Toulon and Places Beyond
3 June 2009
Navigating the French language proved no barrier to adventure, when the ship’s company of HMAS Sydney recently arrived in Toulon. A military port, Toulon is the major naval centre on France’s Mediterranean coast and is home to the French Mediterranean Fleet.
Kicking off the first night with an official reception, Sydney’s cooks outdid themselves with new flavours and tastes to entice the food-loving French. CAPT Peter Leavy (CO Sydney) welcomed onboard over 80 guests, including the Australian Ambassador to France, Mr David Ritchie, the Chief of the French Navy, Admiral Pierre-Francois Forissier and the Mayor of Toulon, Mr Hubert Falco.
The following day, with the formalities of the first night over, visiting famous sights and savouring the local cuisine was on everyone’s ‘must do’ list. Toulon is located in the world famous Provence region and was an excellent base for day trips by train. Some travelled four hours to Paris, while others chose to go east to Nice and Monte Carlo or west to Marseille.
“France has plenty of towns, both large and small, and it was great to immerse myself in the local culture. The trains are pretty efficient and once you step off, it is great to just walk and take in all the sights, sounds and smells of the historical towns,” said LCDR Jamie Humphreys, one of a group of Officers that travelled by train to Marseille.
“My French was pretty limited to “yes”, “no” and “thank you”, but I soon picked up a few key phrases and most of the French were pretty patient with me once I gave it a try.
“I was overwhelmed by the history of Marseille and realised just how young Australia is when compared to France. The highlight for me was visiting Marseille’s Notre-Dame de la Garde, a Neo-Byzantine Church that was built on the site of the 13th century chapel, Our Lady of the Watch, the traditional guardian of seafarers. The church is situated on the city’s highest point and gave me an amazing view over Marseille and the chance to take plenty of photos to send to my family back home,” he said.
However train travel was not the only way to get around and the French are well known for their love of the bicycle. So it was no surprise that keen cyclist, LEUT Aaron Scott chose to explore France in a more traditional way.
“We rode 188kms from Toulon to St Tropez via a very scenic coastal route. For the most part the cycleway was quite novel as it was on a converted railway line and we rode through tunnels and small villages that the train route used to service. It took us 9 hours to make the return journey and while it was hard going at times, I really enjoyed it.
“The French are extremely accommodating of cyclists and it felt really liberating after being at sea for 17 days to be able to get on my bike and just ride. It’s great that we are able to bring our bikes with us on the ship as it really gives people another option of something to do when in port,” said LEUT Scott.
Whichever way Sydney’s ship’s company chose to spend their time ashore in France, all agreed that it was a place to come back and visit in the future. For now, Sydney continues her Northern Trident 2009 (NT09) deployment with a port visit to the town of Ferrol, Spain, with more exciting travel experiences to come.
