Toulon is most famous for its large presence of the French Navy. Though it offers a few beaches that, I suspect, could be very attractive during the summer, its biggest draw as a cruise ship port is as a gateway to Provence. Aix en Provence, Marseille, Cassis...all these and more are within a couple of hours drive. We have done all of these while on a land stay in France, and, as we had a big day planned for tomorrow in Livorno, we had decided to simply explore the Old Town of Toulon today.
I had read different accounts of how to get from La Seyne Sur la Mer, which is where the pier is located for cruise ships, across the bay to the Toulon waterfront, but, in the end, it was a simple as can be. We exited the small terminal, and right in front of us was the boarding point for a free water shuttle to Toulon. These boats could probably hold a couple hundred people...if the weather was good...if the open upstairs seating area hadn’t been covered in water. We hunkered down in the covered lower area for the 10-15 minute boat ride across the harbor where we were protected from the elements. However, when we arrived in Toulon, it was immediately apparent that the bad weather had taken a toll. The water overlapped the pier for several feet, to a depth of 3 inches or so. In order to step off the shuttle, we had to walk through the water to reach dry land.
Water shuttle to Toulon
Sidewalk flooding
Wet feet + cold temps = miserable day
G and I brought the right outerwear for this trip. We both have warm, waterproof jackets and fleeces that can be layered, and warm hats and gloves, but we did not have room to pack the kind of boots we needed today. We had wet shoes and socks before we had seen the first thing in Toulon. It had also started raining again, so when the little tourist tram was right on the pier promising an hour narrated tour of the city for €7, it was the answer to a prayer. And it was a nice little tour; though one side of the train was open, the other was closed in and we stayed relatively dry.
When the tram reached the beaches, it had stopped raining, so we dropped off and walked along the waterfront there, to Fort Saint Louis, which dates from the 17th centery. There were several restaurants and cafes right on the water, and I could imagine that it was quite a lively place in the summer, but not today. We reboarded another train within an hour, and continued the tour of the town of Toulon.
The tram leaving after it dropped us at the beach
Fort Saint-Louis
We intended to walk through the Old Town after our tour was complete, as we saw a couple of areas we wanted to explore further, but by the time we were back at our boarding point by the water shuttle, the skies really opened up and we had had enough. Our jackets kept us warm and dry, but our feet were freezing. We boarded another water shuttle and were back on the ship within 30 minutes (but not before I bought some Provençal lavender soap in a tent just outside the terminal).
We returned to our cabin to find a notice that our much anticipated excursion to the Cinque Terre tomorrow had been cancelled due to road closures from the storm. This whole situation started feeling very familiar; a low pressure system parked over this same area of the Mediterranean was exactly what led to our mishap in Nice two years ago. We also heard today that Venice is flooded, a situation I hope rectifies itself in the next three weeks. We are too late to try to purchase tickets online to visit the museums in Florence, and don’t want to face the lines to buy them tomorrow, plus we have already seen the Accademia and the Uffizi Gallery. I’m not entirely certain how we will spend our day tomorrow, though we’re talking about returning to Pisa to climb the bell tower. When we visited 20 years ago, it was being renovated and shored up, and we couldn’t go inside.
Captain Heikki made an announcement when everyone was back on board today that we were in for a rough night due to the wind and rough seas. Up to this point, it’s been so smooth that we haven’t even felt we were on a ship. But we are rolling quite a bit tonight, and even in our midship location it’s an effort to walk across our cabin. The wind is whistling through our closed (and locked) sliding glass door, and despite the large overhang from the Lido Deck above, everything out there is drenched.
I think we have finally learned our lesson about Med cruises this time of year!
We didn’t eat lunch until we were back on the ship about 2:30pm, so we weren’t particularly hungry for dinner, but, of course, that didn’t stop us from going. We each had just two courses, and I drank hot tea throughout, in an effort to warm up. I had made two new clothing purchases for this season: a pair of quick dry hiking pants (specifically with the NCL cruise in mind, where I’ll be doing laundry by hand), and a solid black fleece jacket that actually looks nice enough to wear to dinner when paired with a scarf. Well, I have worn that and worn it, and I suspect it will walk itself to the laundry when we get on the Pacific Princess...and then not get worn at all after we reach Dubai. My other dinner clothes simply haven’t been warm enough the last couple of nights.
The Princess Theater entertainment tonight was baritone Philip Browne, who has starred in a number of West End shows including his break out role in The Lion King, and he was fantastic. What a voice, and what an entertainer. There is going to be a balloon drop party in the Piazza at 11pm tonight, but we won’t see it. In a final effort to warm up, we got hot tea in the Horizon Court Buffet and crawled into bed. It sounds like a blizzard out there right now, but it’s quite cozy inside (not to mention that it’s easier to lie down than be up walking around). It might even be a ‘tuck in the covers’ kind of night.
I have no idea what tomorrow might bring (but didn’t I say that was one of the big draws of travel?), but know that tomorrow night we’ll be packed up and ready for the next part of our adventure. Let’s hope it includes some better weather.