The golden girls
The Golden girls. The îles d’Or – Porquerolles, Port-Cros and Levant – are a heaven for all those who love nature and peace. To protect these wild but welcoming daughters of the Mediterranean, visitor numbers are limited – so you’ll have to get an early start if you want to enjoy this island paradise.
Smoking – the birth of every Frenchman or woman. There cannot be a public space in the whole of France where puffing on a cigarette is a sin, surely? Only, hanging from the mainland like flakes of ash from white, burning stick of tobacco, dangling precariously from a Gallic hand, is such a place. A lost world. Three islands, each to varying degrees could be likened to dinosaur refuge Jurassick Park – offshore islets where a way of life long since extinct is preserved. And the government is very keen to keep it this way, which means stubbing out smoking.
A stray cigarette butt could cause untold damage to this fragile environment. Equally, errant, clumsy feet pose a threat to vegetation. Nicolas Gérardin, manager of the îles d’Or national park, says that biologists had already noted damage to several rare plant species and a decline in the number of peregrine falcons due to too many walkers around the cliffs on the islands. Likewise, the once commonplace monk seal is now rarely seen in these waters. The authorities were forced to take action. New measure have banned smoking and limited tourist numbers – if you can’t get a ticket, then you are not coming in. Once privately owned, since being opened as national parks, both îles de Porquerolles and îles de Port-Cros – two of the three – have attracted a steady following of admirers. Meanwhile, îles du Levant has made a name for itself in certain circles, become a favourite haunt for people with literally nothing to hide.
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