Toulon
by Céleste | May 29, 2015
Another day at the beach! We’re hitting the home-stretch of our time in Provence, so we’re soaking up the sun and having a great time! We’ve been enjoying a lot of the laid-back, cafe-life of Southern France, but we couldn’t resist another trip to the beach!
We took the LER line 19 straight to Toulon; it was really easy! If you take this route, however, be there by 8! The bus leaves at 8:15, and if you miss it, the next bus doesn’t leave until noon. We figured if we missed it, it wouldn’t even be worth it to try to catch the next bus, because it would be too late in the day to have a fun time/not be too hot. But we made it, and took the hour and a half bus ride in stride.
When we arrived, there was a huge market happening — maybe the biggest we’ve ever seen in Provence. We’ve definitely seen our fair share of markets, so while we were impressed, we didn’t spend too much time looking around. We did, however, buy some piment fort (strong chili powder) for Vincent to make Pakistani food with. Vincent noticed that many of the vendors were selling real chili peppers, which is surprising since most French people don’t like spicy food. We figured it was due to the many Moroccan people at the market.
Next, we walked by the port area. There were some boats promising to take tourists to Îles d’Hyères, which of course sounded interesting, but we really didn’t have the time or energy to go. Maybe next time!
We finally made it to the beach, where we set up our towels and splashed around in the water. Vincent hadn’t put his swimming suit on before we left, and the bathrooms were inexplicably all locked, so he didn’t swim. I just waded around and walked through the surf. The water was a bit chiller than St-Cyr-sur-Mer, and there was a lot of seaweed the further you went into the water. I hate seaweed, it’s disgusting.
After swimming, we laid down and I took a little nap while Vincent read on his phone. It was lovely to just sit in the sun, though after awhile it was just too hot. I also didn’t want to get burned, which tends to happen to me quite easily. I put on extra sunscreen, and we headed into the shade for lunch.
We made sandwiches for our picnic, Vincent using deli chicken and cheese, while I had cheese and avocado. As we ate, a huge fat seagull came to watch us, hoping for some handouts. He sat watching us for about ten minutes, before I finally chased him away. He was squawking at us, so he had to go — we wanted to eat lunch in peace!
We continued to walk along the beach, taking in the scenery and talking about our trip so far, and what we would do when we went home. The beaches were really nice, and there were many people sunbathing. Lots of topless people again, and we noticed this time that there were many women who were definitely over-tanned. As in skin-cancer tanned.
After exploring the beaches and a little of the city, we were ready to go around 2:30pm. We got back on the bus and made it back home easily. I had a terrible headache by the time we were done walking around, so I was glad to be back. I actually took a really long nap when we got home, and still slept a full night after that. Being out in the Southern sun tends to drain my energy, and I usually get headaches and nausea from it. In fact, after our trip to the mountain once, I actually threw up from being in the sun. One tip I think is really important for beach day is: DRINK LOTS OF WATER. I still get headaches even when I drink a lot of water, but I think it would be much worse without the water. Also, make sure you wear sunscreen! It can make the difference between a slight tan or red cheeks and a full-blown, painful sunburn.
I’m hoping that when my family comes next week, I will be able to be out in the sun without getting sick or burned!
