Today was that awkward kind of transition day when you have to leave your accommodation in the morning, but then face a long gap before you board your next bit of transport or check in at your next lodging-place.

Such days are always difficult to manage. We had a stroke of luck this time in that our Airbnb hosts said we could leave our baggage in the entrance hall, where it wouldn't hinder the cleaning person, and then collect it again at 1800 before heading for the ferry (due to sail at 2000).

That kind offer set us free to have a day on the coast just a little way to the west of Toulon. The little towns of Bandol and Sanary-sur-Mer were favourites with expatriate writers in the 1920s and 930s. Katherine Mansfield, Aldous Huxley, Thomas Mann, Leon Feuchtwanger, Franz Werfel, and Sybille Bedford all spent time here. And, development notwithstanding, it's still easy to see why.

We caught a brightly coloured train to Bandol:




And then we just walked, enjoying the light and the colours (and racking up almost 18 km over the course of the day).

Clustered near the sea, Bandol boasts an old town, which is very pretty. A lot of new development has spread up the hills, some of it spectacularly ugly, but the combination of the backdrop, the sea, and the colour makes up for everything:









Lunch was Middle Eastern-style sandwiches from La Rose des Sables. Chunky and tasty. Duly fortified, we walked back the way we'd come on the train, headiang for Sanary-sur-Mer. There is a coast path linking the two settlements, but such tracks tend to be unpredictable entities, unsuited to occasions when you're time-constrained (ie, there's a ferry to catch), and don't want to risk detours and back-tracking. So to cross the little peninsula, we followed the corniche and then the road. This was a bit noisy, but at least offered good views and a footpath all the way. You can ogle the villas, some with private funiculars:



Sanary-sur-Mer has a core that is just as picturesque as Bandol's:




All the seaside settlements kind of merge into each other, so at some point as you carry on walking, you find yourself out of Sanary-sur-Mer and into Six-Fours-les-Plages. The breeze had freshened by now, bringing the windsurfers out in force, and taking the edge off the ridiculously high temperatures (high teens). As we walked along the final stretch of prom, the sea was crashing to our right, and the leaves of the date palms were rattling to our left.



We stopped for coffee at a branch of Paul, a well known cafe/bakery chain. We have branches in Malaysia, and they're very upmarket. The one we visited here, on the other hand, was surprisingly plebby. Still, the coffees were good.

We caught the bus back to Toulon after that. Excellent value at EUR 1.40 each for a 45-minute trip. Again, the various settlements along the road have fused, and it's a built-up environment all the way back to the city. Nice, though. Lots of trees, lots of colour.


Back in Toulon, we still had some time to kill before collecting our bags, and heading for the boat. So we ended up at another Paul outlet, at the railway station this time. Actually a better one, and the petits pains au chocolat were really excellent.

Which left only the final trot to the flat, and the slightly slower trot (because we were now bagged up) to the port.

Toulon time over.