Open house at Cap d’Aiguelonde, Saturday 19 September, 11:00 to 13:00. No appointment.

The place

Cap d’Aiguelonde

Sixty addresses, one road in, and the water 60 metres down.

The cape is one limestone headland with a single road down its spine. Most houses sit below that road, at the end of their own drives, which is why you never see them. Umbrella pines do the rest. Sea on three sides, 40 to 70 metres straight down. One small building at the neck holds the only apartments on the cape. No shop, no café, no bakery, and no plan for one. Nine houses have changed hands here since 2019.

Living here

Walking the cape

The cape road is 2.4 km end to end with no pavement and no street lighting. The walk down to the water from most houses is 150 steps or more. Going back up takes about 12 minutes.

The school run

There is no school on the cape and there never has been. The bilingual primary in Ondrieu-sur-Mer is 9 minutes. The bus for the international secondary stops at the cape gate at 07:40, the only fixed appointment anyone here keeps.

Where to eat

Nothing on the cape. The nearest kitchen is 10 minutes down in Ondrieu-sur-Mer, where four of the port restaurants stay open through February and the rest reopen at Easter. Most households here keep a cook or drive.

The commute

One road in, so the traffic is other residents. The coast road reaches the airport in 35 minutes off season and closer to an hour in August, when the stretch through Ondrieu-sur-Mer backs up from 11:00.

Around the place