The Midi circuit in Porquerolles

1. Station 1: Le carrefour des oliviersLe carrefour des Oliviers is a peaceful place, a kind of public garden where villagers come to chat and children to play, under hundred-year-old trees. A few hundred metres further on, on the left, alignments of olive trees draw the light and the eye. The disappearance of ancient varieties and the importance of this species in Provençal culture explain why the Conservatoire Botanique National has taken such care to gather as many of them as possible. On the panels, the names evoke origins in Provence, North Africa, Greece, Spain, Italy... More than 150 varieties, forgotten and found in the course of rigorous prospecting here and there, in the corner of a field, abandoned, are gathered here in collections. Go from one to the other, play at observing them, deciphering the differences in color and shape. Take the sloping road that passes under the canopy of evergreen oaks, then turn left at post no. 822 towards the calanque de l'Indienne.2 Station 2: The LighthouseDominating the south of the island, the Cap d'Armes lighthouse is one of the most powerful in the Mediterranean. Its light reaches 54 km out to sea. The cut-crystal lenses and their supports float on a mercury-filled tank, guaranteeing perfect stability. Of the seven lighthouses on the Var coast, this is the only one that has not been automated and is still manned. You can visit the lighthouse from 10am to 12pm and from 2pm to 4pm.3. Station 3: Cap d'ArmeCap d'Arme faces the open sea, home to cetaceans. A long descent through the holm oak forest leads to the lagoons. At the junction, take the left-hand track down to the gorges du Loup.4. Station 4: Les gorges du Loup
Leave the bikes before the bright, wild calanque. Take note of the soldenudé, which has been damaged by heavy visitor traffic. Cycling all the way here would exacerbate the phenomenon, all the more so as natural erosion is particularly violent: the gorges du Loup form a wind-whistled corridor. Observe the inclination and the folds of the large slabs of Schist. They bear witness to the extraordinary pressures that built this land 350 million years ago.Return to the crossroads of the lagoons, go around them to the south and take the alley planted with pinyon pines on the left.5. Station 5: The lagoonsThe three lagoons complete the village's wastewater treatment system. On the left, in the scrubland, the arbutus tree stands out in spring for its round fruit, red when ripe, as if glazed with sugar. In autumn, it bears both this year's fruit and the flowers that will produce next year's. On the right, the mosaic of crops abuts the Aleppo pine forest. Closer in, an olive grove contrasts with the burnt red of the soil. These plots were gradually reclaimed from the forest that had gradually invaded them after agriculture was abandoned at the beginning of the century. A little further on, we discover the village, the Sainte-Agathe fort and the Hyères river.6. Station 6: the cemetery and mulberry tree collections. One honors the memory of soldiers returning from Crimea, isolated in quarantine on Porquerolles at the end of the 19th century. They were suspected of having typhus. Opposite the cemetery, the Conservatoire Botanique's collection of mulberry trees invites you to take a curious, gourmet stroll, continuing straight on to "le Hameau", where the Conservatoire Botanique is located.7. Station 7: The Conservatoire botanique national méditerranéenThe Conservatoire botanique national méditerranéen de Porquerolles is one of the seven Conservatoires botaniques nationaux, responsible for the conservation of wild flora.
In conjunction with the Parc national de Port-Cros, the Conservatoire botanique is responsible for restoring plant formations on land damaged by natural erosion and trampling by visitors, using seeds collected on the island. Follow the majestic avenue of hundred-year-old umbrella pines, towards theCarrefour des oliviers.8. Station 8: Le jardin du palmierAt the entrance to the garden, the Maison du Palmier is the welcome office for the Parcnational de Port-Cros. Here you'll find