Telegram: Gassin / Why Don't You..?

Saint Tropez' neighbour is well worth a visit

”Why don’t you…” was the title of the fashion column that made Diana Vreeland famous. For 25 years, she would make different suggestions under this rubric in Harper’s Bazaar, one more outrageous than the other: "… rinse your blond child's hair in dead champagne to keep it gold, as they do in France” or “… have an elk-hide trunk for the back of your car? Hermès of Paris will make this”, or “… tie black tulle bows on your wrists?”. The suggestions were based in Vreeland’s deep knowledge of fashion and style, but presented in an eccentric and effervescent way, making her ideas seem lavish and over the top.

To suggest “why don’t you… go to Gassin instead of to Saint-Tropez” might not have the same ring to it as if Vreeland would have proposed it, but it make sense, as most would think it an unexpected and novel concept to not stay in Saint-Tropez or Sainte-Maxime, but rather at their more discrete, inland neighbour. 

Gassin is only eight kilometres from Saint-Tropez, but worlds away from its glitz and glam, located in the middle of the Saint-Tropez peninsula. While the latter has a name that is instantly recognizable around the world, Gassin is more anonymous, though no less elegant.

Perched on a hilltop in the Maures mountain chain, connecting Hyères with Fréjus, the town is 200 metres above sea level, with a breath-taking view of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. Gassin is one the list of “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France”, not only because of its ancient beauty and cultural significance, but also for its important flora and fauna.

Many of the names of the alleys and streets around the town centre – The Passage of the Watchtower, the door of Saracens the Passage of the Templar Knights – reference its illustrious past and important place in French history.

Spending time in Gassin in the summer, one quickly comes to realize that keeping a slow pace is preferable. Though located on a hill, which offers a welcome cooling breeze, it is still rather hot in the Mediterranean sun. The reason the town once was founded, four kilometres from the sea, was however not to enjoy the views or the breeze, but to escape the many pirates that regularly threatened the towns closer to the seaside (this is the same reason why neighbouring Ramatuelle was founded).

What to do in Gassin

The Promenade Dei Barrie stretches along the medieval terrace, leading up to several very pleasant restaurants, with most tables placed outside, to benefit from the panoramic views.

From Gassin, you can see the nearby towns of La Croix, Valmer, Grimaud, St. Maxime and Les Issambres, while in the other direction, you can see as far as the Îles D’Or and all the way to the snow-covered peaks of the Alps.

Its main claim to fame is however the world’s narrowest street, l’Androuno. It measures only 29 centimetres wide – not to be recommend to those suffering from claustrophobia.

In all corners of the town, the smell of jasmine fills the air; the town is full of winding streets and ancient houses, overflowing with colourful flowers. The garden L’Hardy-Denonain in the south of the village is officially classified as a “remarkable garden”.

As Gassin is close to many harbour towns and beautiful beaches, but still remote enough not to be overrun by people wanting to visit the French Riviera, it is a perfect base for excursions to the vineyards, beaches and small towns in the area.

Where to Stay

Hôtel de Charme Bello Visto has wonderful views, attentive staff and charming rooms. It’s located in Place dei Barri, in the centre of town.. 

Just outside Gassin, La Ferme d’Augustin is only a few steps from Tahiti beach. The cuisinie is seasonal, traditional, and genuine.

Where to Eat and Drink

Le Micocoulier is a restaurant with views, specialising in the Provençale kitchen. On Place dei Barri.

+33 9 67 73 14 01.

Traditional La Verdoyante has stylish interiors and a nice outdoor terrace.

+33 4 94 56 16 23).

Restaurant Bello Visto is one of Gassin’s best restaurants, part of Hôtel Bello Visto.

+33 4 94 56 17 30

For an Afternoon Excursion: Château Barbeyrolles

In the wine country of Provençe, Régine Sumeire holds legendary status. As one of the first women to engage in vinifying practices in the region, and having made wine at Château Barbeyrolles since 1978, in 1985 she changed the world’s perception of rosé wine when she created the rosé wine “Pétale de Rose” – a sheer, pink wine.

Before Sumeire, rosé wasn’t considered a “proper” wine, but rather something that people who didn’t know much about wine preferred to drink during summer, when the heat made it more important that the wine was refreshing than it having a nice taste. Ever since, Château Barbeyrolles has had a place in the history books of wine. 

Régine Sumeire inherited her interest in viticulture from her father, Roger Sumiere, who had introduced her to the world of wine already at a young age. Member of the bacchanalian order since 1982, she was appointed Commander of Order of the Knights of Medusa and is also a member of the Academy of French wine.

She acquired Barbeyrolles – twelve hectares – in 1977. The vineyard is located at the foot of the village of Gassin, and the wine is produced according to organic and biodynamic agriculture, including traditional horse-driven ploughing, picking the grapes by hand, and loading them directly into the press.

Five percent of all their wines are red, three percent are white and the remaining 92 are rosé. Here is a list of our favourite Barbeyrolles-wines:

Château Barbeyrolles Le Pétale de Rose (2021) has a delicate rose colour, a fresh palate and zesty character. It is made using horse ploughing, traditional mechanical and manual tillage, without herbicides. Biodynamic cultivation.

Château Barbeyrolles Le Blanc de Blancs (2021) –55 percent Semillon, 45 percent Rolle – is a rather fruity wine with some acidity. Floral and herbal notes. Can easily age five to six years. 

Château Barbeyrolles Le Noir et Or (2020): Fresh but with a rich complexity to it, should be served at a temperature between 16 and 18 degrees. 

What to Read

Perhaps more than any other writer, Françoise Sagan has been associated with Saint-Tropez. What few people know is that she would regularly leave the parties behind, and travel to Gassin, where she would enjoy the peace and quiet found here. This is where she could concentrate on her writing and actually get some work done.

Her novel Engagements of the heart (1985) is a story of love and war, and was my book of choice when I visited Gassin.

The traditional love triangle consists of two men and one woman: The woman is usually positioned in the triangle’s centre and the men are placed by her side, one on her left, the other on her right, fighting for her attention. In this novel, the two men are childhood friends Charles and Jérôme, and the woman in the centre that they both love is Jérôme’s partner, Alice.

Before the outbreak of the war, which in this case is World War II, she was married to a successful surgeon in Vienna, but already before the Anschluß, when Austria was incorporated into the growing Third Reich, Alice had wanted a divorce, depressed and bored with her marriage.Her ex-husband was Jewish and with the arrival of the Nazis, the two had to find a way to escape. This is how she met Jérôme, working with the French resistance and underground, smuggling the two out of Austria and into safety, and in the process becoming Alice’s lover. 

When Jérôme and Alice pay Charles a visit, it’s because they want to make use of his strategically located house, south of the demarcation line between occupied and “free” France. The plan is to trick Charles into falling in love with Alice, so that they can convince him to hide refugees on their way out of the country. The plan backfires as Alice finds herself developing real feelings for Charles, becoming torn between the two men. 

The severe wartime backdrop is unusual for Sagan, a step away from the exclusive apartments and lavish milieus her characters usually find themselves in, though of course Alice and Charles still find a way to go on a weekend to Paris, complete with a luxury hotel suite on Rue de Rivoli and a visit to an exclusive nightclub, Alice dressed in an haute couture-dress while Charles finds himself in a bespoke smoking. At times, the romance borders the melodramatic, but the threats of war bring the story back to a grim reality. And the end (not to be revealed here), turns everything around, making the sappy love story appear in a completely new and harsher light.

The original French title, De Guerre Lasse, could loosely be translated as “weary of war”, which refers to both the German invasion and the struggles within the romantic trio. Without the war, the men would never have met Alice, but at the same time, the war is destroying them all, as well as the world that they used to live in. It’s a bleak story, but beautifully told.