Toulon

Today began at the Saturday market--a huge weekly event here in Hyeres. We made our way the half a block from our apartment to the start of the market area around 9 a.m. and spent the next hour perusing the crowded stalls of the biggest farmer's market I've ever seen. There were fruit sellers and wine sellers, women in crisp white aprons holding out wooden spatulas of cheese samples from behind their fromagerie stalls, men in wrinkled and pink-smeared aprons cutting blocks of ham and beef and veal to order from behind their boucherie stalls, and, of course, wine and bread by the crate and basket full. The specialties of this region are apparently olives (and all things olive--such as oil, tapenade, etc.), lavender (by the bunch or by the soap bar), and Provencal linens (beautifully bright floral-patterned table clothes and napkins and aprons), and we also saw lots of each of these. In the photo above, Finn and I are checking out a stall selling market baskets--something each local Mme. seemed to be carrying through the market.

Like an American market, however, there were also vendors shilling products that might have been stamped "As Seen on TV" (like the "Turbo Mop" here), and plastic trinkets, junky little toys, Jaime Oliver pots and pans, and--oddly--lingerie (who buys her brassiere at the Saturday market, I'd like to know, and how can she possibly get a good fit without a dressing room?).

Following the market excursion, we caught a bus to Toulon (which, I realize, I've been mistakenly spelling with an added "s" on the end for several posts -- tres embarrassant!). We were guided by the ever-adept traveler Ross and one of our students--a young man who gets major points for making fast friends with Finn and keeping him entertained all day (I can say that because I'm not the one grading him at the end of this summer course, and so, in fact, will be giving him no actual points for anything at all).

The bus to Toulon took us past the portion of Hyeres we hadn't yet seen--the suburban section. We passed two McDonald's, a "Quicko"--the French version of a fast food chain--and a "Frenchy Wok," which I suppose is a fast food Chinese restaurant. We passed the French version of the Home Depot, a mall, a Toys R Us, and, for the grand finale as the bus left town, Ikea. (If only I'd known sooner there was an Ikea in bus-riding distance, I might have stopped to pick up a pack of meatballs for our little picky eater. Maybe it's just genetics, but those meatballs and lingonberry jam are one of the few things she'll reliably eat and enjoy.)

We arrived in Toulon to gray skies and a cooler temperature. The town of Toulon has a population (according to Wiki) of 170,000, and is noticeably bigger than Hyeres. It's an interesting hodge-podge of old and new as well, and as we meandered through the downtown center we noticed the striking mixture of the two everywhere we looked.

Here, Ross and Finn examine the dragon-shaped carvings on the pulls of this old courthouse doorway.

There were several beautiful, old fountains throughout the city (one of them--not pictured here--had been the object of a kids' prank and was frothy with detergent bubbles).

Here, in a back alleyway off a main boulevard, Finn eyes some antique (and new) toy cars.

This old church (whose name I've already forgotten!) was marked as having been begun in the eleventh century. When we stepped inside, mass had just ended, and it smelled, like l'Eglise de Saint Louis by our apartment in Hyeres, of that familiar spicy clove incense. The stone work was worn, and there were gorgeous shrines set off to the sides of the sanctuary. I still would like to attend a mass while here, just to experience the service in French.

Toulon has a Saturday market as well, and it was just beginning to close up shop when we strolled through the booths.

We made our way to the harbor following the market. The harbor was lively--full of restaurants and brasseries and people dining on the terraces overlooking the marina. There were sailboats, commercial boats, and some truly impressive yachts harbored today, and Finn had fun pointing out the boats' differences and deciding which he'd like if he could have one of his own. (He ended up picking a tiny and inexpensive dingy, which was surprising, but probably realistic!)

From there, we caught another bus to Mount Faron, which overlooks Toulon. (As Finn said, "We took a bus, a bus, a bus, a bus, then walked, walked, walked, walked, then got on another bus.")

On the bus, this wonderful French grandmother played peek-a-boo with Vivi. She and I had my first comprehensible French conversation (she told me Vivi had beautiful eyes, I told her Vivi is usually shy). It was a brief conversation, to be sure, but before today I wouldn't have been bold enough to even venture talking to a stranger in French (aside from trying to order a cup of coffee or a loaf of bread, that is), so it felt like a minor victory.

Once at the base of Mount Faron, we took a tram up the mountain.

At the top, as well as a military museum, we found the little playground and let the kids run about for a while.

The views from the mountain top were gorgeous, and the air smelled of pine and salt water--smells that speak to me of home.

We're exhausted now, and plan to take tomorrow's Fete de le Papa off as a family rest day, but this was, as Finn told us on the way home, another "thumbs up day" in France.