Pétanque & Pastis

President’s Day Weekend in Saint-Tropez

We were rather surprised to see traces of snow on the ground in different spots that we could view from the A-8 autoroute on our way from Antibes to Saint-Tropez for President's Day Weekend. It may not have been the best weekend for our planned randonnées, but we didn't let the weather stop us from hiking and pique-niquing, even if we did have to fight a little bit of rain and hail in the process. Although, in the future I think we'll wait until later in the season before making any hiking plans in the Var. Our last randonnée in Saint-Tropez took place in June, which was really a great time of year because, not only were all the trails open and cleaned up, but we could take advantage of lots of great swimming opportunities along the hiking path.

From the Citadelle toward La Baie des Canebiers

From the Citadelle toward La Baie des Canebiers

From the Citadelle toward La Baie des Canebiers

From the Citadelle toward La Baie des Canebiers

From the Citadelle toward La Baie des Canebiers

From the Citadelle toward La Baie des Canebiers

From Plage des Salins toward Plage de Tahiti

From Plage des Salins toward Plage de Tahiti

From Plage des Salins toward Plage de Tahiti

Randonnée – Cap Lardier in Ramatuelle

Parts of the village were very quiet this morning as we searched for some café au lait and croissants.  Our hotel started their breakfast service at 9:30, which seemed pretty late to us.  Fortunately, we found a café in the main square next to the Sunday morning market.  The Café de l’Ormeau was bustling with vendors getting their caffeine start before opening their stalls.  After breakfast, we walked through the market to pick up some pique-nique items for our randonnée today.

Sentier du Littoral - Cap Lardier

We started our hike at Mas de Gigaro, as suggested by AzurAlive, and followed the Sentier du Littoral past the small coves and protected beaches of sunbathers - some with and some without swimsuits.  We hiked up and down the rocks and rocky stairs, past the small crocodile-shaped island called La Crique de I’llot du Crocodile, stopping for a swim in the nippy sea, before reaching our destination of Cap Lardier.  From the Cap, we turned back and took the inland path, where we stopped on the way for a pique-nique among the ruins of une Batterie Napoléonienne, which was an ancient artillery fortification.  The whole loop, including a short swim and a pique-nique, took only about three hours of easy hiking, which left us plenty of beach time this afternoon in the warmer waters in the Bay de Cavalaire.

Cap Lardier in Ramatuelle

Restaurant L’Ecurie du Castellas in Ramatuelle

The ambiance at dinner tonight was amazing on the inviting terrace of our hotel, overlooking the Église Notre-Dame.  Although the food was all right, unfortunately, it did not compare to the lovely atmosphere, and was not nearly as good as last night’s dinner at Restaurant La Forge.

A Weekend in Ramatuelle

We decided this would be our last chance to get over to Saint-Tropez before the swarms of tourists arrive for the months of July and August.  It was already too late to get a room at the Hotel Le Mouillage, which we really liked when we stayed there this past April.  In April we had arrived on a Saturday, in time for lunch at Club 55 on the beautiful Pampelonne beach.  The only problem was that it was pouring down rain … and the rain never stopped the whole weekend.  Four of our friends had planned to meet us the following morning to do a hike that we had talked about doing for a really long time.  But it never stopped raining, so they all canceled out, and we decided to head home a day earlier than we had planned.  So, this weekend we returned to do the hike that we missed out on in April.  And the weather was perfect, as we started out with lunch on the beautiful white sand of Pampelonne beach once again.

Wine Tasting at Château Pampelonne in the Var

On our way to our hotel in the village of Ramatuelle, we passed by a number of wineries here in the Var, where one particularly got our attention.  We had just finished off a half bottle of a crisp and fruity rosé from Chateau Pampelonne with our lunch, and we couldn’t resist stopping in to get a few bottles to take home with us, now that we are headed into the rosé season.

Hotel L’Ecurie du Castellas in Ramatuelle

Saint-Tropez was all booked up, but we were lucky to get a room at the charming L’Ecurie du Castellas in the nearby village of Ramatuelle, which turned out to be a great location for our impending hike tomorrow.  We were happy with our room overlooking the Bay of Pampelonne in the distance, and the village itself was colorful and picturesque, sitting up on a base of rocky granite, with plenty of inviting terrace cafés and restaurants scattered around.

Scarecrows in Ramatuelle

The narrow streets and alleys of Ramatuelle were invaded by épouvantails (scarecrows), from the Expo Nature & Épouvantail held each month of June.  They guide the way along a botanical circuit with descriptions and information of the local flora.

Le Moulin de Paillas

View from the Village of Gassin in the Var

We took a short drive along the Route du Moulin de Paillas, where the ancient, but newly-restored (2002) windmill sits at the summit of Ramatuelle, to the village of Gassin with its lovely views over vineyards toward the sea and the hills.  It’s too bad we couldn’t fit in two dinners tonight because the terrace restaurants here in Gassin looked lively and extremely inviting also.  But, I think we chose wisely for restaurants tonight.  La Forge (rue Victor Léon, tél: 04.94.79.25.56) in Ramatuelle had excellent food that matched its animated alfresco setting.

Restaurant La Forge in Ramatuelle

Alfresco Dining in Ramatuelle