I ♡ Pork Rolls!

View over Plage Notre-Dame

We find ourselves at the very tip of the Giens Peninsula, next to the Tour Fondue. It's a fort, not a giant pot of melty cheese, sadly. Our mission here is exploration, in the form of a daytrip out to the island of Porquerolles, a 15-minute ferry ride across the water. A co-worker mentioned this as being THE place to visit when I was asking people for suggestions for this trip, and the idea of visiting a place where the best way to tour is on foot or by bike sounds like something Mario and I would love to spend our day doing. Though some nasty storms rolled in overnight, and the skies seem grey and gloomy, we have hope that things will warm up and clear up. We get some pastries at the local bakery, a baguette to make sandwiches, then head over to the ferry for the quick crossing to the island.

Departing from Tour Fondue

Arriving in Porquerolles

Blue skies open up before us as we pull into the harbour of Porquerolles - the feeling is very reminiscent of arriving at tiny Les Saintes archipel in Guadeloupe. In fact, most of the day contains moments of similarity with our visits to the islands surrounding Guadeloupe. I suppose that should be expected, this being France and all. We walk up from the port to one of TEN different bicycle rental shops. This should give you an idea of how popular it is to tour this island on 2 wheels, and how busy it can get in the summer - each shop easily maintains a hundred or so bikes! 

And now comes time for today's miss: We settle in to our bikes, pack our gear into the baskets, and begin the steep climb up a paved slope behind the shop. This is supposed to be the main road out of the village, leading to the coastlines and beaches. It's steep - I am not a confident cyclist in any way, and the last time I rode was maybe 2 years ago, so shifting gears is a little foreign, and I end up walking the bike to the top. After a few photos and time to catch our breath, we pull out the map and discover this was NOT the way out of the village we wanted to take. We head back to shop and try again, heading out the back of the village. A lesser slope, gravel and lined with pines, curves around the village, and RIGHT BACK TO THE SAME LOOKOUT POINT.

Well, seems like the third time's a charm, as we finally recheck the map about 10 times and at every corner we turn, and manage to get to the right route that leads to the south side of Porquerolles. From this point on, we don't get lost again. We head towards the cliff side of the island, stopping at Gorge du Loup, where the Mistral winds are churning up the waters, making for a great show. We hike a ways along the coastline for a better view, then around the lighthouse a little further down the road, watching its massive crystal lamp spinning in the top of the painted tower.

The Lighthouse

Gorge du Loup, with Mario in the distance

We head down some skinny paths that seem better suited to mountain bikes, navigating around rocks and gullies, and other times, the wide, sandy path is carpeted with fallen needles from the pines lining the roads, making the ride soft and silent as we roll. We make our way to the Plage d'Argent just in time for lunch, laying out our towels on the sand and unpacking the baguette with ham and cheese we packed. All around us, people are tanning, some running into the water and splashing around. We even took a quick dip in the warm water of the Mediterranean.

Plage d'Argent

Bare feet at Plage Notre-Dame

After lunch, we bike back through the village to get to the other side of the island, but wander around the main square for a moment. There are several ice cream vendors, and it turned out to be a hot, sunny day, and we just finished lunch, so why not? Mario gets a cup of lemon meringue, with crunchy bits of meringue in it, and I get a perfectly sweet and sour lemon granité, which is really just a fancy name for a sloche. Energized, we head to the other beaches on the island, Plage Notre-Dame, which is further, but the ride is cool and enjoyable, the paths still quiet. We don't swim, but just enjoy the waves and the wind and watching the gulls float in the air above out heads. Mario attempts to stack rocks in my hand - we get 6 high. I blame the wind, not my shaky hand.

The ride back is a little less enjoyable. It's the end of the day, so more people are riding back to return their bikes, people are walking back to catch the ferry, they are walking 4 and 5 and 6 wide across the path, blocking the way. It hard to get any speed to climb the hills while slowing for the traffic and attempting to navigate around people - again, I end up walking up the last climb before the rental shop. But it was a fun way to tour the island, and both Mario and I agree that we saw much more than we would have on foot, and were less tired from the heat and sun, too. One last tour about town for more ice cream (apricot and raspberry sorbets) and I pick up a cicada keychain in one of the shops to hang on our Christmas tree. The cicadas are in full concert right now, chirping loudly all over this island, and their song was the soundtrack of our day's explorations - this ornament will be my reminder of our day here in Porquerolles. 

Apricot and Raspberry sorbet

Shops and bikes in the main square

We board an entirely too crowded ferry back to the Giens Peninsula, and laugh at the shrieks of people getting splashed by the rough waves slamming the boat. We buy some fresh apricots and figs from the vendor at the pier, who is all too happy to point out that he has been to Quebec once on a trip. And we walk back into the campground, to the back corner, where we relax and enjoy the rest of our night here. Tomorrow, we move on.



(Oh, and in case you are still wondering about the meaning behind today's blog title, just try badly pronouncing Porquerolles in English, and you'll see why it is the punchline on many a postcard and t-shirt we spotted in the gift shops we browsed.)