Hyères Part I

I haven't really taken a lot of pictures of Hyères. I think in part it is because when we first arrived I was too overwhelmed. Then my sense of being overwhelmed turned into frustration...I didn't want to take pictures because I wasn't a tourist. But I was jealous of tourists...I wanted to take pictures and experience the beautiful town for what it was, and then be able to head home to all that was familiar and easy. But as we've been in Hyères for nearly five weeks, life is getting a little more familiar everyday (although I'm not going to go so far as to say it's getting easy). And today I was ready to take some pictures and be a tourist while not being a tourist.

And actually I'm quite sad because our new house we found is in Toulon. So we'll be leaving Hyères, a quiet and very quaint little town, and heading for the much more urban Toulon. Phil will still commute to Hyères everyday for work (the airport is here), but the rest of our daily life will happen twenty kilometers west.

I don't know the history of the town...I'm sure Phil does, and when you come and visit us, he'll give you all of the details...but here are some pictures from the oldest, historic, pedestrian only part of the city...what I would describe as "fairy tale French."

We walk here to "centre ville" almost everyday. Through the arch way, under the clock, is a narrow alley street lined with little fish markets, vegetable stands, olive shops, butchers, and cheesemakers. As I described in my post about grocery shopping, my French isn't to the point where I can negotiate these kinds of one on one encounters, so mostly I just window shop and watch what other people buy.

This is the poissonerie, one of the fresh fish markets on this alley. Sometimes there are giant fish heads on the ice tables outside the entrance...kinda makes me lose my appetite, but Lily thinks its hilarious.

One of the produce stands. The produce here is amazingly fresh. And I'm discovering vegetables and fruits that I've never seen before.

Olives are huge here...and a regional specialty. I'm slowly acquiring a taste for them. Our new house has an olive tree in the yard!

The palm trees in Hyères add so much atmosphere to the place as well. Along with the gloriously sunny weather, the palm trees are a constant reminder that I don't miss Ohio winters.

Maybe tomorrow I'll hike up to the castle on the side of the hill and take some pictures which will give more of an aerial perspective on the area. Sounds like I just used my blog as an exercise accountability tool : )