A 5 star holiday on the Côte d'Azur

In our inspiration blog, guests of our holiday homes share their experiences and give tips. Here we let Maarten speak. He experienced the holiday of his life with a group of friends in a villa on the Mediterranean Sea.

With a group of friends we regularly organize a wine tasting. On one of those evenings the conversation turned to holidays. We are all real France fans, and with the last bottle – a strong Côte de Provence – the idea was born to rent a holiday home on the Côte d’Azur together. Not really serious, of course, we all had a few glasses under our belts. But a few friends started searching on the internet and came up with a few very attractive suggestions. That’s when the idea really started to take shape. To cut a long story short, after a lot of comparing and discussing, we put it all together and booked a luxury 8-person villa right by the sea for 10 days at casapilot.

To be honest, if it had been up to me, I would not have left my sun lounger the entire holiday. Well, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but it was such a fantastic place for dolce far niente, on the edge of our own pool, with a view over the bay of Saint Tropez... I now know how the jet set lives on the Côte d’Azur! But of course, there were a few things to do, and given the preferences of the group, the emphasis was on gastronomic excursions. Personally, I found the markets in the area an experience in particular. We visited several. If I may give a few tips:

Because it was so close, we did a lot of our shopping at this small covered market in the old town of Sainte Maxime. The friendly vendors let you taste shellfish and the selection of cheeses and charcuterie makes your mouth water. We used all that goodness to cook heroic meals in our well-stocked kitchen.

On Avenue Gambetta in Hyères, local farmers and fishermen sell their freshly caught and picked produce. You will find sheep's cheese and organic vegetables from Carnoules, oysters from Tamaris, honey from Cabasse, goat's cheese from La Môle and many more locally produced delicacies. A golden tip for those who want to taste authentic Provencal cuisine.

We also visited the famous market on the Place des Lices in Saint-Tropez. In the shade of the plane trees you can wander endlessly between an overwhelming offer of Provencal delicacies. Bread, pastries, cheese, sausages, olives, spices, herbs, fruit and vegetables... you name it.

A visit to a vineyard was of course a must. At Domaine des Beaucas in Sainte-Maxime we were warmly welcomed by the family that runs this small winery in an environmentally friendly way. From the vineyard on the slope you have a spectacular view of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. The highlight for our group was of course the tasting of different vintages. The rosé – made from Syrah and Mourvèdre – was particularly popular on that warm day.

To prevent the waistband from pinching too much because of all the goodies, we decided to do something active too. At Plage de la Madrague in Sainte-Maxime, we hired kayaks. This was not only a sporty experience, but also very relaxing. The sea is as smooth as a mirror and the kayaks are light inflatable boats that are easy to paddle.