HYERES - French Riviera

During my stay with Claudie at the French Riviera we also visited Hyères-les-Palmiers, which means palm trees, and the town really deserves this name

Already when we arrived there were palm trees everywhere.
As Palm-trees are a staple of the city’s landscape. It seems they made their first appearance about 4 centuries ago, but did not actually become a local resource until 1867, around which time Hyères very quickly became the palm-tree capital of Europe. In 1909, over 40 hectares were dedicated to the growth of the Phoenix species, with around 362,000 young subjects (or 135 railroad car-loads) being shipped annually to Belgium, Germany and throughout the rest of Europe. This culture peaked in the early 20s, when over 1,250,000 palm trees were grown every year.
Today, about 20 different species of palm-trees are still grown, for a total annual production of 100,000 trees. Today, ten species bear the general denomination “Palm-tree from Hyères”.
Hyères-les-Palmiers is also famous for its micro-climate, which has allowed the introduction of such exotic plant species as palm-trees, citrus fruits, cacti and other hot climate vegetation. Over the years, the city has made the daily care of its gardens and parklands one of its top pri-orities. As such, Hyères offers a remarkable variety of landscapes. Its 39 km of coast, unsullied by concrete, alternate fine sandy beaches and rocky inlets, and fringe a lush, verdant country-side landmarked by hills and valleys, from Sauvebonne to Les Borrels, from Fenouillet to the ruins of the old castle on the hill.

First we walked through the city and I admired the architecture




all kind of spices on display

cute little streets

"Bio" shops

The way to the Place Massillon



where of course we followed other tourists, and took a drink here. The place is very nice to observe people !
When we had rested and watched enough, we went to the seaside.

The captains house






and lots of boats and yachts of all kind and sizes !
If you want to read more about Hyères you will find it here