Port Grimaud began to rise out of the sand dunes on the north shore of the Golfe de Saint-Tropez in 1966. It is six kilometres from the original village of Grimaud, built inland  as was the tradition to be safer from pirate attacks from the sea. This  extraordinary architectural  experiment  was the idea of Alsatian  architect, François Spoerry (who died in 1998.)  He wanted to create a completely new Venetian style lagoon village  where each house had its personal  boat parking space at the end of the garden.

Despite  ongoing controversy about the faux Provencal architecture the result has been very successful.  The houses, all of them different, are painted in traditional  pastels, ochre, pink and turquoise,  and adorned with shutters and wrought iron balconies.  Despite  ongoing controversy about the faux Provencal architecture, roofs are of traditional  terracotta Roman tiles.  After several decades  the  buildings have aged well with the patina of time.

The village is arranged into four little islands , each joined by canals and bridges of wood or stone. There are plenty of shady squares,  a mairie,  post office,  shops and restaurants. There is even a market on Thursdays  and Sundays.  There are now over 2000 residences  and Port Grimaud is a highly desirable address.  It has proved to be a huge tourist attraction, with over a million visitors a year.  Visitors can be transported around by barge.  (coche d’eau).