Page 107 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

PROVENCE AREA B Y AREA  105

THE VAR AND THE

ILES D’HYÈRES

The Var is a region of rolling lands, rocky hills, thick forests
and swathes of vineyards. To the north, Provençal villages
are thinly scattered by mountain streams, on hilltops
and in valleys; to the south, a series of massifs slope
down to the coast making this stretch of the Côte
d’Azur the most varied and delightful shore in France.

The A8 autoroute runs through the centre Riviera. The more remote areas to the
of the Var, dividing it roughly into two north of the autoroute have always
sections. To the south of this artery the provided a retreat from the bustling
influence of the sea is unmistakable. activity of the coast. This is where the
Toulon, the departmental capital, Cistercians built their austere Abbaye du
occupies a fine deep-water harbour that Thoronet. Today visitors escape inland
is home to the French Mediterranean from the summer traffic around St-Tropez
fleet. Beyond it are the pleasant resorts to the sparsely populated Haut Var, where
of Bandol and Sanary, where Jacques towns seem to grow from tufa rock.
Cousteau first put scuba-diving to the Highlights include wines from the
test. To the east are the sandy beaches Côtes de Provence, and fresh tuna from
beneath the great slab of the Massif des quayside restaurants. Music enthusiasts
Maures. The Var’s most famous resort, should spare time to hear both the
St-Tropez, facing north in the crook of organ at St-Maximin-la-Ste-Baume,
a bay, lies in a glorious landscape of Provence’s finest Gothic building, and
vineyards. Beyond it, just past Fréjus, the the string quartets at the festival in the
first Roman settlement in Gaul, the land hill towns near Fayence. Visitors can
turns blood red in the twinkling inlets and also go walking, sailing and sunbathing,
coves below the beautiful Corniche de and enjoy a rich collection of museums
l’Esterel, which heads east towards the and architecture.

Sunrise over the boats in St-Tropez harbour
The meandering Corniche de l’Esterel, St-Raphaël