Toulon
City Tours
Production : 
© 2011
Production : © 2011
IIn an internationally recognized travel guide, I read (paraphrased): «The unpolished Toulon simply does not fit into the sparkling world of the Côte d'Azur. Built around a roadstead (providing a sheltered bay with moorings), France's second largest naval port has a certain brittle charm and is not as awful as it once was, yet most visitors wisely just pass through.»
I have no idea in which Toulon the author of these lines was. In any case, he or she was not where we were for the first time in 2011 and where I return now.
If you are looking for bling-bling, you are wrong here. But if you want to stroll through the cozy alleys of the old town, to look at shop windows or to slim down your wallet in one or the other art shop, you're in the right place.
And then there is also Mont Faron, which you can walk along a road, climb by bike - or, less strenuous, simply take the cable car up to the top to see the beauty of the sea, the offshore islands and the view along the coast to Ciotat with its world-famous cliff. However, this requires a very clear view.
In any case, I think Toulon is an interesting, lively port city with friendly, open-minded people - as I actually everywhere in the Provençe ran across.
A handful of Parisian elegance from the left bank of the Seine deep in Provençe, this is Aix with all its class.
The Calanques are a 20 km long, wild and spectacular stretch of rocky mountains and turquoise Mediterranean Sea.
Cassis is one of the oldest foundations of Massalia. Poets and painters raved about the small port.
The village of Le Castellet is set on the top of one of the many steep hills on whose slopes wine is grown.
Along the coastal strip, La Ciotat and the Mediterranean Sea are like an old married couple for more than 20 km.
For many years, Marseille had a serious image problem because of its grotty reputation.
Marcel Pagnol wants to make the castle the film city of Marseille and create a "Hollywood Provençal".
Sanary is an insider tip for over 100 years and has a turbulent, history in the time of the 2nd World War.
If you want to stroll through cozy alleys of the old town for window shopping, you are in the right place.
