Hidden beauty

The cloisters beside the Cathedral of Saint Leonce in Fréjus.

When you catch your train at the Nice Railway Station (Gare Nice Ville) on your way to Les Arcs-sur-Argens, you can look forward to a spectacular journey along the coast.


You will travel through Antibes, Juan Les Pins, Cannes after which the coast is bordered by the spectacular and jagged red-earth Esterel mountains.


On the other side you reach St Raphael and just a few kilometres further on, the old Roman town of Fréjus.

Fréjus is the last stop before Les Arcs and close enough for many absorbing day trips from your destination.

The cloisters from the second storey.

As well as the ancient - and recently restored - Roman arena, where they once held bull fights and now hold spectacular music concerts, there is the old town to explore including the Saint Leonce cathedral and medieval cloisters.


The cloisters were built in the 13th century and the ceilings were made of larch wood from the alpine regions as it was said never to rot.


These ceilings were decorated with an amazing array of tiny paintings of mythical beasts and other creatures.

These original medieval designs painted on the ceiling of the ground floor cloisters, have been preserved.

Painted on blue and red backgrounds, the pictures depict various themes including the religious - saints, bishops, angels; daily life - tradesmen, prominent citizens, troubadours; and the bestiary - fantasy creatures such as dragons, hybrid human and animal beings and animals.

Modern representations of the paintings that adorn the ceiling of the cloisters.

There were many such ceilings in the Middle Ages, but very few remain.

In Fréjus, 300 of the original 1200 small paintings can still be identified. A room off the cloisters has a fascinating film and history panels showing how the ceiling was originally built and painted, the types of paints used and its restoration.

I have spoken before about my love of medieval designs, strange beasts and the earth colours used at that time, but just visiting the cloisters for the architecture and sense of peace - away from the bustle of the town centre outside, is well worth it.

Two by two

An open-air art exhibition in the main square at Roquebrune-sur-Argens - with the 'rock' in the background.

In France, there are two ‘Les Arcs’ – one in Provence and the other, a ski resort in the French alps.

‘Our’ Les Arcs is distinguished by its location ‘sur Argens’ (on the River Argens), but it hasn’t prevented some tourists arriving at the station, complete with skis and puzzled expressions wondering both where the mountains are and where the snow is!

Doubling up again is Roquebrune. There are also two of them – and this time both are in Provence.

The town at the bottom of Roquebrune. Courtesy Var Matin.

I wrote previously about ‘Roquebrune Cap Martin’, in the Alpes-Maritimes department, its name linked to the adjacent to Cap Martin to help distinguish it.

The local one is in Var, a 15-minute drive from Les Arcs, and like Les Arcs, it is also distinguished by its river – being known as Roquebrune-sur-Argens.

The town nestles on the western slopes of the giant red rock (the origin of 'Roquebrune'), which reminds us so much of the colours of central Australia.

The rock is visible throughout most of the town, its craggy summit towering in the background of many photos.

There is a walking track - part of a Grande Randonnée - which takes you steeply up and around the rock, and offers views over the countryside and to the sea. I have never walked it – one day, perhaps.

Street art in the town.

The town is well worth a visit. It is very close to Fréjus and I imagine that like Fréjus, it was once on the coast, but with the silting up of the Argens’ delta, it is now several kilometres inland.




There is a fantastic market – more of an art market than a produce market – though you can certainly buy fresh produce here.

Wander through the streets to see wonderful wood carvers, baskets being made and wool spun before your eyes, beading, book binding, cork making – fascinating crafts where you can stand and watch the practitioners for hours.

Many of them are using the traditional methods of work used in medieval times.



The distinctive wrought iron bell-tower above the clock.

There are also stands of local produce such as honey, oils, olives, specialty foods.



The ancient centre of the town holds open-air art exhibitions with works from local artists lining the streets.

Not only that but there is an array of seriously good restaurants – and I challenge anyone to find a better gazpacho than the one we enjoyed – with a dollop of frozen goat’s cheese in the centre of the bowl!

There are walks in the wooded hills to the south – up to a tiny monastery – or you can spend an afternoon at the recreational lake created in the river just outside the town, where you can fish, canoe, hire a paddle boat or just laze around on the shady banks.

There might not be the 500 or so steps that distinguish the ‘other’ Roquebrune, but this one still takes your breath away.