Treasure Island

Poquerolles

Yesterday, I met up with some language assistant friends and we took a day trip to one of the nearby islands of Hyeres. There are 3 small islands off the coast which serve as the biggest tourist draw to the town I'm teaching in. Hyeres is not very big and is not very well known as far as tourism goes (good luck finding it in Rick Steve's), but these islands, which are a small ferry ride away, are quite lovely*. We went to the "big" one, Poquerolles, and explored the island on foot. (Many tourists also rent bikes. There are no cars and most of the island is a nature reserve.)

Here's what we did!

-The other assistants (Nikki, Adam, and Victoria) live in Toulon, so they caught the bus at 7am to meet up in Hyeres. We caught a bus** to the coast, where we hopped on the ferry to get to the island around 9:30. The weather was a little iffy, and riding the ferry (no cars, 80 passenger max) reminded me of being in Seattle so much! Despite the wind and clouds, we rode on the top deck in the breeze and were excited to get out on an excursion!

-When we arrived on Poquerolles, we walked around the deserted town, climbed up to the windmill and the fort overlook, then hiked down to one beach area. We wandered through an olive tree orchard and I chased after some pheasants (I get so excited about wildlife we don't have at home.) After a picnic lunch on the beach, we decided it was a bit too windy for kayaks, so we walked back to the port for some coffee.

-As we enjoyed our cafe au laits and discussed the British university system, the sun decided to come out. Hooray! We walked over to a gorgeous beach and spent the afternoon relaxing on a rock formation overlooking beautiful aqua water leading up to the sandy beach area.

-As we stood in line for the boat back, eating cookies (with chocolate bits, of course), we joked about the lack of urgency in French have when it comes to any form of customer service***. We decided if the boat sank due to too many passengers (likely, considering how many people wanted to get on) that we would be the only 4 who would survive because we would swim to shore, realizing the futility of floating until the arrival of any French search and rescue. "Headline: 80 ferry passengers drown over a 8 day period. French aide still thinking about taking action."

- The boat ride back was really fun, and luckily we didn't sink. I was acting like such a child, throwing my hands up in the air trying not to hold on when the boat went over the big waves. I also managed to get the theme song from Titanic stuck in all of our heads, after pretending with Nikki that "I'm flying!!!" just like in the film. It was a great adventure!

*Might I just mention also that 10% of the third island, Ile du Levant, is a nudist colony, established back in the 1930's. (Un?)fortunately, we didn't make it there this time...

**Highlight of the bus ride: passing by a marshy area with wild FLAMINGOS! There I was, riding the bus, I turn and look out the window and there are a bunch of pink birds wading in the water! It's like at the zoo!...only not.

***Try waiting in line at the grocery store, where the cashiers are allowed to sit in chairs...plush, huh? Their relaxed physical position serves as an indication to the relaxed demeanor with which they will scan your items, wait as YOU bag them yourself, pause mid-way to talk with other employees, and wait as you fish through your wallet, just as all the Frenchies in front of you did, in order to come up with exact change because apparently cashiers get an attitude if you hand them just bills in an attempt to expedite this whole process; clearly it's more efficient for them if you fish for the proper change no matter how long it takes, instead of them just giving you all the change from their organized drawer. Good thing I don't shop when I'm in a hurry.

More photos from our day on Poquerolles