Greatest Winter Highway Journey on the French Riviera

Pages on this web site might comprise affiliate hyperlinks, which usher in a small fee and assist Offbeat France purchase its each day baguette.

Every winter, the French Riviera bursts into oceans of golden bloom. Residents eye the burgeoning branches and on the first signal of the little yellow flowers, spirits raise, as if spring had arrived unexpectedly.

For these of us unable to name the French Riviera dwelling, mimosa season is a welcome respite from the chilly, grey winters additional north, the intense solar and delicate temperatures hinting on the seasons to come back.

Should you love a very good street journey (as I do), you’ll be able to comply with the Mimosa Path (or Mimosa Route) over its 130km (80mi) crescent that stretches from Bormes-les-Mimosas within the Var proper as much as Grasse, the well-known fragrance city. You will want a automobile to do that so if you do not have your individual, be sure to reserve one properly earlier than this standard seasons begins, particularly in the event you’re hoping for an automated, of which there are few.

Ideally, you will spend a number of days alongside this route, exploring each the mimosa and the stops alongside the best way, from superb seaside cities to wild hillsides dramatically carpeted with golden bulbs the colour of sunshine.

Phases alongside the Route du Mimosa ©C.Moirenc

The route du mimosa in France: my free itinerary (based mostly by myself journey)

Nevertheless lengthy you resolve to remain on this route, you will be going to the identical locations. Listed below are the varied stops, and we’ll go into element about them under (10km = approx 6mi):

1. Bormes-les-Mimosas: Km 0
2. Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer: Km 15
3. Sainte-Maxime: Km 42
4. Saint-Raphaël: Km 59
5. Mandelieu: Km 108
6. Tanneron: Km 112
7. Pégomas: Km 115
8. Grasse: Km 130

You might resolve to whip by way of a few of these locations, or keep a day or two, and even longer. There aren’t any guidelines: every is wildly totally different, so you’ll be able to get pleasure from each the seaside and the mountainous inside on the identical French Riviera street journey.

You resolve!

Beneath I define every cease alongside the route, with a useful resource field on the finish of every with helpful info like vacationer workplace contacts or resort reservations. The place they exist, I’ve linked to the English-language model of internet sites. In any other case, I’ve supplied the French variations.

Once more, bear in mind to reserve your rental automobile forward of time – it is a standard season on the French Riviera.

Bormes-les-Mimosas: Km 0

This Twelfth-century medieval seaside village is your place to begin, or Kilometer 0, and you may see why as quickly as you get right here.

Trying on the sleek curve of the bay it inhabits, Bormes-les-Mimosas deserves its identify – the village is crammed with 90 totally different sorts of sensible golden bushes (and lots of of uncommon plant species). In reality, it was known as merely Bormes, however native authorities added “les-mimosas” in recognition of the village’s big variety of mimosa bushes.

Whilst you’re right here to wander across the streets and take a look at the mimosa, there’s much more to do on this little city.

Bormes-les-Mimosas on the top of the winter season ©Bob Leckridge by way of Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Issues to do in Bormes-les-Mimosas

• The very first thing to do is discover the village itself, its slender streets and peaceable squares.

• It is proper on the Mediterranean Sea so you’ll be able to in fact get pleasure from one in every of its seashores (see the Sources field on the finish of this part).

• Should you love crops, head for the Parc Gonzales in your proper as you climb the curvy street into Bormes. They’ve an important mimosa assortment but additionally distinctive Australian plant species. There is not any different place prefer it in Europe.

• A brief drive from city is an wonderful mimosa nursery run by Julien Cavatore and his household (the positioning is in French however a number of of the workers communicate English). They’re extraordinarily welcoming and crammed with tips about rising and caring on your mimosa. Because it does not final lengthy, take into account ordering your mimosa on-line once you get dwelling – they’ve 180 varieties on web site and their backyard has earned a number of labels of excellence.

• Uncover the area’s merchandise on a 4X4 tasting safari to pattern regional wines and culinary specialties – and you will not need to drive.

• Go to the close by Fort de Brégançon, the summer time residence of the French president. Some used it typically, some in no way. It was refurbished by Normal Charles de Gaulle, however he left energy earlier than he had an opportunity to get pleasure from it. Napoleon got here by way of right here, and left behind just a few canon…

• Should you occur to be right here on the finish of February, the Mimosa Competition is a yearly occasion that highlights this wonderful flower. Some 12 tons of mimosa (80,000 flowers!) go into getting ready the oldest mimosa parade on the Côte d’Azur.

Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer: Km 15

A part of the fantastic thing about this second stretch of your street journey alongside the Mimosa Route is the precise street to Canadol, so inexperienced and flowered it’s precisely what you think about the Riviera to be.

Throughout mimosa season, you will see the extraordinary patches of gold virtually wherever you flip on this village.

The Domaine de Rayol is the second cease alongside the Route du Mimosa, and has species from across the Mediterranean which borders it ©Domaine du Rayol by way of Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Issues to do in Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer

• The one absolute must-see is the Domaine du Rayol park, a wonderful backyard as stunning in winter as it’s in summer time and listed as one of many “exceptional gardens” of France, one of many many high labels the nation awards to locations price visiting. The Domaine has vegetation from Mediterranean-type climates all over the world.

• Should you cycle, Rayol is true on the coastal biking route, referred to as the V65, which follows the previous railway line.

• You will must be in form, however you’ll be able to climb the monumental staircase from the seaside to a panoramic view from the hills above. Conversely, you possibly can stroll down too… (Drop by the vacationer workplace for a map.)

• Should you take the steps right down to the seaside, you’ll be able to then stroll to the Domaine du Rayol, which can eradicate the parking headache on the Domaine, the place locations are extraordinarily restricted. To not point out the fabaulous mimosas on view all through!

• And in the event you make all of it the best way to the summit on the Col du Canadel, your view shall be, properly, extraordinary. I am going to allow you to see for your self.

Sainte-Maxime: Km 42

Sainte-Maxime is a laid-back, pleasant city alongside the coast, the other of the hyped-up St Tropez and others prefer it. Whereas many locations are closed in winter on the Côte d’Azur, Sainte-Maxime is totally different and you will not have any downside discovering a spot to eat right here.

Its lengthy shoreline makes this a real seaside city, the place you’ll be able to mix the solar and sea with the small streets of the previous city and its weekly market.

The Corso (parade) in Sainte-Maxime is an efficient instance of February celebrations of mimosa in France

Issues to do in Sainte-Maxime

• The primary weekend in February is when it occurs: the Corso, or flowered parade in honor of the mimosa.

• In fact there is a Miss Mimosa elected every year, and this occurs proper right here in Sainte-Maxime.

• What I loved about Sainte-Maxime was the easy pleasure of strolling alongside the port, stopping infrequently to observe locals on an extended lunch break enjoying pétanque. It feels lived-in versus utterly touristy.

Saint-Raphaël: Km 59

As is the case for many of the stops alongside the Mimosa Route, a look upward into the hills between January and March ought to yield blankets of golden mimosa flowering bushes, in distinction with the darkish rock of the mountain and a prelude to the more and more flowered path, all of which culminates within the Mimosa Competition in February.

Behind Saint-Raphaël is the Massif de L’esterel, or the Esterel mountain vary, a gateway to the mimosa forests and among the area’s most unspoilt nature.

Throughout the water is the well-known Ile d’Or, now a personal island however believed to be the inspiration for the Tintin comedian “L’Ile Noire”, The Black Island, which regaled many a French childhood (mine included).

The well-known Ile d’Or off the coast of Saint-Raphaël alongside the Route du Mimosa ©marcovdz by way of Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Issues to do in Saint-Raphaël

• Should you’ve ever watched French comedy movies, particularly within the twentieth century, you will be accustomed to the “gendarme” collection starring Louis de Funès, with St Tropez as a backdrop. He was so standard in France he has his personal museum in Saint-Raphaël, so do not move this one by in the event you’re a fan (until it is Monday, when it is closed). You will discover it proper subsequent to the practice station. It is not removed from St Tropez, the place a separate museum showcases the “gendarmerie” and its hyperlinks with the movie business and St Tropez. Each will contribute to your information of this surprising chapter in Riviera life.

• Stroll across the previous city and go to the Romanesque San Raféu church. If in case you have the vitality, climb its tower for a kind of impossibly gorgeous views of the coast and the mountains. The church additionally accommodates an archaeological museum.

• Should you like coastal paths and seashores, you are in the proper place, with greater than 30 seashores from which to decide on. Saint-Raphaël can be an important place to begin for hikes into the Massif de l’Estérel, within the inside.

• Push additional afield with a 2.5-hour scenic boat tour of the volcanic coast and a few welcome snorkeling on the top of summer time.

Mandelieu: Km 108

Mandelieu is called the Capital of Mimosa, each for its sweeping mimosa views up the mountain and for the Parc Emmanuelle de Marande, a mimosa arboretum, which is also called the Museum of Mimosa, a inexperienced and golden wave within the Capitou neighborhood.

The Mandelieu vacationer workplace organizes all types of mimosa excursions, whether or not into the mountains above city on foot or by automobile (2CV even!) or to Emmanuelle de Marande park.

In fact Mandelieu has its personal mimosa pageant in February, with a Mimosa Queen election… and like different cities alongside the coast on the foot of l’Estérel, you will have one foot within the azure Mediterranean and the opposite within the golden hills of Tanneron forest above.

The Chateau de la Napoule in Mandelieu in mimosa season ©Camille Moirenc

On the tip of the bay you will discover the Château de la Napoule, a 14th-century fortress which owes a lot of its present-day state to a few American benefactors. Son of a Wall Road stockbroker, Henry Clews Jr was kind of disowned by his father for his inventive tendencies. He moved to the French Riviera along with his spouse within the early twentieth century and was particularly gifted at sculpture (he studied with Auguste Rodin), including his personal “inventive touches” to the citadel – look ahead to them as you go to.

They purchased the chateau and renovated the rooms and the gardens, turning the advanced into what we are able to see in the present day.

Issues to do in Mandelieu

• The fabulous Château de la Napoule, in fact.

• The February Mimosa Competition.

• A stroll alongside the Siagne River is a delight, its shores bordered by bushes of greater than 50 totally different species and boats bobbing within the water alongside the shore.

Tanneron: Km 112

One of many nicest issues about Tanneron is getting right here from Mandelieu. You will twist and switch alongside slender mountain roads with sweeping views down all the best way right down to the ocean. Completely gorgeous.

In winter, you merely can’t escape the mimosa, wherever you flip, hill after undulating hill.

That is it, France’s mimosa heartland.

That is what the hills appear like early within the season, earlier than the gold blankets every thing

Issues to do in Tanneron

• If you would like to purchase some mimosa, name the Forcerie Augier (click on right here to know the function of a forcerie) to see if they will obtain you. Usually, they can’t – that is their office they usually could also be too busy. However I attempted and was profitable, particularly because it was early within the season. Your greatest wager can be to contact the vacationer workplace (see field under) and ask in the event that they will help arrange a go to.

• Should you see an indication that claims honey, or “miel”, cease and purchase some. Mimosa honey is totally different and scrumptious.

• Take a little bit of time to stroll across the small village of Tanneron, and for one thing a bit totally different, push on to Lake Saint-Cassien, the place you will discover a small Tenth-century chapel.

Pégomas: Km 115

By the point you attain Pégomas, you should have been driving by way of mimosa forest for some time and getting near the final part of the mimosa route. All the area is a delight all through winter, with extraordinary surroundings and much fewer automobiles than you may count on.

By the point you get right here, you will be nearing the top of the Route d’Or, or Golden Route, from Mandelieu up by way of Tanneron and now Pégomas.

Nonetheless, I counsel you attempt to get to this space early and you will have all of it to your self. Like Tanneron, that is the place for walks.

Pegomas is dwelling to a number of “forceries”, or hothouses, however like Tanneron, visits have gotten more and more troublesome, so I encourage you to contact the vacationer workplace straight. Should you look on-line, there are a number of forceries that seem to welcome visitors however in actuality, most don’t, until you may have reserved forward of time, which is why I counsel enlisting the assistance of the vacationer workplace.

A forcerie is the place the mimosa is matured and ready on the market, normally in small bouquets like these

Issues to do in Pégomas

• Go to a forcerie in the event you can arrange it.

• Should you occur to be right here on a Thursday, you will be in time for the genuine native meals market, which is all the time enjoyable and helpful for a picnic within the forest (or on your dinner at your Airbnb).

• On the town, drop by Saint-Pierre church, which has just a few attention-grabbing frescoes and work.

Grasse: Km 130

That is IT – congratulations, you’ve got made it to the top of the Mimosa Path! You have got now reached the world capital of fragrance, a becoming finish to a visit that’s all about flowers.

I anticipated Grasse to be a type of vacationer entice, with loads of low cost fragrance and cheesy souvenirs of the “scent from Grasse” sort.

Under no circumstances! This can be a beautiful city (constructed on a steep hill, beware), filled with medieval streets, tiny specialty outlets, and pleasant gardens. I visited for a day – after which drove proper again the following day as a result of I had loved it a lot. I wasn’t stunned to search out that the fragrance know-how of Grasse is protected on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Checklist.

Issues to do in Grasse

• Some of the standard actions in Grasse is to make your individual fragrance. A number of workshops exist and I’ve listed just a few of one of the best under.

• The Worldwide Museum of Perfumery, or MIP, is totally well worth the go to, because it traces not solely the fragrance manufacturing course of however its historical past, from the earliest ages by way of to fashionable packaging. Though their common guided excursions are in French. For an English-language tour of the museum, you’ll be able to telephone them at +33 4 97 05 58 00 – they instructed me they do have English-language guides however they need to be reserved just a few days forward of time.

• Cease by one of many three main perfumers – Fragonard, Galimard or Molinard – for a free tour (most excursions are in French).

• Go to Grasse’s numerous gardens, that are open relying on the season (test with the vacationer workplace), together with a small backyard which as soon as belonged to Pauline, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte (she spent a winter in Grasse throughout an estrangement together with her brother).

• Go to the Musée Fragonard – not the perfumers however the artist, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, who was born in Grasse.

• Purchase just a few unique scents from one of many small, boutique perfumers in Grasse. I beloved the sunshine, pure florals elaborated by Jessica at her fragrance store within the previous city, 1000 Flowers.

• Should you’re visiting in summer time, take the “Petit Practice” that winds its manner by way of city.

• Discover the cathedral (and its distinctive three works by Rubens!)

The historical past of mimosa in France

Mimosa is not endemic to France: it appears to be like and smells good, and has grow to be an emblem of spring on the Riviera.

Initially from Australia, it was imported by British aristocrats who wished to deliver winter coloration to their gardens. The mimosa felt proper at dwelling and proliferated till in the present day, it covers a large swathe of territory alongside the coast and into the mountains above, and is likely one of the foundations of Grasse’s fragrance business.

If you wish to get extra of a “really feel” for the Mimosa Path, this video by the vacationer workplace ought to do the trick.

So what’s a “forcerie”, precisely?

It comes from the verb “to drive”, on this case a room during which the mimosa is “compelled” to flower after being collected from the forest whereas it’s nonetheless inexperienced, typically round November and December. 

After gathering the mimosa, mimosa producers (known as “mimosistes”) deal with and retailer it in a room whose temperature ranges from 20-22℃ (68-71℉) with a humidity above 85%: this mix ensures an ideal flower, “forcing” them to bloom in only one evening.

After the mimosa blooms, a bunch of 6-8 girls collect round a big desk to scrub it from extra branches and collect it into small bunches, which can then go on sale. In a very good 12 months, the Forcerie Augier can course of as much as 18 tons of mimosa!

You used to have the ability to go to a number of forceries within the Pays de Grasse however more and more, they’re closing the doorways to guests, actually because they’ve an excessive amount of work and never sufficient workers to cease and clarify issues.

Sometimes, a forcerie does settle for to indicate folks round, however the one manner you will discover out which of them is by contacting the native vacationer places of work (I’ve given you the contacts above) in Tanneron or Pégomas.

I used to be in a position to watch bouquets being ready on the Forcerie Augier, however not enter the “forcing” room, which is saved at fixed temperatures. Nonetheless, it was fascinating to see the way it’s all put collectively!

Easy methods to get to the Mimosa Path

Should you’re flying into the area, the closest airport to the start line of the Mimosa Route is Toulon-Hyères, which has some worldwide flights through the excessive season. It is simply over 20km from Bormes-les-Mimosas.

Your higher wager is a flight to Marseille, simply over 100km away, an hour-and-a-half’s drive to the start line. It is a extra cosmopolitan airport, with flights from throughout Europe and past, and loads of automobile rental amenities. Discover out about availability of automobiles from Marseille airport.

Should you’re touchdown in Paris, you’ll be able to take the TGV from Charles de Gaulle airport on to Marseille and hire your automobile upon arrival to start your drive.

Should you appreciated this, please share it on social media!