Tuesday, April 19, 2016

ALONG THE PORT OF TOULON

April 18, 2016

During the Easter holidays I visited my friend Claudie, in Ollioules, South of France near Toulon.

Besides the Military port of Toulon there is another one close to the city-centre, passengers and crew are only a few steps away. They can easily reach the promenade along the marina with its many restaurants and cafes, a main shopping-mall (100 boutiques), the old medieval quarter and its picturesque Provencal street market (the biggest one in Provence), it's a feast of colour and fragrance, alive with the sunny Mediterranean accent of the stallholders. You will find several fountains, shady' squares, chic quarter from Baron Haussmann including the impressive Opera, museums and monuments.

















Along the promenade

We wanted to visit the sailing ship "Marité" the biggest wooden three-mast of the French Heritage !
The history of the Marité will no doubt raise your attention telling all about her 5 lives, which is extremely rare.







Here she is in full glory !
anchored in the port of Toulon and we could visit her for free. She looked beautiful and we went on board. It was OK to walk around in the fresh air, but once we were down in the hold, I couldn't stay long because I started to feel uneasy, the earth was moving under my feet and the air was quite bad. So I didn't even read the whole history, thinking that I will find everything interesting on Internet.





There were many tourists who had the same idea






impressive knots !



and after our visit we had a drink on the promenade where a Brazilian group performed for the tourists !

What a nice place to visit !

12 comments:

K V V S MURTHY said...

Your photos got me a virtual trip..I always thought that all we have some connection in our last births ,that's why we keep sharing and knowing each other up to our happiness.Have a nice day.

Klara said...

mmmm.... what a nice and sunny escape.

Linens and Royals said...

A beautiful Port but best to stay away from the lower decks of any ship. They can be very claustrophobic.

carol l mckenna said...

Beautiful photography of your trip ~ amazing schooner shots and aren't you blessed to have wonderful friends to visit!

Happy Week to you ~ ^_^

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

I love a port city and this is a beautiful one! A great place to visit and I'd love the boat tour. I'm used to boats and the 'hold' probably wouldn't have bothered me, but I admit I sure don't read those 'tourist' explanatory signs much any more. If it is worth learning about, it is a lot easier to do on-line later -- from the comfort of my chair!

Sandra Carlier said...

Nice to read you and remember the nice holiday and visits we had ! Now I am at work again and cry about the good time, the holiday !

Loree said...

What a beautiful ship.

diane b said...

Love your header. It looks a great place to visit except for the tourists. The ship is a beauty.

Fun60 said...

A busy but enjoyable day. Those blue skies are just what you need.

Little Wandering Wren said...

Looks like you had a great trip!
Wren x

Joyful said...

I just read on your Keyhole blog that you've been in France. How wonderful! It's a place I have yet to visit but I can enjoy in the meantime through other people's photos. The only thing I worry about is too many people so maybe I best visit there in the cold, lol. Have a marvellous weekend, Gattina.

Anonymous said...

What lovely shots of a nice-looking place.

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I love writing, traveling and photography. . I am German, married to an Italian and we live in Waterloo (15 km from Brussels) / Belgium since many years. Waterloo is a famous place to many tourists, because Napoleon lost his battle here against Wellington and other European countries.

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