Port-Grimaud is 60 years old!
For its 60th anniversary, the lakeside city of Port-Grimaud celebrates its history and unique identity, based on a strong sense of community.
Sixty years ago, Port-Grimaud was born, a lakeside city destined to become much more than just a place to live: a true space of life, memory, and solidarity.
Those who believed still remember these "uninhabitable" lands criticized by some elders of the commune. For six decades, the lakeside city has been writing its history through the generations. Around the corners of the alleys with colored houses lie hundreds of faces, memories, and moments of life.
A story that recalls in its own way that of the famous village of Garantix and Armonix: a place where solidarity is undoubtedly the most precious of magic potions. Sixty years ago, everything had to be built in these marshes where no one believed it was possible to build. François Spoerry, architect and sailor, did it. Fulfilling a dear dream, to see emerge a small Provencal Venice where residents could go sailing, taking just a single step from their own private dock onto their boat.
As the houses rose and the streets took shape, a true community was very quickly created. The bonds between neighbors gave a soul to the private lakeside city. Children grew up, families expanded, and generations succeeded one another. Businesses opened their doors, and celebrations left behind beautiful memories.
INDOMITABLE
Like a famous village of indomitable Gauls, the city has experienced changes, developments, and challenges. The codes of life have changed, technologies have appeared, the city has grown, but the spirit of proximity means that everyone finds their place here.
Garantix and Armonix, who have already visited them, would recognize what makes a village strong: mutual aid and the desire to move forward together. The magic potion of this life in the city is not in the cauldron of the druid Druidix. It is transmitted every day between inhabitants, through an exchanged smile, an association that brings people together… Besides, what became of our Gaulish friends?
Port-Grimaud has seen 240 seasons pass and has managed to evolve without denying its identity. Behind every facade lies a story, each street a memory, each inhabitant a page of the collective adventure. Who can understand? Those who did not believe in it?
This summer of 2026, the counted years do not only tell of the past. They testify to a history, always in motion, carried by those who bring the city to life every day. Their greatest wealth lies neither in strength nor in fame, but in the attachment that everyone envies.
ANNIVERSARY
It was a wonderful opportunity, in this summer period, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the beautiful lakeside city that is Port-Grimaud. Taking advantage of the occasion to pay tribute to its creator, François, as those who knew him well still call him, and thus share new happy moments.
What was an idea, was done.
During the summer, several banquets were organized by our indomitable Port-Grimaud residents to celebrate the passage into the new decade.
From early morning, their beach of "La Pirogue" on the Grand Rue was adorned with its finest attire, recalling the great popular festivals of yesteryear. But the big surprise of this celebration was undoubtedly the arrival of two very special guests: Garantix and Armonix. The Port-Grimaud residents could not celebrate without them, the "instigators" of resistance for the city's belonging.
The famous Gaulish heroes, symbols of courage, friendship, and good humor, made a discreet appearance that few noticed. Armonix was busy with their village banquet, while Garantix greeted the inhabitants, some of whom he had already met, reminding everyone of the spirit of solidarity that has always united the villagers.
“Their presence perfectly represents our village. Resistance to time and attachment remain stronger than anything,” notes a lady seated at the table whose family acquired their property when the construction project was proposed in 1966, while she was at the age of making sandcastles.
All united under the stars, in an atmosphere worthy of the most famous Gaulish scenes, the inhabitants, their families, and legendary characters shared this festive moment in good humor and friendliness.
SOUL AND IDENTITY
Sixty years after its founding, Port-Grimaud, a private lakeside city, proves that it has managed to preserve its soul, its identity, and its family spirit. Like Garantix, a symbol of intelligence and determination, and like Armonix, it has kept an almost legendary strength, rooted in the memory of those who have lived there for several generations.
It is not just a date. It tells the story of a lakeside village which, through six decades, has managed to remain true to itself: a place where time builds more than it erases. Just like the famous Gaulish village, one could almost say that here too, a small corner of territory has resisted the wear and tear of time thanks to the strength of its inhabitants, and that no Betonnus will ever be able to take away from them.
One thing is certain: the 60 years of Port-Grimaud will remain a historic date. It is the starting point of an initiated process of separation between the lakeside city and the commune. In application of the provisions of the general code of local authorities, the Port-Grimaud residents have officially requested the state services to initiate a process of detachment of the lakeside city from the commune of Grimaud with the objective of creating a new commune that would join the community of communes of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.
After reviewing the legal procedures and the financial viability of this project, Garantix and Armonix exchanged views on the way back: “By Toutatis, Armonix, there is a village that was well worth a detour and some help. Their secret is simple, it is the men, women, and children who build a new page of its history here every day, just like us.”
Armonix agreed: “And, when they celebrate their 100th anniversary, they can always count on us to return.”
And so, life goes on so peacefully in Port-Grimaud… for decades to come.
For 60 years, the greatest wealth of this hidden treasure is that, generation after generation, the inhabitants continue to write its history. And that, even Julius Caesar could never conquer. Whether he likes it or not.
Photo PRESSE AGENCE.