Port Grimaud was the dream of one architect, François Spoerry, who started building his “little Venice of Provence” in the 1960s on a stretch of marshland. Today the canals, the pastel houses and the moorings at your front door make it one of the most photographed harbours on the whole Riviera.

The Îles d’Hyères — Porquerolles, Port-Cros and Levant — sit just a few hours’ sail from Port Grimaud, and Porquerolles alone has some of the clearest water in the Med. You do not rush these islands: you anchor, you swim off the transom, and you watch the sun drop behind the pines.

Everyone on the Riviera talks about the mistral, the cold wind that sweeps down the Rhône valley. But the real local secret is the afternoon thermal breeze that fills the sails almost like clockwork after lunch. Plan your hops around it and you look like a genius — your skipper already does.

A catamaran this size does not heel, does not roll and does not rush. Your morning coffee stays in the cup, your guests stay in a good mood, and the skipper gets to look like the calmest man in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.

Solar panels on a charter yacht are not just a green badge. They quietly keep the fridge cold, the air conditioning on and the batteries topped up through the night, so the generator stays off and the anchorage stays silent. That silence is the real luxury — and it is the thing your group will remember.