We spent three days in Toulon; quite a large port – as one would expect with France’s principal naval base – but it has suffered the same minimisation as our own naval bases.  The town isn’t a very pretty or exciting place – although they did have a very large market on the Sunday morning – but they did have some interesting signs.  We were also reminded by the capitainerie that they had one of the leading rugby clubs in France which now included Jonny Wilkinson.

As well as some large navy ships and a submarine pen, there is an historic bathyscope at the entrance to the port which allowed some of the earliest experiments at deep-sea diving. (Apparently, only the bulb underneath was occupied, the upper part was full of gas.

On Monday we left Toulon and headed for the famous islands of Hyeres.  They are a set of small islands which are off the coast and are granted special environmental protection.  We made for the Ile de Porquerolles, after practising our anchoring technique in a nearby bay.  The main settlement, of Porquerolles, is a very pretty place with regular ferries from Hyeres bringing loads of visitors and holiday-makers – walkers and cyclists.  There are very strict rules about no rubbish (or soap-suds) being released from boats, and no fishing, as they are trying to protect the environment and conduct ecological experiments. Everything, including the beer and pizza we enjoyed in the evening, carries the “island surcharge” in the price but it was worth the visit.  Some very dramatic scenery.

The next morning we inflated the dinghy and were pleased that the outboard motor started first time – not bad since it hadn’t been used at all last year.  We then set off to visit the second the second island of Port Cros.  This is smaller, and prettier, than Porquerolles and I imagined it must be like a Carribean fishing port; there were waterside bars, loads of boats carrying sub-acqua divers to the nearby wrecks scattered along the coast – the only thing missing were the boats offering shark fishing trips!  A very popular place to visit.  Next to Eliza B on the pontoon were three sailing boats – about the same size as us – each with a couple of adults and six children (we estimated the ages at 11 – 12 years old) who we having a great time.  We think it was an organised school trip.

Since we had arranged with Michèle and Tony – old friends from Cold Ash who have a holiday apartment in Provence – to come and visit us, we made our way back to Porquerolles to meet them off the ferry.  We quickly bundled them onto Eliza B  and motored across to Port Cros for a lunchtime stop.  It was lovely weather, sunny but not too windy and we managed to spend the afternoon sailing back to Porquerolles before the forecasted increase in winds.  Friday was too windy for sailing so we went for a walk along the beaches and then put Michèle and Tony back onto the afternoon ferry for a bumpy ride back to the mainland.

On Saturday we motor-sailed back to Port Cros and picked up a buoy – away from the pontoons in the harbour – and spent the night tied to the buoy.  The wind got up about 9 pm to a force 4 – making us check our lines – and carried on blowing until the early hours of Sunday morning.  The wind had dropped slightly the next morning but gave us a wonderful sail – on a beam reach – across the water to Bormes les Mimosas.  We got out the bikes and decided to explore inshore but we were easily distracted by ice-creams and watching the locals playing boules.  We were particularly amused by an attachment (a magnet on a piece of string) which was used by some of the less-young players who wished to reduce, or avoid, the need for bending to collect their boules. That was followed by a very nice – and not too expensive – meal in the Brasserie du Port later that evening.  We are also finding the local rosé wine quite addictive.

On Monday 30^th May we set off for Sainte Maxime.  It was a very pleasant sunny day but the wind was variable and we part sailed and part motor-sailed the seven hour trip.  Ste Maxime is a very popular port – opposite St Tropez and Port Grimaux but the capitaine was very helpful and allocated us the last available berth.  This was very fortunate since we had arranged for Michèle and Tony to come to pick us up the next morning so we could visit their lovely apartment in Taradeau and accept their hospitality (real beds, showers, swimming pool, etc.)  Which we did and returned to Eliza B on Thursday afternoon – Ascension Day and a national holiday in France.

We are now making plans to hop along the French coast, investigate the Italian resorts and try and reach Corsica within 10 to 15 days – when we plan on coming home for a week at the end of the month.  However, we are not certain of the effectiveness of the SFR 3G ‘dongle’ once we cross into Italy and there may be another delay in transmitting the next chapter of our journey.    

Ron & Elizabeth HOWARD

Eliza B,  Moody 36 (1998)

+ 44 7768 816 579

+ 33 (0)6 11 66 79 08

http://blog.mailasail.com/elizab