Toulon to Hyere

September 22, 2022

Here, there and Hyere.

Toulon to Hyere

Here, there and Hyere.

47 kilometres

Today’s big question- is there a cycle path and what’s it like? Simple questions but difficult to get exact detail on, even online. Simply put, the answer is ‘yes’ and ‘pretty good’.

I start the day with a walk down four floors for a boulangerie visit. As I pass the desk the receptionist asks for my key. I explain that it’s back up on the 4th floor and I don’t have the energy to go back up to fetch it. He weighs me up for a moment as if assessing the possibility that a jewelry heist could be on my mind instead of a baguette and a couple of croissants, and reluctantly does a shrug and French ‘pouff’, notes my name, and I’m free. On my return and ascent, we breakfast on coffee and croissants.

Packed, we descend, sans lift, carrying about five bags each and taking care since the risers are loose in places. Our bikes are retrieved from the dark, dank, damp, odiferous ex-cinema and loaded up on the edge of the Place d’Armes, and we take a pleasant walk in the sun through the narrow streets of the old city.

Some interesting shops. As a fan of French graphic novels, I find Tintin and Mortimer and Blake, second hand copies, hard to resist, but there’s always that ‘more weight’ remonstration at the back of the cyclist’s mind.

The tourist office provides us with a map of the cycle path that goes all the way to Hyere. Interestingly nowhere, as far as I can tell, does this map or any of the billboard info about the trail appear online. Maybe it should.

Once out of town, the trail is straightforward and gives us an easy enough hour’s cycling until we stop for a coffee at a PMU. The scent of pine and the appearance of citrus and prickly pear bushes starts to evoke that Riviera feeling. It’s a little different from my first visit with two other likely lads in Morris Traveller back in 1975, but it still smells the same.

The cycleway has two lanes and is a good width. It needs to be because even mid week there are Lycra clad retirees belting down the trail and attention must be paid.
We have some great views of the Mediterranean at Carquieranne from the trail.

Eventually near Hyere, we come to the sea and decide to start looking for camping grounds. The beach here isn’t particularly enticing and apart from windsurfers, there’s not a lot of on water activity. The preponderance of shabby bamboo hedging also adds to the lack of appeal. There’s quite a strong wind blowing off the sea but it doesn’t bother us over much.

Despite the signs for camping, we try four before finding a small one that’s open. The woman at reception is very nice and conveys the impression that she actually cares for our well being. We select a site, get our tent up and go for a swim in the pool. The showers are hot and the timers lengthy. We find out there’s a store at a more upmarket campground just down the road and so we go shopping. After dining on tuna, rice and tomatoes, all is well in the world.

Today's ride: 47 km (29 miles)
Total: 1,408 km (874 miles)

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