To Tom, it just seemed like an endless loop-puzzle of silliness. Seems that continues to prove itself over time and again.

The situation on Île du Levant is - in a way - pre-historic. I do not mean that we are all Neanderthals there, but that Île du Levant was estabished at a time (the 1930s) when the notion of commercial naturist resorts did not yet exist. Naturist areas in France then were clubs, around Paris and elsewhere (the oldest naturist club in my city, Lyon, the "Gymno Club Rhodanien" was etablished in 1929) - but no holiday resorts.
When the brothers Durville founded Héliopolis on ïle du Levant in 1931, they were "naturists" in the old sense of the word, that is believers in the healthy effects of living close to nature; nudity was only part of the package, and only to be practised when sunning oneself and swimming in the sea.The keyword for the brothers Durville was simplicity (no electricity, no running water, no cars, etc.). Naturism as we know it was gradually added later.
In a way you can understand how baffled the council of the city of Hyères must have been: in the 1930s they allowed part of their territory to accommodate a housing estate started by a "back-to-nature" movement, and people living there gradually started going nude as modern naturism spread, and became more vocal, demanding the right to be free in more and more places on the island. People living in what had started as -and still is - a district of the city, with a post office and a school, were demanding the same freedom as in a privately-run resort - but how do you reconcile this with the fact that this is a public area? This - as I see it - is the main challenge of Île du Levant - but the council of the city of Hyères apparently keeps having qualms about it, and they do not see themelves as running a nude holiday resort - hence the on-going problems, changes in policy etc.

[quote author=Peter283 link=topic=4823.msg198483#msg198483
Jacques, I assume "for historical weapons" was a typo and you meant "for historical reasons". Although a French friend did tell me that disarming the police municipale had been considered-I think they were considered dangerous with weapons!

🙂 🙂 🙂
You're quite right, it IS a typo. But then psychologists will tell you that behind every typo or slip of the tongue there is a truth lurking!

To digress slightly! When we were staying at Bélézy some years ago, a lady was taken ill,resulting with the attendance of policier municipal from Bedoin,two gendarmes and sapeur pompiers ,who provided the medical cover .

To digress slightly! When we were staying at Bélézy some years ago, a lady was taken ill,resulting with the attendance of policier municipal from Bedoin,two gendarmes and sapeur pompiers,who provided the medical cover .

Years ago a friend of mine who is a GP attended a lady who was taken ill by the pool at Bélézy. When the ambulance arrived he helped to carry her on a stretcher into the car and stayed with her a little while to reassure her. When he realized that the ambulance was speeding away and asked to leave, he was about 500 metres from the entrance to Bélézy, nude. He tells me that he probably broke his own personal speed record on that length when running back.

And by the way:sorry for writing such long posts about Île du Levant. As you may have gathered I feel rather passionately about that naturist island  😉

To digress slightly! When we were staying at Bélézy some years ago, a lady was taken ill,resulting with the attendance of policier municipal from Bedoin,two gendarmes and sapeur pompiers,who provided the medical cover .

Years ago a friend of mine who is a GP attended a lady who was taken ill by the pool at Bélézy. When the ambulance arrived he helped to carry her on a stretcher into the car and stayed with her a little while to reassure her. When he realized that the ambulance was speeding away and asked to leave, he was about 500 metres from the entrance to Bélézy, nude. He tells me that he probably broke his own personal speed record on that length when running back.

I wonder if it was the incident that I mentioned,as that was many years ago and involved a lady by the pool!

I wonder if it was the incident that I mentioned,as that was many years ago and involved a lady by the pool!

Who knows? But when i write that the incident that I mention was many years ago, I mean "many years"! I have no way of finding precisely what year that was, but I would guess about 1995...

Jacques,

Write all you want about Ile du Levant. I'm fascinated with the place, and I'm always excited to pick up a bit more trivia along the way.

Dan