At the beginning of the 20th century, Mandelieu depended on Cannes and comprised a hamlet of fishermen's huts called La Napoule. From there, a trayas (small path) started in the direction of Théoule, another fishing village, and of a hamlet which later took the name of the path (Le Trayas). Back then, the only way to drive from Fréjus to Cannes was through the Massif de l'Estérel. In association with the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railway company, the Touring Club de France had the idea of creating a coastal road to bypass the Esterel massif. The project was based on the use of the Trayas path, the coastal path of the customs officers, and the access roads abandoned at the end of the construction of the railway line.