How to Plan a Foodie Family Trip to the South of France, According to a Mom and Restaurateur

Mom of three Marissa Hermer shares the vacation itinerary that inspired her Provencal restaurant, Lalou, coming soon to Los Angeles.

We came for the cheese courses, for the Côte d’Azur rocky coasts and Belle Époque beach clubs, and because I’ve never considered restraint a virtue, to eat with abandon. For those of you who are burdened with exquisite taste, a week in the South of France with family and friends is très recherché.  Dalai Lama teaches us that happiness is a state of mind. He neglects to mention that it is also a trip to Provence to make Proustian memories at poolside lavender fields in the Provençal light, revel in flânerie in medieval fortress towns, and indulge in the gastronomic arias of a French summer menu.

The cruel reality that we have no plans to move to Provence is, without being hyperbolic, simply devastating. The only saving grace is that my restaurateur husband and I are currently in pre-opening stages of a St Paul de Vence–inspired restaurant to bring Provence to our home city of Los Angeles. So come on, visit us at Lalou, where we’ve brought a bit of Mougins to Melrose Avenue — and if you can make it to Provence, these are the sites, smells, and scenes that you will want to soak up.

Beaches

A few beach clubs dot the Juan-le-Pins coastline, but if you are a classicist, choose Belle Rives. F. Scott Fitzgerald stayed there with his Zelda whilst writing Tender Is The Night: “It's one of those strange, precious and all too transitory moments when everything in one's life seems to be going well.” Book your beach chair for the morning — either on the sand if your tots want some cove action or on the deck perhaps if it is adult swim time. Call ahead to get your tots on water skis at Belle Rives Ski Nautique Club. There are also the ingenious paddle boats with a curved slide for maximum catapulting into the Med. Book in for lunch too and George the general manager will give your kids bread to feed to the fish off the dock while you enjoy one last Aperol.

L’Ecrin brings nautical prep to the plage for an all-day hang. There is more sandy real estate for beach chairs at L’Ecrin (as compared to Belle Rives), making it a better choice for sandcastles. After you leisurely lunch on the shaded terrace (cleverly situated sand adjacent if your tots want to swim while you linger), roll over to the crisp navy daybeds for an afternoon lounge before you perch with your spritz on the sunset pontoon, and then meander back to the restaurant for a bit and a boogie near the bar.

Plage Keller, a family-run restaurant and beach club, is worth a visit for the bouillabaisse, dover sole, and sea salt crusted sea bass — but more than anything, you are welcomed as you might be welcomed into a family; the service is attentive and charming.

Walking and Weaving

If you visit Provence in Summer, it will be hot — but let the Côte d’Azur's perfect coastline walk inspire you to move. Press play on Spotify, start in the town of Menton, and make sure to bring water with you as there aren’t spots to peel off and escape.

On a morning wander through Valbonne, I stumbled across Live Breathe Pilates, a little pilates studio in old town, owned by Melanie, a Brit who fell in love with Provence (shocker) and up and moved. Book in for a session with her, your body will thank you — but also, as a local who lives like a tourist, she knows all the things to do and see and experience — so go see her earlier in your trip and take notes during your stretch. She also does kids' yoga and kids' pilates.

When it rains, the locals say it is "basket weaving weather." So on a day when it was absolutely bucketing, we decided we might as well live like the locals, and we headed to Atelier les Brins Dansent to learn how to weave baskets. Pierre, a local basket weaver, taught us how to bend and weave and yes, as it turns out, it was perfect weather for basket weaving.

Saint Paul De Vence

A day spent in Saint Paul de Vence is proof that time in Provence is a very elastic commodity. Step into a John Singer Sargent painting and idle your morning at Café de la Place with the best croissants and fresh orange juice, watching the locals and your children play intense games of pétanque under the giant, century-old plane trees. The scene is simply arresting. Wander through the fortified medieval walls to enter old town, and meander up through the narrow pathways, poking around in the galleries and local artisan shops. Stumble upon Cafe Timothe for an iced matcha and cool off in the Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs, with pastel walls of rainbow mosaic and stained glass. Every stone staircase, window box, and doorway is postcard picture perfect.

Fondation Maeght, France’s first independent art foundation, is perched on a hillside and a 15-minute walk from old town. The focus here is on sculpture, with a striking outdoor sculpture garden and an indoor collection housed in a José Luis Sert design.

From the moment you pass through the stone wall facade of Columbe d’Or and into the restaurant garden, you will spend every next moment of your life wishing you were there again. You will miss the oversized, technicolor watercolor menus; you will yearn for the perfectly presented prosciutto with melon, and the charcuterie, which comes with a vegetable basket overflowing with celery, radishes, and an aioli that you will want to bathe in. You will be able to hear the low hum of relaxed conversation and familial chatter, and you will desperately miss the dance of the waiters as they navigate the too-tight tables. Diners at Columbe d’Or may find a certain similarity between their table and a Cézanne still life. Hospitality is warmhearted and recalls being welcomed into a family, where plates are shared and nobody minds a few stray breadcrumbs. I prefer the outdoor garden, but nose around inside to see Matisse’s Portrait of a Woman, and sneak through to the swimming pool, where a sculpture by Alexander Calder reflects into the pool. Tables book up a month in advance, so if you miss out, pop in in the morning before service begins and inquire if there have been any last-minute cancelations.

Your final stop of the day should be what was Marc Chagall’s final stop. Chagall lived in the village for almost 20 years, painting lovers, flowers, animals, and musicians in dreamlike, mystical scenes — likely inspired by the magic of this village — and is buried in the local cemetery.

Antibes

The decadence and debauchery of the roaring '20s is still palpable at Eden Roc, the playground of the jeunesse dorée.  LouRoc is a Michelin-starred institution, but we skipped its mandatory lunchtime buffet and opted for the informally elegant Grille for a classic lunch of club sandwiches and cheeseburgers — better suited to our family. Fitzgerald fans will know that Hotel Du Cap inspired Gausse’s Hôtel des Étrangers, so wander the sun-kissed grounds to feel the history of glitterati — and then swing by for one last sundowner, eavesdropping on sunlight romances and listening to this playlist.

Cannes

Petite Maison is one of our London staples, and the Cannes sibling location hits all the same notes with its tomato-on-the-vine table decor, and shrimp, tomato, and tuna dishes. Always super fresh and consistent, this menu and feeling is what inspired us to open our restaurant, Lalou.

Tiktok sent us to Bobo Bistro, so it made sense that the influencers were in full force for an early dinner to take photos of the mismatched tables and rainbow color palette. I’m always suspicious of a new spot with a lot of hype, so I was pleasantly surprised with the cozy atmosphere and attentive service to our young family, who at this point were shattered from a long day. The delicious menu included wood-fired pizzas highlighting fresh, local produce.

Mougins

Da Laura is a new addition to my South of France hit list, but it's one that will stay. The Mougins location of the Cannes original is simply dazzling. (Leave the kids at home.) Upon entering Mougins' old village, you step back into yesteryear when Picasso and Man Ray lived in town, and into a symphony of colors and patterns. Nightly musicians perform for diners, so request a terrace table to soak in the breathtaking views whilst you partake in an apéritif.

For dinner, we ended up at Le Bistro de Mougins. We hadn’t done any research on where to go and we didn’t have a reservation — but we wandered in and the sunset light was hitting the available outdoor tables perfectly, and that was that. The menu was light, delicate, and Provencal-perfect, and we could watch all the passersby from our front row seat in the town square, making for rich fodder for dinner conversation.

Valbonne

There is a comfort to the stamina of old European towns like Valbonne. Cafe des Arcades opens at 7 a.m. for le petit déjeuner, and I loved coming in the morning to watch the rest of the village wake up around me. The combination of my early morning wake-ups and my proclivity to squeeze every last droplet of the Provencal light meant our daytimes were so full that an evening spent convalescing at home was the dream. I did a massive supermarket sweep, channeling Belle in Beauty and the Beast’s opening scene, to put a feast on our dinner table.

Friday is market day, and the smells and sights of the stalls will weaken any resolve you might have had about being sensible in your purchasing. Patisserie Fricaud has the best Mille Feuille in town. You’ll be able to follow your nose to 365 Fromages, and load up, because you will need cheese to prime your palate for the wines at La Gourmandine. If there is a boulangerie in heaven, it will resemble La Mouginoise des Pains. If you need further reassurance than the Gault & Millau award on the door, then order a croissant with the "real butter" — not the "supermarket butter." You’ll have to communicate this in your best French. As a non-French speaker (sin, I know), I have no idea how to do this, but you will remember this top tip when you are ordering and after your first bite, you will be floating. You’re welcome.

With your car full, you can now go home to unpack the goodies from your haul, listen to this, and enjoy the quiet miracle of sitting around a table at home with your family. Order has been restored to the universe.

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