A Detour to Hyères, the Other Side of the French Riviera

Something I love about the South of France is how poetically people speak in their everyday lives.

 

While walking through the streets of Hyères, I crossed paths with a couple and overheard the woman exclaim, “Oh god, why didn’t you tell me that I’d put my skirt on backwards?!” The man replied, “Ma chérie, that’s okay—they say it brings good fortune!” It was an exchange that felt straight out of an old French film.

A few weeks earlier, while booking transport for a work trip to Marseille, I decided to swap the less than two-hour flight from Brussels for a seven-hour train journey. This wasn’t just an eco-conscious decision—I love train rides because they allow for easy pit stops and unplanned side-quests along the way. I sent the map of my route to Nicolas Quiniou, a friend, a fellow photographer, and one of the most well-traveled people I know, and asked where the most interesting stop would be. Without hesitation, he answered: Hyères.

Hyères is a small seaside town on the French Riviera, an hour by train from Marseille and far removed from its glitzier neighbors. The town spans a peninsula, Giens, and an archipelago, the Îles d’Or—the “Golden Islands.”

After a morning exploring the peninsula and enjoying the Hôtel Le Provençal’s Slim Aarons-esque seaside pool with its yellow sunbeds, I took the road to the southern point to catch a 15-minute ferry to Porquerolles, one of the Golden Islands.

As soon as we docked, something about the shape of the pine-fringed coves and the pristine beaches gave me, once again, the feeling that I had stepped into an old French film. I headed to the information kiosk for a tourist map, and had an I-knew-it moment when I spotted, under fun facts, that Pierrot le Fou—an iconic Jean-Luc Godard film from the ’60s—was filmed on the island.

After picking my first hiking spot simply because I liked the name, Le Chemin des Oliviers (Olive Tree Path), I continued toward the closest beach, where a group of local French men in their 70s grew curious about my film camera. Proud of their beautiful land, and rightfully so, they enthusiastically mapped out their favorite hidden coves in the sand with a wooden stick.

By evening I was back in Hyères, and ended the day with freshly caught seafood in a waterfront setting at L’actuel, a newly opened, family-run restaurant in Hyères’ harbor. I’d hoped to try the mussels, but the restaurant had run out. The owner convinced me, through some Southern French charm, to try their daurade instead, promising I wouldn’t regret it. I did, in fact, and it was the best daurade I’ve ever had.

On the walk back to the hotel, the sky had turned dusty pink, and a flock of flamingos from the nearby nature reserve flew overhead, reminding me of a quote from Pierrot le Fou: “Look at the sea, the waves, the sky—life may be sad, but it is always beautiful.”