Theole sur Mer is the picture perfect Riviera seaside village situated between St Tropez and Cannes, but closer to Cannes. It has wonderful sandy beaches, one of which allows nude bathing, from Pointe de l’Aiguille and Pointe St-Marc, some great beach restaurants such as the Marco Polo, huge rocky escarpments, loads of water sports and is ideal for swimming. Fabulous views both up to the mountains behind or from the mountains over the village and the sparkling Mediterranean sea. It is sheltered by those Esterel Mountains behind, which are fantastic in the summer as they offer some shade on the beaches in the late afternoons, but have the effect of making it a bit less sunny in the afternoons in winter, although none the less beautiful for all that in the winter months.
The small harbour is delightful, with its red rock lighthouse standing out and there are other fascinating buildings here such as the crenellated castle chteau des Mineurs which was originally used as a soap factory and is now accommodation. The walks are also very beautiful, but more of a hike than a walk given the mountains (the Grosses Grues is 440 metres in altitude, that’s nearly 1400 feet high) that surround this ancient village which can trace its history back to the 5th century, having always been a safe haven port.
The drive along the coast in the direction of st tropez villa rentals if one of the most beautiful in the world, with its rocky outcrops, untamed sea and the sparkling blue waters, set against the backdrop of the mountains, which are covered in bright yellow mimosa in January and February make this a truly breathtaking spectacle. Continuing on you come to Agay, a sleepy beach village much beloved by campers and then on to the delights of St Raphael and if you feel the need St Tropez.
In the other direction is Mandelieu La Napoule and the Cannes, There are a number of restaurants in Mandelieu and two very nice golf courses, the Riviera and The Mandelieu Old Course, which is particularly pretty as most of the fairways are made up of parasol pines and it is close to the sea.
Cannes itself is a fantastic vibrant festival town. The Cannes Film Festival takes place in May each year and attracts film stars and media types from all over the world who swarms around the Palais des Festivals and fill up the Carlton, The Martinez and the Majestic hotels, plus most of the others as well. the shopping here is delightful if you are a designer hound, Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and many others have shops here, most often on the Croisette, the road along the sea front and the beach restaurants are amongst the best in the world. The old town of Le Sucquet has any number of great restaurants as well, especially those congregated up the Rue St Antoine, the road that winds up from the port area to the old town.
Some hotels are available in Theole Sur Mer, but by far the best way to stay and explore the area is to rent a private villa, which is surprisingly easy to do. There are several companies offering this type of accommodation, some speak English some are English, and in Theole Sur Mer there is good chance that you will get a fantastic sea or mountain view together with the almost inevitable swimming pool.