After Monte Carlo we headed to Toulon on the south eastern coast of France. Toulon is a major naval base so there were lots of military ships in the harbour including the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
Because Toulon is famous for its harbour we did a harbour cruise instead of an on-shore excursion.
This is the Tour Royale which is a fort built in the 16th century to defend the harbour. Supposedly the Empress Josephine watched 200 of Napoleon's ships sail to Egypt from this fort.
Because of the size of the harbour, Cardinal Richelieu (as in the three musketeers) built another fort directly opposite the Tour Royale.
These three dilapidated vessels are actually pirate ships caught by the French navy running between North Africa and the French Coast.
This is what the French call - the Pleasure Port! We would call it the marina.
After our cruise we walked around the winding narrow streets of the old town and did some shopping. Stephen was standing outside a shop wearing his Brumbies cap when a local (with very little English) pointed at his cap and excitedly said 'George Smith'! George Smith left the Brumbies a few years ago to play out his career in Toulon. George subsequently made a comeback and after returning to Australia played a few more tests for the Wallabies! Small world!
No comments:
Post a Comment