Toulon, Provence 

My Dad

This was our first time docking in Provence, so it made for an exciting day of exploration for us.  We had done a bit of research about the port and what’s best to do there, and of course asked a few crew members (who always have the best advice!) but nothing was really jumping out at us, so we came up with this plan:  wander and see what happens.  Lovez it!  

Now, you will know from previous posts that myself, Chris, and my Dad don’t mind this fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants type-of-travel, but my Mum – not so much – so she chose to relax in the spa.  Or, as she put it with her Cape Breton accent, “G’wan with ya and leave me some peace and quiet.”  So again, off we went to get lost in our maps. 

The seaside area of the town was quite cute, with lots of cafes and yachts in the harbour to enjoy.  Just a short walk from the marina we stumbled upon what was undoubtedly the largest open-air market we have ever seen in our lives.  We started to walk along to see how far it went, but literally it carried on for miles!  We have never seen anything like it!  It was incredibly crowded and apparently is like that every day of the week with locals buying their fresh food so it was quite impressive.  No wonder the french eat so healthy and don’t have massive supermarkets. 

Marina in Toulon

The endless market in Toulon

Excuse me Sir, do you know where we can find some olives?

After exploring the market and stopping for our daily cafe-au-lait avec people-watching, we were ready to venture a little farther.  We noticed that there was an area on our trusty map marked “Beach Area”, so with the sun shining and the temperature at around 28 celsius we thought – why not?  The taxi drivers were on to the fact that we were tourists and tried to extort the price of the ride, but they obviously didn’t know who they were dealing with, so we walked to the nearest bus stop and hopped on the next bus that said “Beach”.  1 Euro.  I love European transit.  So cheap.  So easy. 

Let's see where this bus takes us...

Look what we saw on the way! It's our car!

 When we arrived at our destination we could not believe our eyes.  Beach?  Ummmmm…..yes…..BEACH!   It was gorgeous!  Crystal clear water, sandy areas (rare in the Med), dozens of restaurants – you name it.  We strolled around for hours and Dad and Chris enjoyed an impromptu dip – what a lovely find.  

A glass of Sancerre is calling our name...

The Beach in Toulon

Toulon - click to enlarge!

 We missed my Mum that day, but the bonus is that now we have the whole thing figured out for “next time” we port there – we’ll head straight to the beach!