Almost two years ago we signed up for a Trans-Atlantic cruise departing La Seyne sur Mer for Miami on Crystal Cruises. We were looking forward to seeing how they have fared since going bankrupt during the pandemic. They were a favorite of ours and since they were departing from the south of France and calling at Barcelona and Gibraltar, we were eager t. We booked excursions in both Barcelona and Gibraltar; having never been to Gibraltar we were really excited, and we were looking forward to visiting the Palau de Music in Barcelona since on our last trip there we could not get in. About three months ago we were informed that the trip was now only 12 days, not 14, and that it would depart from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. This was very unwelcome news for lots of reasons! We had already booked and paid for flights and hotels in La Seyne sur Mer. Unwilling to kiss off thousands of dollars we decided to come here and enjoy three days of France and book a separate flight from here to Las Palmas. We are happy we did that since this is a lovely little town, mostly a marina filled with huge yachts, large sailing and motor craft, and excellent bars and restaurants catering to the wealthy ‘boat folks’.
Our trip here was uneventful, exactly what you would expect from Swiss Air. The service on the long flight from Dulles to Zurich was spectacular with restaurant-quality meals and wines. We kept saying to each other, “We are not on United anymore." The short hop from Zurich to Marseille had equally good service and a nice lunch.
We'd hired a driver to get from Marseille to Toulon (actually the neighboring La Seyne sur Mer), and once we found him it was relatively quick trip in the sunshine. Our hotel room has a large balcony overlooking the marina and the bay with lovely views of the hills of Provence in the background. Our room was extremely hot the first night since the AC did not work, so in the morning we asked reception to send up engineering to fix the system. We were somewhat surprised - but this is of course France - to hear that since it was not yet summer their AC system for the entire hotel has not been turned on!! It was 78 degrees in our room! They did give us two small fans, thank goodness - over the decades we have purchased more fans in France than we can count but we weren't about to buy one this time. It reminded us of how spoiled we are in the good old US of A, where even the humblest of rooms at a Motel 6 has AC. They may be right that Americans are spoiled but this is a Mercure, a top rate hotel chain, and the rooms are 250+ Euros per night! C'est la vie! La French Vie, at any rate.
We were able to walk off a lot of our jet lag over the past two days and have enjoyed delightful meals in all of the bistros and restaurants we have tried. Our walks have taken us from the marinas to the inner core of the city and each has offered very special sights, sounds and smells. There are times when we are in Provence that we are not sure if we are in the South of France or the North of Africa! Certainly along the marina with its luxe sail and motor craft, you know you are in a very wealthy French city. The deeper you get into the core of the city the more you experience Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. The language and shops and aromas all are so very different from those closer to the marina. All of which makes for a most delightful cultural point-counterpoint. One example is that I had hoped to get a haircut here but all of the barbers seem to specialize in cutting initials, shapes or Arabic script into your hair! I’ll try again in Las Palmas!
From our balcony we have watched the ferry come and go to and from Toulon, so we decided to take it just for the fun of seeing our area and Toulon from the water. They are small ferries, 100 passengers max, and they ply the route every twenty minutes. We hopped aboard, paid our two Euros each and settled in for the ride. What a bargain!! The short 17 minute ride took us past the Toulon Naval Base, the largest in France, past ship builders specializing in retrofitting the huge ferries that go to Corsica and Sardinia, and then into the picturesque Toulon harbor which is lined with scores of restaurants. We had been there before but still enjoyed entering from the sea as opposed to walking in. We wandered a bit though the Friday market, filled with local vegetables, fruits and flowers. The garlic alone was worth the trip, huge pink bulbs woven together to form a long chain of delight. It quickly clouded over and started to sprinkle so we just hopped on the next boat home, a delightful interlude.
We depart tomorrow for an overnight in Lisbon to have dinner with our friends Robert and Mary and then an early flight on Sunday to Las Palmas. Tonight there is a “Bière Fest” right in the park we overlook from our balcony. We shall wander, street eat and see how the night develops, knowing it will be an early evening!! Ciao, Cindy and Wm
