Let's go explore the Côte-D'Azur!
08/28/2017 (Monday) – arriving at the Côte D'Azur
We left Nice by car and passed through some cute towns, as I mentioned in post previous, and at the end of the day we arrived at our hotel, the Cap Riviera. We chose this hotel as one of our bases for exploring the beaches of the Côte D'Azur region because the reviews and location were excellent and the price was super fair. The owners – a French/Italian couple – are super friendly, they run a Michelin restaurant inside the hotel and the rooms are pleasant with a beachy atmosphere, you know? And the best of all is that you only have to cross the street to get to a delightful, small and empty beach, Grand Boucharel Beach.
As we arrived late and hadn't booked the hotel restaurant (I didn't even know it was Michelin!), we went to dinner at a pizzeria that was still open, Naples. Restaurant with a homey atmosphere, delicious pizza and cheap prices! 🙂
Here is a map with a summary of this post so you can find your way around better:
08/29/2017 (Tuesday) – Day 1
We woke up excited with the heat and sun – how much we miss them in our life in Dublin! – and went straight to breakfast at the hotel facing the sea. Oh, delicious!
We then put on our swimsuits and headed straight to the beach on foot, which was wonderful, and we stayed there for a few hours relaxing…
We went back to the hotel and got ready to go Cannes, but we made a strategic stop at a boulangerie halfway, Tom's Bakeries, to buy some delicious things that would be our lunch. We had no desire to stop for lunch in a restaurant and miss the heat and sun of the tour.
To our surprise, we were IN LOVE with the road between our hotel and Cannes, because we saw several wonderful coves and beaches that looked paradisiacal and empty. It was late afternoon, but I think they can be good options for those who have a car. Look how beautiful the Côte D'Azur is:
We arrived in Cannes via a road that runs along the sea that reminded us a lot of Barra/Reserva/Recreio beach in Rio de Janeiro because of the kiosks, parked cars and lots of people on the beach. A nice atmosphere, you know?
We drove to a parking lot right at the end of the road. Boulevard de la Croisette, an avenue that resembles Av Atlântica in Rio de Janeiro, and we strolled along its boardwalk until we were tired. So many fancy clubs on the beach! At some point we entered one of the super charming perpendicular streets and made our way back to our parking lot through the inside. We chose to have dinner at a creperie with excellent reviews and close to our car, Creperie de la Croisette, and we loved it!
We then returned straight to the hotel.
08/30/2017 (Wednesday) – Day 2
We had breakfast at the hotel and off we went to the other side of the road, this time towards Saint Tropez, one of the most popular places on the Côte D'Azur. We followed the recommendation of our hotel employee and parked the car at the marina in Sainte Maxime and from there we took a boat to Saint Tropez. She told us that driving to ST would be a bit stressful, because it is a very popular place, and that the view of the city from the boat was really cool – and it is! We bought the tickets on the spot (37 euros for the 2 of us) with the company The Green Batteries, which has boats leaving from time to time, and we found the trip quite enjoyable. We were impressed by the amount of yachts – and their sizes – as we started to approach ST. Man, that’s a lot of money in one place! We loved the pastel colors of the buildings and the approach to the port, but what we found most enjoyable was walking through the empty alleys inside. Each one more charming than the last…
We chose to go up in Citadel of St. Tropez, built in the 17th century, because we wanted to see the view of the city with the sea, but I don't know if I would do it again... the view is nice, but I found the climb quite punk with the sun blazing overhead and on top of that being pregnant. Oh, we paid 6 euros for the two of us to get in there.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that looked touristy, the The Fisherman, and we didn't like the service nor were we crazy about the food.
We walked around a bit more and then took the boat back to Sainte-Maxime. From there we drove to a town called Port Grimaud, which enchanted me much more than the famous Saint Tropez. It was built in 1966 and most of its streets are canals, so it is simply charming. Take a look and include it in your Côte D'Azur itinerary, please!
We left there at dusk and went straight to the hotel, where we had the pleasure of having a wonderful dinner at their Michelin restaurant. What delicious food and great service, guys! I recommend it. 😉
08/31/2017 (Thursday) – Day 3
We did checkout from our hotel and stopped at two places before heading to the next hotel: Cavalaire-sur-mer and the paradisiacal beach of Saint Clair, in Lavandou. The weather didn't help much, but we still found both places very charming. We spent a few hours enjoying Saint Clair beach, which, luckily for us, was made of sand and not rocks, and when we realized the time, we couldn't find any restaurants open for lunch. We've been through this a few times in France and we know that restaurants close relatively early after serving lunch, but we kept forgetting about it and ending up in trouble. Just a heads up! The only way out was to stop at a bakery and buy some snacks.
We left at the end of the day and the goal was to go straight to our next hotel, but when we saw a Babies R Us sign on the road near Toulon, we had to make a quick stop there. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything worthwhile, so it was just a waste of time.
We arrived at night at Hotel Corniche du Liouquet, which is hidden on a dirt road, and I didn't like the service because the receptionist didn't speak ONE word of English. Geez, we paid a lot for the hotel (130 euros a night without breakfast) and we expected to at least have restaurant recommendations for dinner, but we had to resort to TripAdvisor again. Oh, the hotel and the room were very modern and the forest around them brings a delightful peace, but the stairs inside the room between the bed and the bathroom were completely unnecessary. Photos:
We went out for dinner at a really cool complex with several trendy restaurants nearby and we chose The Little Cabin of Lecques, because we liked the menu options and the rating on TA. Really delicious! We then walked around the area and returned to the hotel.
09/01/2017 (Friday) – Day 4
We paid to have breakfast at the hotel and really enjoyed the feast and the view from the place. Then we drove to Cassis with the intention of doing one or two trails through the famous calanques, but when we got there, we were told that the trails were closed due to the risk of fire and strong winds. We had to change our plans and visit the calanques by boat. We parked the car at Parking Bestouan (it cost 13 euros for the hours we spent there) and were pleasantly surprised by the beach in front of it. Look how beautiful it is:
We really wanted to forget about the boat trip and spend the WHOLE DAY at that beach, but we were curious to see the calanques, so we went straight past it. We went to the marina and since there is only one company that does the tours, we bought the package that visited the largest number of calanques for 28 euros per person. Since this tour only leaves twice a day (9:30 am and 1:30 pm) and it was already close to noon, we bought the last time slot. Oh, and it left right on time! More information on this site or in that metallic photo below.
Due to the strong winds, we had to spend part of the tour inside the boat and the windows were a little dirty/scratched, so the view was a little impaired. When the winds improved, we were able to stay outside and WOW!! It was one calanque more beautiful than the other and the turquoise blue sea water was enough to leave us speechless… Just look:
We came back from the tour very excited and since we wanted to enjoy the beach that we saw in front of our parking lot and the restaurants were already closed because of the time, we bought some quick sandwiches and went to enjoy the sun. Even with the rocky beach and the incredibly cold water, it was totally worth it! Note: it was the last beach of our trip and of our lives without children. Now only in 2018 with our little one <3
We left the beach and drove to La Ciotat, where we had dinner in a very touristy restaurant, the The Sloop. Nothing special, but very suitable for people with messy hair and beach-wearing hair like us. We left there and went straight to the hotel.
02/09/2017 (Saturday)
We left our hotel towards the region of Provence, but I'll tell you everything next time post. This was our trip along the Côte D'Azur…
Read all about this trip in the links below
- Summary of 10 days in the south of France – this post!
- 3 days in Nice, Monaco and surroundings – see details here
- 4 days on the beaches of the South of France – see details here
- 2 days in the Provence region – see details here
