A birthday on the French Riviera
Vaika was born on February 16, 2024. For her first birthday, we wanted to give her a positive experience. After experiencing the -30 degrees Celsius in Lapland in January, we decided to bring her to an environment more appropriate for a Greyhound! Direction south of France and more particularly Hyères and the Giens peninsula. We particularly like the south east of France and come here whenever we can. A good break to fill up on sun, hikes, and games on the beach!
Summary
A dog friendly
destination?
Accommodation and
Logistics
La Capte Beach
Hiking in the old Salines of Hyères
The tour of the "Giens peninsula"
The "Giens peninsula":
a “Dog Friendly” destination?
Vaika's birthday is in February. 2025 Winter is particularly hard to sustain in Paris: it's been months since we've seen the sun and it rains almost every day. We can feel the lack of vitamin D .
We still had in mind Vaika's first weekend in Normandy where we were able to admire her frantic races on the sandy beaches. So the idea came to us to offer her a weekend at the seashore for her first birthday.
The "season" in Hyères extends from April to October: this is the time when rentals and attractions are open. February is therefore rather calm compared to the busy months of summer. There are still a few tourists and year-round residents, particularly French retirees, taking advantage of the very mild Mediterranean winter.
We were able to enjoy pleasant temperatures for the season: during the day, temperatures easily exceed 15 degrees Celsius while, in Paris, we had barely 3 degrees.
We were pleasantly surprised by the number of families with dogs on February. The beaches were completely allowed to them: Vaika was able to run freely and have fun with her peers. The interactions with the tourists were excellent except, unfortunately, with some owners of small dogs who sometimes tend to over-interpret canine codes or transpose their fear of "bigger dogs" onto their own doggie. I deplore these attitudes because they create fearful or angry dogs or even frankly not friendly ones. This is, of course, not a generality and there are a lot of very friendly and even reckless little dogs!
Tip: Hyères has a Beach authorized for dogs all year round. We did not test it because all beaches were authorized in low season.
Accommodation and logistics
In order to make the most of the weekend, we decided to fly to Hyères from Orly. Transavia connects the two cities in 1 hour and 20 minutes, which allows you to spend the most time on site when it is limited.
We already had a bad experience with Transavia during our trip to Finland. Unfortunately, it is the only company that serves this small airport so we had no choice but to try the experience again.
The departure was scheduled for Friday with a return on Sunday at 8 p.m., which allowed us to take advantage of two full days. But...on Friday morning, I received an email from Transavia to indicate that the flight was "cancelled"...in exchange, Transavia repositioned us on an outbound flight on Sunday at 4 p.m....I don't know if the operator who made the exchange was a little joker / an AI or if he really thought that it could suit us with a return the same day at 8 p.m.! With this combination, that left barely 2 hours on site...anyway...
As is often the case, we have to move on to plan B and we fall back on a train to Marseille. There are trains very frequently on this line: in 3h05, we arrive in the sun. At Marseille train station, there is no difficulty in renting a vehicle because several rental companies are present there. For our part, we chose AVIS for the possibility of leaving the vehicle at Hyères airport on Sunday: in fact, the return flight was not canceled. We are very well received at the counter with a nice little word for Vaika.
The journey from Marseille station to Hyères only takes 1 hour 15 minutes by motorway with two tolls. The landscape is magnificent as we pass through the bay of Cassis. We stay on site in waterfront accommodation: a haven of peace on the Giens peninsula surrounded by nature and pine trees.
The village of La Capte has all the necessary amenities with food shops, restaurant, small Casino and Sunday market. In order not to waste time, we opted for the practical Chronodrive, 5 minutes by car. Vaika is fed household food so we always have to do some shopping to make up her meals. We always take his vitamin supplement with us.
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La Capte beach
Our accommodation is a 5-minute walk from La Capte beach. It is nearly 4 kilometers long and the water is shallow. It offers a breathtaking view of the entire bay of Hyères. In addition, it is well sheltered from the mistral (wind coming from the west).
Quite busy in the summer, it offers another face out of season and becomes much wilder. Many joggers use it, but we also see women practicing "longe côte" all year round.
It is pleasant to walk there at any time of the day: the landscape changes and the lights are always beautiful. In winter, nature takes back its rights and we find algae and pieces of wood that were real toys for Vaika.
We had some very nice encounters on this beach with charming owners and very well-behaved dogs. Vaika had a lot of fun and was always looking to come back: she knew the way by heart to get there. However, she was not reckless and did not take a dip: she seemed intrigued by the waves that came and went. We will try swimming in the summer.
Tip: It is important to take a water bottle for your dog on the beach. In fact, we made the mistake of forgetting it the first time and Vaika went straight to drinking sea water in big gulps. Result: she got sick. This can even have serious consequences depending on the dose of salt ingested.
Hiking in the old Salines of Hyères
We decide to do a first hike on Saturday, taking the coastal path near the old salt marshes of Hyères. It is a very accessible walk because there is zero meters of difference in altitude.
The trail runs along the Vieux Salins d'Hyères nature area on one side, and the seaside on the other. It can be done in 2 to 3 hours round trip depending on your break times.
We walk on the beach and our walk is punctuated by encounters with dogs: Vaika is delighted.
She makes lots of friends, plays, runs: you can see the happiness in her smile!
Arriving at the port of La Londe, we take advantage of the lunch break to stop at the restaurant "Le Président" with a very nice terrace but Vaika does not seem to like being in full sun so we return to the veranda.
The staff is friendly but the food is frankly not good. We do not recommend this address, but in winter, there is a more limited choice.
On the way back, we pass by the "trail" side and have the chance to observe pink flamingos and herons. Nature is "harsher" than in the north of France and Vaika doesn't seem to really like spicy herbs but delights in the good smells of rosemary and pine.
Tip: park in the car park located at the bottom of the village of Salins d'Hyères, furthest to the east. It's free.
The tour of "Giens Peninsula"
During our previous stays in the region, we undertook a tour of the Giens peninsula. It is a fairly strenuous hike with climbs and descents but the effort is rewarded by the breathtaking views of the Mediterranean. This is a tour that we highly recommend. In summer, you have to remember to take water.
As Vaika was only a year old at the time of our weekend, we preferred to take a small part of the trail to make sure she could follow along. This is the first time she has taken somewhat chaotic paths with different surfaces. More fear than harm: we observe that she has no worries and gallops like a kid among the rocks!
We start from La Capte and pass by Badine beach. The path also takes us through a large Belambra tourist complex, closed in February.
Arriving at the "Tour Fondue", we stop for a lunch break at the “Le Prado” restaurant and, this time, the lunch is quality!
Vaika, on her side, rests comfortably on our coats (Madame doesn't really like hard floors). This break is well deserved for her because you should know that dogs cover many more kilometers than us humans. Indeed, they often go back and forth a lot to smell things right and left.
Tip: for the return, we take Bus line 67 which drops us directly at the village of La Capte. The bus is accessible to dogs at no extra charge and also goes to the station and the center of Hyères.
Hiking in the old salt marshes of Hyères
