Page 122 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

120  PROVENCE AREA B Y AREA

It is a centre for water sports pBormes-les-
and offers moorings for luxury Mimosas
yachts. Full of bars, nightclubs
and restaurants, Le Lavandou Road map D4. * 7,845. @ Hyères.
n 1 place Gambetta (04 94 01 38 38).
is a favourite of younger, less ( Wed. ∑ bormeslesmimosas.com
well-heeled visitors.
It takes its name not from Bormes is a medieval hill
the lavender fields in the village on the edge of the Dom
surrounding hills, but from a Forest, bathed in the scent of
lavoir (wash-house) depicted oir (wash-house) depicted oir
lav
lav oleander and eucalyptus and
in a painting of the town by topped with a flower-lined
Charles Ginoux dating from walk around its castle. “Les
1736. During the last century,
Beach at Le Lavandou overlooked by hotels when it was no more than a
and exclusive villas fishing village, Le Lavandou was
popular with artists. The most
oLe Lavandou famous, though not so well
known outside France, was
Road map D4. * 5,236. @ g
n Quai Gabriel Péri (04 94 00 40 50). Ernest Reyer (1823–99), a
( Thu. ∑ ot-lelavandou.fr composer and music critic
after whom the main square
An embarkation port for is named. From this square
the nearby Iles d’Hyères, there is a view over the Iles
Le Lavandou is a fishing village du Levant and Port-Cros.
now almost entirely given over Much of nearby Brégançon
to tourism. This is due to its is in the hands of the military
twelve sandy beaches, each and the French president has Rue Rompi-Cuou, one of the steep, old
with a different coloured sand. a summer residence there. streets in Bormes-les-Mimosas
a Tour of the Massif des Maures 3 Village des Tortues
Keep bearing left on the D75 for
The ancient mountain range of Maures takes its name the “Tortoise Village”, which has
from the Provençal maouro, meaning dark or gloomy, saved France’s only remaining
for the Massif is carpeted in sweet chestnuts, cork trees, species of wild tortoise.
oaks and pines with a deeply shaded undergrowth
of myrrh and briar, though forest fires have Gonfaron
reduced some of it to scrubland. Lying between
Hyères and Fréjus, the Massif is nearly 60-km
(40-miles) long and 30-km (18-miles) wide. This tour
is a simple route that takes you through the wild and
often deserted heart of the Massif, through dramatic
countryside ranging from flat valley floors covered
in cork trees to deep valleys and lofty peaks. A few
of the roads are steep and winding.
4 Notre-Dame-des-Anges
Beside this priory and its chapel
full of votive offerings, is the
highest summit in the Massif
Tips for Drivers at 780 m (2,559 ft).
Tour length: 75 km (47 miles)
Stopping-off points: Collobrières
is a pleasant lunchtime stop. Allow Toulon
time to visit Chartreuse de la
Verne (04 94 48 08 00 for opening
times), which is reached up narrow,
steep roads. (See also pp250–51.) 5 Collobrières
This riverside village with its
hump-backed bridge is famed
for its marrons glacés. Nearby
Farm workers at Collobrières forests supply bottle corks.

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