April 18, 2022
My original plan for this day was to finish hiking the Sentier Littoral around the Presqu’île de Giens, but given that I had abandoned the first part of the hike, and also because I would be doing a lot of coastal walking in Brittany, I decided to visit the medieval centre of the town of Hyères instead. I was back in the mood for narrow streets, historic sites, and a ruined castle so I set off early from La Capte in order to arrive before the town became busy.
From Place de la République, I entered through the 14th century Porte Massillon which was once the principal entrance to the town, and the streets were indeed quiet with the shops not yet open.
I arrived to the next square, Place Massillon, which is dominated by the 12th century Tour des Templiers, the Tower of the Templars. The restored tower is all that remains of a commandry established by the Knights Templar who were here to guard a large agricultural domaine nearby.
From here I headed uphill, passed through another historic gate, and then continued on narrow and steep cobbled lanes up towards the castle ruins. Soon I reached this section of the outer wall and I continued up on the rocky trail at its base.
At the wall’s end, I arrived at these two towers which were part of the fortifications from the outer of two defensive walls.
Beyond these towers was another tower higher up on the hillside as well as other castle ruins.
Climbing higher, I was very happy to be the only one at the castle and I took my time to explore every nook and cranny.
From the very top of the castle hill there were wonderful views all around, including a view south to the Giens peninsula and the Presqu’île de Giens at its base.
There were many trails on the castle hill and I explored them for a while before descending back down to the cobbled streets and then proceeding to the Castel Sainte-Claire. This villa was owned by the American writer Edith Wharton who stayed here every winter from 1919 until her death in 1937. Hyères was a popular resort town with writers, artists, and affluent travellers during the 19th and early 20th centuries and the castle ruins were frequently visited and very much romanticized.
From the terrace in front of the villa there was this wonderful view of the Collégiale Saint-Paul, the town’s massive 14th century Gothic church which retains some of the features of the original 12th century Romanesque church that preceded it.
From the Castel Saint-Claire, I wove my way back through the streets and then up again to explore the Parc Saint-Bernard with its beautiful gardens set on narrow terraces connected by stone steps. Established in 1925 by Charles Noailles, he had the garden built below his villa with the aim to feature many different varieties of plants from the Mediterranean. (His villa now houses a modern art gallery.) Here is my first peek into the garden upon entering from the top gate.
Midway along this first terrace there was a view down towards a small maze and over the town.
It was so beautiful here, and this garden was definitely a highlight of my visit to Hyères!
Some flowers and plants were familiar to me (there were many kinds of roses for example), but many were new to me. The fragrances were varied and strong, and the place was humming with very happy bees of all sorts. Here are some images from the beautiful garden of the Parc Saint-Bernard.
After six wonderful terraces, the garden exit led me down to the Barbican gate, another of the original entrances to the 13th century walled town.
From there, I made my way back to the Place Massillon and the Templar Tower where tables were being set up in preparation for the lunch crowd.
I had about an hour left before the next bus would take me back to La Capte for my own lunch hour so I wandered about through the narrow and colourful streets of the old town, happily turning left or right when something caught my eye.
I very much enjoyed my visit to the historic centre of Hyères!
