Cap du Dramont is a spur of red porphyry between Saint-Raphaël and Agay, which the coastal path rounds in an hour and a half. At the top, a signal station; offshore, the Île d'Or and its tower, which inspired Hergé; below, the beach where American troops landed on 15 August 1944.
Le Dramont is one of those places where geology, history and literature happen to meet, which is rare and is what makes it interesting.
Geology first: the headland is a mass of estérellite, a green volcanic rock flecked with white found only here, quarried until the mid-twentieth century and used to pave Marseille and Paris. Traces of the quarry are still visible on the eastern flank.
History next: on 15 August 1944 the 36th US Infantry Division landed on Le Dramont beach as part of Operation Dragoon. A memorial and a bunker mark the day, without fuss.
Literature last: the Île d'Or, that red rock three hundred metres offshore topped by a Saracen-style tower built in 1912 by an eccentric who declared himself king of the island, gave Hergé the setting for *The Black Island*. It is private and cannot be visited, but it is the focal point of the whole walk.
The circuit of the headland follows the marked coastal path from the car park at Le Dramont beach. You climb first through the pines to the signal station, still in service, for a view running from Saint-Tropez to Cannes. The path then drops and follows the shore closely, between red rocks, with sections over slabs and short flights of steps.
Allow an hour and a half for the full loop, two if you stop. The route is easy but never flat, and closed shoes are better than flip-flops. There is almost no shade on the shoreline section: this is a morning or late-afternoon walk.
The path passes above several small inlets of shingle and rock slab where you can drop down for a swim. The water is clear and deep quickly, over red rock, and a mask is well rewarded. Nothing is laid out and nothing is supervised.
Le Dramont beach, at the start, is a proper beach: coarse sand, a lifeguard post in summer, a restaurant. It is where the loop ends, and swimming there you feel the strangeness of the place, between a war memorial and a row of parasols.
The coastal path continues eastwards towards Agay and Anthéor. Cap du Dramont is only one link in this coast, and it combines well with driving the Corniche d'Or to make a full day.
This guide is part of the address book of a private estate in Puget-sur-Argens, 31 minutes away, available for weddings and family stays. It is not open to visitors.
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