Greetings from Toulon and the Côte d'Azur

Another quickie because I can't keep my eyes open! We had a long, lovely day starting with breakfast in Marseille (excellent bread, cheese, chocolate croissants) followed by a visit to the Calanque de Sormiou, but the fog was so thick that we could barely see either the tops of the hills or the water below. So we headed toward Toulon, first visiting Fort Balaguier's naval museum, then Toulon's own maritime museum. We brought cheese and bread to make sandwiches which we ate in one of the squares. From there we headed to Le Cannet, where one of my personal heroines is buried. Now we're right next to Saint-Tropez enjoying the beach, though it's a bit chilly to swim, since lots of flowers are in bloom and there's a lemon tree covered with fruit right outside our window, plus lots of just-released Johto Pokemon!


At Fort Balaguier...


...which has both a naval museum and an exhibit on the Bagne of Toulon.


Toulon's Musée national de la Marine...


...which has a miniature diorama of the bagne as well as many miniature ships, figureheads, weapons, and historical exhibits particularly about the Napoleonic era.


We fed pigeons in Toulon at lunchtime.


Earlier, driving out of Marseille, we tried to visit the calanque which has spectacular views and many great climbing spots, but it was so socked in by fog and the visibility was so limited on the ways down to the water that we didn't go all the way to the sea.


Despite a great deal of traffic headed for the weekend to the beach around Cannes, we made it to Le Cannet, where The Little Review's Margaret Anderson lived the last years of her life and where she is buried.


Tonight we're in Sainte Maxime on the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, where we visited the beach that was instrumental during World War II and are staying right behind the botanical gardens with a view of the water!