Les Calanques de l’Esterel – the rugged red coastline that runs along the ‘Corniche’, one of the most famous coast roads in the world, from St. Tropez to Nice. We pass the long sandy beaches of Saint Aygulf, Saint Raphael with its quayside ferris wheel, the exclusive Hotel Restaurant la Villa Mauresque, past the last intact Roman fish pond with its low walls, past Ile d’Or, a private island reputed to be one of the 60 most beautiful sites in France (which was renamed ‘Ile Noir’ by Hergé, creator of ‘Tintin’’). After an hour’s boat ride, we arrive at Agay just outside Cannes, where the island of Ste Marguerite can be seen off our starboard side, and the steep red cliffs of Villepey, whose height gives biological importance to much flora and fauna that thrives here. Hikers wave down at us from the cliff’s edge, and divers explore the deep pools that surround us.
