Corniche de l'Esterel

Today, for a change of scenery, we headed west and a bit south back toward the coast.  Our first destination was Frejus which I have driven by lots of times but never stopped at.  It was smaller than I thought it was - more of a village.  We had planned to have our lunch here but nothing appealed in that regard.  What did appeal was a little chocolaterie we found.  It had so many temptations it was hard to resist.  I ended up buying almonds coated with sea salt caramel.  Nawal bought three bags of nuts but her focus is more on "chocolat noire".  There was a pretty abbey there and a very cute wine store where I simply had to buy a local rose to try this evening.  We also found a fromagerie where we bought some cheese for our dinner. 

 

 

We drove to the coast from there and stopped in Saint Raphael which was bigger than I thought it was.  It would probably be a nightmare here in the summer with hordes of tourists but it was quiet today and the parkade we went into had over 450 empty spots.  That was convenient.  We had a three course lunch for about 18 Euros which was tasty but wouldn't win any culinary awards.  And, we managed to track down a baguette to go with our cheese and a fairly disgusting looking local specialty called a Tarte Tropezienne - picture a hamburger made with a brioche bun without the meat but filled with overly sweet whipped cream instead.  Then top it with chunks sugar.  Feeling sick yet?  I confess I did buy some tiny ones called bouches to try after dinner.

 

The real treat of the day, however, had nothing to do with food, villages or shopping - it was the drive along the Corniche de l'Esterel.  This road goes right along the coastline at the base of a mountain where the Foret Domaniale de l'esterel is located.  The AutoRoute is on the inland side of this while the corniche is on the coast.  When you check out "Les Belles Routes de France", it is rated right up there.  While so much of the coastline elsewhere along this coast is white limestone, the rock here is red and stunning when the sun is shining on it.  We lucked out today and we stopped at just about every pull-out to take photos.  Particularly impressive was the contrast between the red rock and the azure-coloured sea.  I promised myself one of these days I am going to stay one or two days somewhere along this coast so I can spend more time appreciating its beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back at our "villa", we had a quiet evening.  No dangerous walk into Saint Paul for us!  And, I did try the little bouches Tropezienne I bought.  They didn't disappoint:  they were as disgustingly sweet as I thought they would be!  Live and learn!