This particular Saturday morning, I got up rather early, as the plan was to go sailing, for a change (I’ve not been able to much of that this spring, for various reasons). But instead, Mathilde surprised me by telling me I wasn’t going sailing this Saturday either; she had a surprise weekend organized for me! I was a bit doubtful at first, but by the time we’d packed our bags, and hit the motorway, she had me convinced… After a couple of failed guesses, I realized our destination was Porquerolles.
Porquerolles is one of the Isles des Hyeres, not surprisingly located outside Hyeres. We arrived at the port and managed to take a boat pretty early, bringing us into Port-Cros, the main (er, only, actually..) town on the Island. After checking into our classy hotel (only the best is good enough for me, apparently!), we quickly set out to explore the island. We quickly realized that the thing to do on Porquerolles is to hire a bike – makes sense since cars are basically banned on the island. We decided to be rebellious and walk, though (since we had 2 days on Porquerolles, we figured we had enough time to cover most of the island by foot). The other thing to do on Porquerolles is to lie on the beach, so we decided to start off by doing just that, lying down on Plage d’argent. We spent a couple of very restul hours there, enjoying the sun, blue sky, and crystal-clear waters (and were even treated to a bit of an airplane display).
After our restful stay on the beach, we headed back into town to check into our hotel. We took the opportunity to have a walk around and explore Port-Cros as well. It’s quite an usual town, not your typical cute Provencal village, the architecture looks almost colonial instead. And would you believe it, we ran into Antoine (a colleague of Mathilde’s) and Claire in the port. After a promise to meet up later for drinks, we finally checked in, and then decided to head out to do some proper hiking.
Our hike took us to the Northern side of the island, to the Gorges du Loup. It’s a very scenic spot indeed, the steep gorge carving its way inland from the steep and rocky shoreline. From there, we made our way towards the lighthouse of Porquerolles, taking in the stunning coastal views. It truly is a sight for sore eyes, this island. Unfortunately it’s not possible to visit the light house, so we continued our coastal exploration instead, enjoying every minute of it.
On the way back, we even crossed some vineyards (there are three altogether on the island), and also decided to visit the Fort St-Agathe, the fortress overlooking and guarding Port-Cros. The fort itself isn’t all that interesting (not much to see…) but the views over the island and the town are quite stunning.
After our scheduled aperitif with Antoine and Claire (pastis is just a perfect drink for a warm summer eve…), we headed out for dinner. We picked a nice-looking restaurant with an inviting terrace, overlooking the main square. The restaurant wasn’t anything to write home about (with slow service and a pretty mediocre main course). The entertainment on the main square made up for it, though, with a bunch of lads living it up… We finished the evening with a few beers in the bars, getting into a real holiday spirit!
The next day promised more of the same; hiking and beaches, basically. We started off by heading towards the Western part of the island. The hike took in yet more gorgeous landscapes and beautiful beaches. We hiked all the way to the Langoustier, another military fort. After a walk around the well-restored military building, we headed down to the lovely lagoon it overlooks, with its beach. And who did we run into on the way there, if not Antoine and Claire… After an hour or so of catching some rays, swimming in the beautiful waters, it was time to hit the road again.
Our walk took us back to Port-Cros, from where we carried on towards the Eastern side of the island; Les Medes. The hike followed the edge of the long, sandy Plage de Notre-Dame, climbing up towards our destination. Once more, the views were great, the sea blue etc. etc. (I’m running out of superlatives here…). On the way back, we stopped by on the beach of Notre-Dame for a last swim in the inviting waters… Then it was, sadly, time to take the ferry back to the mainland.
What a great weekend it was. Porquerolles, reputed to be one of the prettiest places in our region, manged to surpass out expectations. And it wasn’t even overrun by tourists, as we perhaps feared. A big thanks to Mathilde for a fantastic surprise weekend!
Porquerolles is one of the Isles des Hyeres, not surprisingly located outside Hyeres. We arrived at the port and managed to take a boat pretty early, bringing us into Port-Cros, the main (er, only, actually..) town on the Island. After checking into our classy hotel (only the best is good enough for me, apparently!), we quickly set out to explore the island. We quickly realized that the thing to do on Porquerolles is to hire a bike – makes sense since cars are basically banned on the island. We decided to be rebellious and walk, though (since we had 2 days on Porquerolles, we figured we had enough time to cover most of the island by foot). The other thing to do on Porquerolles is to lie on the beach, so we decided to start off by doing just that, lying down on Plage d’argent. We spent a couple of very restul hours there, enjoying the sun, blue sky, and crystal-clear waters (and were even treated to a bit of an airplane display). After our restful stay on the beach, we headed back into town to check into our hotel. We took the opportunity to have a walk around and explore Port-Cros as well. It’s quite an usual town, not your typical cute Provencal village, the architecture looks almost colonial instead. And would you believe it, we ran into Antoine (a colleague of Mathilde’s) and Claire in the port. After a promise to meet up later for drinks, we finally checked in, and then decided to head out to do some proper hiking.
Our hike took us to the Northern side of the island, to the Gorges du Loup. It’s a very scenic spot indeed, the steep gorge carving its way inland from the steep and rocky shoreline. From there, we made our way towards the lighthouse of Porquerolles, taking in the stunning coastal views. It truly is a sight for sore eyes, this island. Unfortunately it’s not possible to visit the light house, so we continued our coastal exploration instead, enjoying every minute of it. 
On the way back, we even crossed some vineyards (there are three altogether on the island), and also decided to visit the Fort St-Agathe, the fortress overlooking and guarding Port-Cros. The fort itself isn’t all that interesting (not much to see…) but the views over the island and the town are quite stunning.After our scheduled aperitif with Antoine and Claire (pastis is just a perfect drink for a warm summer eve…), we headed out for dinner. We picked a nice-looking restaurant with an inviting terrace, overlooking the main square. The restaurant wasn’t anything to write home about (with slow service and a pretty mediocre main course). The entertainment on the main square made up for it, though, with a bunch of lads living it up… We finished the evening with a few beers in the bars, getting into a real holiday spirit!
The next day promised more of the same; hiking and beaches, basically. We started off by heading towards the Western part of the island. The hike took in yet more gorgeous landscapes and beautiful beaches. We hiked all the way to the Langoustier, another military fort. After a walk around the well-restored military building, we headed down to the lovely lagoon it overlooks, with its beach. And who did we run into on the way there, if not Antoine and Claire… After an hour or so of catching some rays, swimming in the beautiful waters, it was time to hit the road again.
Our walk took us back to Port-Cros, from where we carried on towards the Eastern side of the island; Les Medes. The hike followed the edge of the long, sandy Plage de Notre-Dame, climbing up towards our destination. Once more, the views were great, the sea blue etc. etc. (I’m running out of superlatives here…). On the way back, we stopped by on the beach of Notre-Dame for a last swim in the inviting waters… Then it was, sadly, time to take the ferry back to the mainland.What a great weekend it was. Porquerolles, reputed to be one of the prettiest places in our region, manged to surpass out expectations. And it wasn’t even overrun by tourists, as we perhaps feared. A big thanks to Mathilde for a fantastic surprise weekend!
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