The Maures Cornice

The Maures mountain range (Massif des Maures) is the most southern outfit of the Alps, with its highest points at La Sauvette and Notre Dame des Anges (alt. 780 m). Just like the (a bit lower) Esterel Mountains protect Cannes and Nice from cold air blowing from the north and west, the Maures mountains protect the St Tropez peninsula and the adjacent coastlines between Le Lavandou and Saint Raphael. Most clouds do not cross the mountains (bad weather only comes with winds from the south) and frost is a very rare event (the last one was in 1985). We have thoroughly checked all available sources about climate: there simply is no better place in France.

Looking at a map of the Côte d'Azur, you will see 3 islands stretching between Giens (Hyères) and Cavalaire at the western extremity of the St Tropez peninsula. They are the largest and most beautiful islands of the French Mediterranean, a must to visit if you stay in Pramousquier. They can be reached by public boat-lines from Giens (Hyères) (20 min ride), Le Lavandou, Cavalaire or St Tropez. 

- Porquerolles (at 20 km from Pramousquier) is famous for its hiking paths (cars are not allowed), its “Plage d’Argent” (silver beach), and the clear water and colour of sand; 

- Port Cros Island is the central island and a National Park by itself for its famous submarine flora and fauna you can visit through guided or unguided tours. At present, the zone of influence of this National Park goes well beyond the island itself and includes Porquerolles Island and parts of the continental coastline between the Giens peninsula and Cape Lardier on the St. Tropez peninsula. Pramousquier does not depend upon the park administration but it is nevertheless located at the very centre of this coastline.

- Levant Island (at 11 km straight south from Pramousquier) may be the only one you can skip : it can only be accessed via its port, that is the nudist town Heliopolis (we never visited…); the rest of the island is a military base protecting the French President's summer residency Fort Bregançon.

A former narrow gauge coastal train-line between Hyères and St Tropez has been transformed into a biking lane, with tunnels and some of the nicest viewpoints of this mountain bay between the St Tropez peninsula on the east and Cap Bénat (le Lavandou peninsula) on the west, centred by Pramousquier and Le Rayol. In case you take your bike to go to church on Sunday, you may cross French President Jacques Chirac and his wife Bernadette at the mess in le Lavandou or Bormes-les-Mimosas, these churches are indeed the closest ones to Fort Bregançon. If you prefer a physical elevation rather than the spiritual one, you may wish to take (by bike or car) the "Route des Crêtes" (the crest road) crossing the ridge of the Maures Mountains between Col du Canadel (Canadel pass) and Bormes-les-Mimosas, with fascinating sea views of Cap Nègre, the Côte d'Azur, and the Hyères Islands.

Other musts to visit are the beautiful middle-age mountain villages of Bormes-les-Mimosas, Collobrieres, Gassin, Grimaud and Ramatuelle. From Ramatuelle, it is just a few miles to reach St Tropez. When going to St Tropez by car, the mountain road via Ramatuelle is much nicer than the coastline, and there will never be a traffic jam when going through the mountains of the peninsula.