Page 121 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

THE V AR AND THE ILES D ’ H Y ERES  119

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST iHyères
Road map D4. * 57,000. k Toulon-
Practical Information Hyères. £ @ g n Rotunde du
Road map D5. n Porquerolles Park Hotel, Ave de Belgique (04 94 01
(04 94 58 33 76). 84 50). ( Tue, Thu & Sat in city centre;
Transport Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun in neighbourhoods.
k Toulon-Hyères. £ Hyères. ∑ hyeres-tourisme.com
@ Hyères. g from Hyères
(La Tour-Fondue) to Porquerolles Hyères is one of the most
Port-Cros Harbour daily (every 30 mins in summer); agreeable towns on the Côte
The tiny, palm-fringed harbour from Hyères and Le Lavandou d’Azur, and the oldest of the
and village of Port-Cros nestle in to Port-Cros and Le Levant daily south of France winter resorts.
a sheltered bay to the northwest (Jan–Feb: 3–4 times a week). The town lies at the centre
of the island. of well-cultivated land that
provides fresh fruit and
vegetables all year. It has three
leisure ports, 25-km (16-miles)
of sandy beach and a peninsula
facing the Iles d’Hyères.
The new town was called
Hyères-les-Palmiers. A palm-
growing industry was established
Scuba diving off the coast of Port-Cros here in 1867, soon becoming
the largest in Europe. The
Black-faced blenny industry is still important and
Trypterygion tripteronotus thousands of palms line the
new town boulevards.
Hyères’ main church
is St-Louis in Place de la
République. Romanesque
and Provençal Gothic, it was
Cardinal fish completed in 1248. From place
Apogon imberbis Massillon, rue St-Paul leads past
the 11th-century Eglise St-Paul,
full of 17th-century ex-votos.
The road continues to the
Diplodus ruined 12th-century Château
Diplodus sargus St-Bernard, which has good
views. In the gardens is the
Cubist-inspired Villa de
Noailles (1924), built by Robert
Mallet-Stevens for the Vicomte
Grey mullet de Noailles. Jardin Olbius
Chelon labrosus Riquier has a petting zoo
and exotic plants.
O Jardin Olbius Riquier
Ave Ambroise Thomas. Tel 04 94 00
78 65. Open daily. 7
Octopus Octopus vulgaris

Façade of a house in Hyères built in Moorish
Damsel fish, Chromis chromis architectural style