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St-Raphael
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A large resort and now one of the richest towns on the Cote,
ST-RAPHAEL
became fashionable at the turn of the twentieth century. Its seafront Belle Epoque mansions and hotels, flattened by bombardments in World War II, have mostly been rebuilt, while the
old town
beyond place Carnot on the other side of the railway line has suffered years of neglect. On rue des Templiers a crumbling fortified Romanesque church, the
Eglise St-Pierre
, has fragments of the Roman aqueduct that brought water from Frejus in its courtyard along with a local history and underwater archeology
museum
(daily: June-Sept 10am-noon & 3-6.30pm; rest of year 10am-noon & 2-5.30pm; 20.20F/€3.08 for church and museum).
The
beaches
stretch between the old port in the centre and the newer
Port Santa Lucia
, with opportunities for every kind of watersport. You can also take boat trips to St-Tropez, the Iles d'Hyeres and the much closer
calanques
of the Esterel coast from the
gare maritime
on the south side of the Vieux Port. When you're tired of sea and sand you can lose whatever money you have left on slot machines or blackjack at the
Grand Casino
on Square de Gand overlooking the Vieux Port (daily 11am-4am), or there's
bowling
at the Bowling Raphaelois on promenade Rene-Coty, and plenty of snooty discotheques. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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France,
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