Toulon, Marseilles and the Debarquement

From Hyeres we continued west to Toulon. Here we intersected again with WW2 history and the Nacionale Route 7. Toulon and Marseilles suffered badly when the Allied Forces liberated France. After the June 1944 Normandy landings, the Allies launched a major offensive on the Mediterranean Coast of France in August 1944. Many of the beaches we have enjoyed over the past few weeks were landing sites full of mines and German embattlements. It's hard to imagine now. Toulon has an extensive harbour and is still a major port for the French Navy. A must-see is the cable car trip to the top of Mont Faron and the Memorial du Debarquement et de la Liberation en Provence. Wow! The views are incredible and the museum is fantastic. There are English translations throughout, and the story before, during and after the liberation for the people of Provence is compelling. We also learned that gaining control of the Nacionale Route 7 was one of the primary goals of the Allied landings! What a nice link to the theme of this roadtrip. :)

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We stayed in Toulon for two nights at the Plages de Les Sablettes https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/tlnspqq-grand-hotel-des-sablettes-plage There was a night market and many restaurants available along the beachfront. We rode the Petit Train and found that this town has just a few old buildings surviving from its former glory.

Beyond Toulon it's worth visiting the pretty fishing village of Sanary-sur-Mar which had a lively fresh food market and lots of lovely shops and boutiques. It's only a 15-minute drive, so do it if you are in the area!

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Our next stop was Marseilles, now France's second largest city. We stayed three nights at the Sofitel in the Old Port https://www.hotelsone.com/marseille-hotels-fr/sofitel-marseille-vieux-port.html and enjoyed watching the cruise ships, ferry liners to Corsica and personal boat traffic in and out of the port. Our hotel had a rooftop bar which was awesome. There is a great museum in Marseilles about the Mediterranean people called 'Mecum' which joins a modern building to an old fort - this is really worth a visit. We also took the Hop-on-hop-off bus up to the Basilica which was VERY crowded but had amazing views, visited the Arabic Markets in Noailles for some delicious baclava, did some laundry down near the Catalan Beach area, explored the Marseilles Cathedral and ate bouillabaisse in the Port Vieux.

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Marseilles is hectic and intense. Our hotel didn't have a pool and the heatwave was getting to us, so we decided on our last day to get MoneyPenny out of the carpark and explore west to Martigues and the calanques of La Cote Bleue. Martigues was pretty and has been described as the 'Venice of Provence'. It reminded me of Burano in Italy with its pastel coloured buildings, canals and bridges without the tourist 'crush'.

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We sought out the Calanque of Athenors near Ensues-La-Redonnes to go for a refreshing swim. If you decide to do this, be warned that they close off access by car on weekends and you need to walk some kilometres in and out - the path being very steep in places. The Port of Ensues-La-Redonnes has a railway line running through it and a massive viaduct which is all part of the 'Train de la Cote Bleue' that still runs regularly from Marseilles. Something for next time perhaps?

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From Marseilles we are turning inland for an immersion in Provencal life!