustrades and down banks. Here is a secret place...called Le Rayol. This stretch of coast is the most beautiful and atmospheric on the Southern French coastline. This is how the Riviera used to be and is no more. How long this area remains so, I don't know.
so.....Back to Le Club de Vavaliere and Spa, at the end of the road in Lavandou...
One of the main draws is it sits on a sandy beach –a proper beach – so you can tumble out of bed, stroll to the restaurant and you’re right by the sea. It’s bliss! The hotel owners are fantastic hosts and it’d not just me, but the celebrated chef, Raymond Blanc (who vacations here yearly with his family) thinks the restaurant is fantastic in its own right. Chef Blanc says he loves coming out of the sea and heading straight for the buffet area by the beach, which always boasts a huge selection of fresh fish, meat and vegetables, not to mention the best pastries on the French Riviera.
Just a bit westward from here is village of Le Lavandou; and the nearby , villa of the French President Sarkozy is located and if this area is good enough for him, it’s good enough for me. Chef Blanc says, you might drag yourself away from Cavaliere to Tahiti Beach – east of St Tropez – Tahiti restaurant right on the beach – it’s friendly, it’s chic and it offers great, simple, top quality food all served under palm and coconut trees, with the sea just beyond.

Leaving this area, head back to Provence over the Maures by way of Bormes-les-Mimosas and Collobrieres. It’s a stirring drive through ancient hills that scorn trivial summer pursuits.