Flowers of the Massif des Maures – the hills of the Côte D’Azur in spring
I’d always assumed St Tropez on the famous Côte D’Azur would be a tinsel-town, where flash cars and flashier celebs were de rigeur. Not only is that far from the whole story – I discovered it’s actually a pleasant, bustling coastal town – but only 15km inland from the crowds and designer sunglasses are the hills of the Massif des Maures, studded with medieval villages, cork oak woodlands and vineyards.
This low but steep-sided mountain range in southeastern France is in the department of the Var. It lies between the River Argens and the River Réal Martin to the north and the Mediterranean coast to the south. Between the typical mild winters and hot, dry summers, it’s in the brief springtime that the area is best for hiking and flower-spotting, when streams are still rushing through the volcanic rocks.
The massif is densely covered with forest dominated by cork oak, evergreen holm oak and sweet chestnut trees, along with stone pines especially on the highest ridges.
Sadly, forest fires are increasingly common in the area, and the village where we stayed was surrounded by fires as recently as 2022. The aftermath of the fires is still very visible, with swathes of countryside showing at a distance simply as blackened poles.
Fortunately the cork oak seems able to withstand these as the thick bark protects the trunk.
And we noticed that other vegetation was also proving amazingly resilient, especially understorey shrubs such as myrtle, broom, heather and juniper growing strongly back through the black ashes.
In some areas large rocky outcrops seem to have protected the plants, or at least diverted the fire around them.
Cistus, lavender stoechas and wild rosemary make a wonderfully aromatic combination as you brush past.
Plants familiar to us such as geraniums, lupins and iris are very common in areas of open ground.
This area is said to be one of the last places in Europe where the Hermann’s tortoise can be found. We found a young male tortoise just ambling its way through the undergrowth – and were careful not to disturb it – but precise identification eluded us.
Wild boar and deer are still relatively common here, and we were told several stories by villagers annoyed that their kitchen gardens had been raided!
If you like your walks accompanied by birdsong, make an early start and you will hear a wonderful orchestra. We heard nightingales singing from the canebrakes around stream-sides, swifts chasing each other above the village houses, and in the shrubby hillsides the smaller woodland birds are returning even to the fire-broken areas, completing the chorus.
Bulbous plants are an important element of the spring display, producing their flowers and dying back before the summer drought begins. Wild tulips and alliums can be seen into early May. And we saw these elegant white helleborines growing through the leaf litter in several spots.
This single example of the beautifully named heart-shaped-tongue orchid just emerging from open ground.
Dismayed to see so much evidence of dead and fallen trees due to the fires, it was at the same time heartening to see the resilience of the plants and animals of the Massif des Maures.
For the last two years Sarah has visited Andalucia and had an equally enjoyable time looking at plants in this diverse area of southern Spain
Andalucias limestone lovelies and Floral forays in rural Andalucia
If you’d like to visit the Côte D’Azur see their tourist information page