from the
hinterland of the rest of the Riviera as most of the coast. There are
no cities and towns back on the hills, no railways and tramways, no
fine motor roads to make the pedestrian's progress a disagreeable and
almost continuous passage through clouds of dust. The Esterel is hills
and valleys, streams and forests and birds. You do not even have poles
and wires to remind you of the world you have left for the moment.

The only way one comes to know this country is to have a villa on its
fringe, as we did, and get lost in it every time you try to explore it.
But such good fortune does not fall to everyone--nor the time--so it is
comforting to point out that much of interest in the Esterel can be
visited by motorists from the Corniche. Between La Napoule and Agay,
the Touring-Club de France has put sign-posts at every little path
leading from the Corniche back into the interior. Some paths, also,
where the road mounts on Cap Roux, lead down to grottoes on the water's
edge or out to cliffs. Each sign gives the attraction and the
distance. In our walks from Theoule we explored most of these, but
discovered that one must not have an objective for lunch. For there is
no connection between the number of kilometers and the time you must
take. A map and compass are wise precautions. Some paths are scarcely
marked at all, and when you have to slide down the side of a volcanic
hill into a ravine and try to guess where you are supposed to go next,
a woodsman's instinct is needed. The excursions are surer because more
frequented, but none the less charming, after you have rounded the cape
and crossed the little River Agay.

Agay, the Agathon of Ptolemy, boasts of the only harbor on the Esterel.
On one side is the Pointe d'Antheor and on the other Cap Dramont.
Right behind the harbor rises the Rastel d'Agay, a jagged mass of
copper rock a thousand feet high, climbing which is an excellent
preparation for and indication of what one may expect in Esterel
exploration. The way is not made easy for you as it is in the eastern
end of the Riviera. But unless you strike an exceptionally warm day
you have the will for pushing on afoot that is completely lacking at
Monte Carlo and Menton.

The most ambitious and most interesting excursion into the Esterel that
can be made in a day's walk is to go to Saint-Raphael from Agay by way
of Mont Vinaigre. You must make an early start and be ready to put in
from five to six hours