GR653A Day 9: Agay - Fréjus

After one last swim at Agay, we turned in early to enjoy our comfortable room at the Hotel Relais, exhausted after a long, hot day walking over the Massif Estérel. In the morning we hiked back up the road to pick up the route of the GR653A again, then plunged into the forest of the Vallon Vacquier, emerging onto the road by a working quarry. Staying well off to the side of the road as trucks loaded with gravel zoomed past, we came down into San Raphaël and from there to Plage Fréjus. The last time our route touches the sea, until Finisterre!

We checked into our hotel at noon, after walking only 14 km, then spent the rest of the day exploring the city of Fréjus. The Roman city of Forum Julii was strategically located on the Via Aurelia and on the sea, and had a fortified harbour. One of the oldest Christian constructions in France was built there in the fourth century, a baptistry incorporating Roman columns. The adjoining cloisters were decorated in the 14th and 15th centuries with wooden celing panels painted with illustrations of people, animals and mythological beasts.