A Week in Provence

Having visited Nice, Cannes and the general Provence area a few times in the past we decided to return to coincide with another Star Clippers mini cruise in September. We started off with 2 nights at La Bastide Saint Antoine just outside Grasse, a beautiful small hotel that I last visited for dinner on my 40th birthday. Not much had changed, still as beautiful as ever, and this time we enjoyed seeing it all in daylight, and walking the half hour or so into Grasse (uphill on the way there, thankfully downhill on the way back!) The restaurant at the Bastide is delightful so we chose to eat there on both evenings and weren’t disappointed. We also revisited St Paul de Vence, a small and arty hill village about 45 minutes away and had lunch at the wonderful Colombe d’Or hotel which has hosted many famous patrons in the past, such as Picasso and Hollywood A listers. It is rumoured that Picasso paid for meals and accommodation there with his paintings, and several of his works still adorn the walls.

A short ride to Cannes to join the Star Flyer and our 3 night adventure on the Royal Clipper’s baby sister began. The Star Flyer (and its sister ship the Star Clipper) are identical, but smaller than the Royal Clipper, although the layout and facilities are pretty similar and just as good, only smaller. Sailway was magical, as always, setting sail to the haunting strains of Vangelis’ Conquest of Paradise, and we settled into the Tropical Bar after dinner where the usual convivial atmosphere prevailed. The following morning we tendered off St Florent Corsica which was very pretty, but the weather wasn’t too kind to us, so we had no choice but to shelter from the rain in various bars and try some of the superb local rose wine!

Our next port of call was Saint Tropez where we were tendered until late evening. On walking into the town I was initially unimpressed, and thought we would quickly be back on the ship, but it grew and grew on me and we ended up staying in town for dinner and going back on board at 10pm. A very upmarket and classy place with pockets of unpretentiousness, we loved sitting in the harbour area watching all the large and expensive yachts come and go.

The next morning and our all too short cruise was over on arrival in Monaco. We reluctantly said farewell to the ship, the crew and our new-found friends, and drove to Eze, another small hill village, but even prettier than Grasse and bursting with charm and character. Our hotel, the Chateau de la Chevre d’Or (Castle/palace of the Golden Goat) was magnificent, and as we walked out onto the open air terrace the only words we could utter were wow! The views are absolutely stunning. The hotel itself is actually an integral part of the village, with rooms spread out – it wasn’t easy to see where the hotel began and the village ended - and our room was down the street and round a couple of corners from the main reception. Very hilly, lots of evil uneven steep steps and cobbled stones, but oh so pretty. We had a good wander around the village and a light meal at one of the cafes, then the following day we decided that a day relaxing by the pool was in order and made the most of the beautiful weather. That evening we ate at the Michelin starred restaurant at the hotel, and again many wows were uttered. Very expensive as you can imagine, but every course was a work of art and very unusual, and service was discreet and faultless. I likened it to paying a lot of money for seats at a top show – most of us have done that, we don’t do it every day, but for a most enjoyable and entertaining evening it is worth every penny.

This was one of the best holidays I have ever been on - only a week but split into 3 different parts there was never any danger of boredom, and it felt like a lot longer. And the French do know how to feed and water you!!