Carnet de Voyage: Secrets of the Riviera

Travel notes from the real France. Carnet de Voyage is a weekly personal travel story in France sent in by readers. If you’d like to write a story for Carnet de Voyage, head here for details on how to submit.

This letter originally appeared in issue 201 of France Today magazine.

I very much enjoyed the 200 French Favourites article in the April/May issue for a number of reasons.

In 1966 I spent a summer in Dinard working as a rep for a British travel agency and was able to make weekly visits to Mont Saint-Michel when access was so much easier than it is now. Over the years I have not only  enjoyed the Breton cake Kouign-amann but several years ago also discovered Kouignettes, a mouth-watering smaller version invented by Georges Larnicol, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France.

I also heartily agree (sssh!) with Guy Hibbert about Sanary-sur-Mer where I have stayed a couple of times a year, either in an apartment or, occasionally, in a hotel, for many years. My father was a competitor in the Monte Carlo rally in the mid-1950s and always took an interesting, non-direct route to return home. He was very taken with Bandol and then Sanary where he would take us on holiday. Over the years since, Bandol has become rather more touristy whereas Sanary
lives for the local population more than the tourists. Long may that continue.

Read our other Carnet de Voyage entries here.