Theoule-sur-Mer

Théoule-sur-Mer is backed onto the Esterel massif, on the boundary between the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var. The landscape has nothing to do with the rest of the Riviera: the rock here is a red porphyry that drops straight into a very blue sea, and that contrast is the whole point of the place.

The Corniche d’Or, opened in the early twentieth century, follows this jagged coast as far as Saint-Raphaël. It serves Port-la-Galère, a development of sculpted façades designed by the architect Jacques Couëlle to marry the rock, and the Pointe de l’Aiguille park, which protects the coves south of the village.