18th June - Toulon

Arriving at Toulon by sea is for me almost akin to sailing through a history lesson. You enter the outer bay or Rade, and then proceed northwestwards passing between the defencive walls and towers before entering the inner harbour. The city gradually comes into view and opens up seated on the shore below Mount Faron. I last visited Toulon in 1990, and to be honest I did not explore the town much then but what I saw of it then had not changed greatly in the interim. There are not many places that you can say that about, and certainly coastal towns nearby have been developed and enhanced greatly over the same period, but unfortunately Toulon has escaped this attention.

The port and town was very well fortified over the centuries, primarily due to its significance as a naval base, having an arsenal and dockyard since 1599; these fortifications pay testament to a great maritime and military past. Significantly, it was the location of Napoleon Bonaparte's first victory, where he strategically breached the defences compelling the withdrawal from the bay of the combined British and Spanish fleets, and in turn dislodging the 13,000 British, Spanish and Neapolitan occupying force.

There is a great daily street market in Toulon, which was a great source of fresh seasonal and local produce. Smells of freshly cut watermelon and vine peaches sweetened the warm air and enriched vast selection of fruit and vegetables available on the colourful stalls.

The day was spent washing and cleaning in an attempt to thoroughly clean off the grime and salt that had collected on Fenix over the previous weeks. Some time was also spent hatching a plan for the next few days, because I wanted to make some time for a little exploration before my return to Dublin. Before leaving on the trip, I had intended visiting Arles and Nimes because of their proximity to Port Camargue, and still now wanted to see the Roman sites in these towns despite my current location.