Destination: Iles d’Hyères
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You have to wonder how the breathtaking cliffs, shimmering turquoise coves and fine quartz-sand beaches of France’s Porquerolles and Port-Cros islands have managed to escape the grasp of high-rise luxury resorts and real estate tycoons so prominent on the Riviera just a few miles away. They’re part of the Îles d’Hyères, also known as the Îles d’Or (golden islands) because during sunset they give off a dazzling golden glow, which can be viewed from the mainland.
Located just a few miles from the Provençal town of Hyères, these two paradisiacal slabs of rock were privately owned by two ecologically minded families for more than four decades. Working independently of one another—the Fourniers on Porquerolles and the Henrys on Port-Cros—they created their own private Edens. (François-Joseph Fournier, a Belgian adventurer, struck it rich in the gold mines of Mexico and bought the island as wedding present for his young bride.) Today, the islands are government-protected national parks with wild, subtropical landscapes that give you a glimpse of the way the Riviera must have looked a century ago.
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