The Îles de Lérins would be lovely anywhere, but at fifteen minutes' ferry ride from Cannes, they're not far short of paradise facing purgatory. Planaria (www.abbayedelerins.com) runs the boat service to St-Honorat with departures from the old port (hourly: May–Sept 8am–5.30pm, last return 6pm; Oct–April 8am–4.30pm, last return 5pm; €8). The Ste-Marguerite route, which also leaves from the old port, is operated by several different companies, all on the same basic schedule. Cannes Maritime, however, is slightly cheaper than the others (hourly: May–Sept 9am–6.15pm, last return 7pm; Oct–April 9am–4.15pm, last return 5pm; tel 04.92.98.71.36; €8). They offer an hour-long circuit of the two islands with no stops as well (€13). Taking a picnic is a good idea, as the handful of restaurants on the islands are overpriced.Ste-Marguerite is far more commercial and touristy than its peaceful neighbour, St-Honorat. It's still beautiful, though, and large enough for visitors to find seclusion by following the trails that lead away from the congested port, through the Aleppo pines and woods of evergreen oak that are so thick they cast a sepulchral gloom. The western end is the most accessible, but the lagoon here is brackish, so the best points to swim are the rocky inlets across the island from the port. The dominating structure of the island is the Fort Ste-Marguerite (daily except Tues 10.30am–noon & 2–4.30/6.30pm; €3), a Richelieu commission that failed to prevent the Spanish occupying both of the Lérin islands between 1635 and 1637. Later, Vauban rounded it off, presumably for Louis XIV's gloire – since the strategic value of greatly enlarging a fort facing your own mainland without upgrading the one facing the sea is pretty minimal. There are cells to see, including the one in which Dumas' Man in the Iron Mask is supposed to have been held, a small aquarium hosting specimens of local marine life and a Musée de la Mer (daily except Tues: April–June 10.30am–12.15pm & 2.15–5.30pm; July–Sept 10.30am–12.15pm & 2.15–6.30pm; Oct–March 10.30am–12.15pm & 2.15–4.30pm; €3), containing mostly Roman local finds but also remnants of a tenth-century Arab ship. Access is free to the grassy ramparts of this vast construction. Owned by monks almost continuously since its namesake and patron founded a monastery here in 410 AD, St-Honorat, the smaller southern island, was home to a famous bishops' seminary, where St Patrick trained before setting out for Ireland. The present abbey buildings (daily: July to mid-Sept 10am–12.30pm & 2.30–5pm; mid-Sept to June 9.30am–4.30pm; free) date mostly from the nineteenth century, though some vestiges of the medieval and earlier constructions remain in the austere church (free to visit) and the cloisters. A shop sells the benevolent white wine, spirits and honey produced by the 28 Cistercian brothers of the monastic community. Behind the cloisters on the sea's edge stands an eleventh-century fortress, used by the monks in times of danger. Of all the protective forts along the coast, this is the only one that looks as if it would still serve its original function. At the same time it shows its age without heavy-handed cosmetic reconstruction or being a picture-postcard ruin (daily: July & Aug 10.15am–noon & 2–5.30pm; Sept–June 9.30am–5.30pm; €2.30 entrance June–Sept). Apart from one small restaurant near the landing stage, there are no bars, hotels or cars: just vines, lavender, herbs and olive trees mingled with wild poppies and daisies, and pine and eucalyptus trees shading the paths beside the white rock shore mixing with the scents of rosemary, thyme and wild honeysuckle. Alternate spellings:: France, Îles de Lérins, Îles de Lérins, Iles de Lerins
| 