Precious Memories: Toulon, France

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Toulon, France

Toulon, France -- February 17, 2015

Toulon is an easy port which we really didn't have anything spectacular planned. Our ship was too big to dock in Toulon itself, so the Jade docked at the pier on the La Seyne-Sur-Mer side across the harbor. We were to take the free shuttle boat from the pier to Toulon which runs every 30 minutes to an hour for the 15-minute ride. For those who wants to just go into the city of La Seyne-Sur-Mer, it is just about a 10-minute walk from the cruise terminal according to the map.

A very quiet Cagney's at breakfast.

Only three of us went to breakfast this morning.

Buffet spread at breakfast--many varieties of baked goods.

cold meat, fish, cheese dishes

open face omelette with smoked salmon and asparagus

Toulon is a naval port

One of the shuttle boats.

We caught the shuttle boat right at the pier.

This was how close the shuttle boat was. The boat took about 160 people each run and it can get pretty crowded.

Once we got off the boat we saw the petite train that I have read about. Since it was cloudy and drizzling a bit, we thought it would be a good idea to take the train ride. The cost was either 7 euro or $10USD pp for the 50-minute ride with one stop at the beach.

We could see the Jade across the harbor.

I don't think anyone got off at the beach, probably because of the weather. It's a nice beach but I assume it would be difficult to get back on the train if nobody else is getting off.

Mourillon Beach

Beachfront apartments

After the train ride, which dropped us back at the promenade, we walked to the Provencal Market at Place Louis Blanc. The Tourist Information Center, which is on the right hand side of this photo, have clean restrooms and free wifi (for 15 minutes each). You need to get a print-out of the password from the reception desk to use their wifi. If one needs more than 15 minutes they had no problem printing another slip for you.

We found that this is the best port to shop. The outdoor market had many interesting items at excellent prices. All three of us women bought a jacket/coat for 12 euros each from a vendor closest to the Tourist Information Center. The stores in the area also had very good bargains.

This is also an excellent port to try out French pastries. How can anyone resist these?!

The guys shopped for pastries as the gals shopped for other stuff.

Interesting macaroon

We just leisurely checked things out until the vendors started to take things down and close for the day.

We then continued our walk to other parts of this city.

I believe this is the Opera building at Place Victor Hugo.

While at the square, the policeman in the patrol car stopped and tried to greet us in Chinese. We were very impressed by that friendly gesture!

We ended up at the Liberty Square (Place de la Liberte).

A Chinese fast food on Boulevard de Strasbourg.

ChC and DD decided to try the famous smash sandwiches at a corner cafe near Puget Square. They were around 5 euro each and they made them fresh. They said the sandwiches were really good. We just sat around and waited for their sandwiches to be ready. It was kind of fun just to people-watch at the square.

Back to the promenade for our shuttle boat back to the Jade. The sun finally came out and it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon.

We had a relaxing day in Toulon. We did not do any must-do things in port except taking the petite train. We did not even go to the Naval Museum which is the main attraction in town because no one was interested. But we had an amazing day just strolling through the city and enjoying the sight and sound of Toulon.

We usually ended up having our late lunch at the Garden buffet or if later than 3PM it would be the Great Outdoors. They have the best scones there for afternoon tea.