Too Long or Too Loose?

We chose Toulon for a day trip today, a city we had last visited in 2011 but that was on a Sunday (or may have been a religious holiday) as we were en route to Marseille and being a Sunday it was “closed”. It is 85 kms from Aix and requires passing through 4 peages (toll booths) one to pick up a ticket and the other three to handover the money. As we drive around I wonder how much the average Frenchman pays in motorway tolls per year. Given that diesel, the fuel for most vehicles, is approximately 1.50€ (or $2.55 NZD) per litre then assuming the pre-tax cost is similar to NZ, it seems to me that motorists are paying for roading two ways - taxes and tolls.

Getting there was a relatively easy drive being mainly motorway but finding parking at the other end in the centre of town was more of a challenge, however we succeeded and also passed the other test of getting the Peugeot into (and out of) a narrow underground car park.

Toulon is situated on the Côte d’Azur and like all cities with a harbour has a very different feel about it

Having parked the vehicle and had morning tea at the railway station, only because it was right outside the car park & all railway stations usually have easy to find, though in this case pay as you enter, toilets we walked down through the slowly waking city to the waterfront.


The architecture on the buildings was different to Aix-en-Provence with a majority having well worked wrought iron balconies, there was also a huge square and one of the buildings was decorated with a mural

The waterfront on the land side were restaurants interspersed with the occasional souvenir shop (we looked but were not tempted) while the harbour was active with sightseeing boats, a ferry bus and other yachts/boats on moorings.

There was one “well maintained” runabout that I would loathe to go out in!

Toulon has a rugby team in the “Top 14” French championship and currently have ex All Blacks, Milner-Skudder, Savea, Messam and Fekitoa in their squad.

Previous squad members include SBW, the late Jerry Collins, Nonu, Umaga and Ali Williams.

As we drove home mid afternoon the temperature was fluctuating around 35 degrees - another day in paradise!

Kms driven today: 175 (we clicked over our first 1000kms soon after leaving Aix-en-Provence this morning)