Sep. 18 - Grimaud 🇫🇷

Today we walked 10 Km to Sainte-Maxime for morning exercise then enjoyed the best meal we’ve had in France in all of our visits. We dined at La Bastide Blanche in Grimaud, a perched village with historical links to the Grimaldi family, and sat outdoors enjoying salad with sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts, sea bass, veal medallions wrapped in phyllo and stuffed with black olives and mushrooms, and finished off with a Chablis, le grand vin de Bourgogne. Afterwards we climbed the hill of the medieval town of Grimaud to the castle which dominates the plain at the top of a rocky outcrop, naturally protected in the north by the steep slopes of the Garde valley. Up until the 13th Century, the fortifications were modest. The château was inhabited by lords from the family line of the Viscounts of Marseille. During the French Revolution the château was abandoned by its occupants and its stones were sold at auction. Today the town of Grimaud is a quaint community in the Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur region with a population of only 4300. After walking the charming town and getting some tips from senior boules players in competition, we returned to the villa to try some of our new boules moves and to another beautiful pork loin dinner with all the fixings which the ladies prepared.

The view from the castle down onto the old town of Grimaud

The quaint old village of Grimaud

The views from the top of the village of Grimaud are spectacular

Not much left of the ruins of the château

Lunch spot. La Bastide Blanche & the owners dog enjoying the lounge!

Picked up a few tips from these boules players!

Best lunch ever!