Toulon....

Well...like livorno....i didnt actually stay in toulon....but i can show you a pic of when we sailed in...

Toulon

Gustav and i decided to do a tour called Le Lavandou, Hyeres and wine tasting....and it was fab....relaxing and i learnt some things....so let me start my blog...while driving to Le Lavandou the guide, Audrey, explained a little bit out the cote d'azur in english known as french riviera...Audrey explained to us the origin of the name....the name Côte d'Azur was given to the coast by the writer Stéphen Liégeard in his book, La Côte d’azur, published in December 1887, it was later adapted as the name, there is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from the Italian border in the east to Saint-Tropez, Hyères, Toulon, or Cassis in the west.

Before arriving at our wine farm in Le Lavandou, namely, domaine de l'angelade....ths guide explained to us that in france the government is very strict about labeling the wines. In fact, the government provides each area with 3 letter naming which has to be pit onto the bottle...so the area of provence was given AOC. The main grape varieties are Carignan, Cinsaut, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Tibouren with an increase in the use of the use of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Provence is mainly known for its rose wines.....so time to arrive at the wine farm for some tasting....beautiful wine farm and lady working there took us around the vineyard and then to the cellar where we could taste a white wine (rolle, semillon, ugni-blanc), a rosé called cuvee tradition (grenache, syrah), a cuvee du brocard (cabernet sauvignon) and merlot longue maceration....i must say...i quite liked the white (pear- fresh almond) and rose (strawberry-cherry-pineapple).....very refreshing and Quitte a subtle taste....we also received the tYpical snacks enjoyed with some wine in the summer...crispy bread with black olive tapenade, crispy bread with mild goat cheese and ceispy bread with aubergine and anchovies tapenad....the last one was definitely my favourite by far.....

Vineyard
Rose

After that it was time to drive to hyeres where we would get some free time for lunch and then the guide sould walk us through the old city, the medieval parts and narrow streets....oooh....exciting...once we arrived she showed is the main city square where gustav and i found a restaurant where we could sit outside and then we ordered some lunch.....a glas of rose combined with a salad nicoise (we thought that a salad would not be too big...but damn....we were so wrong)....but it was damn good...yummie

Main square of the old city
Narrow streets leading to the mains square
Salad nicoise and a glas of chilled rose

The walk was pleasant and took about an hour...we saw the church....the old city wall (fortress)...and had an amazing view over the city....it was hot, involved a lot of steep uphill walking...but was very enjoyable....

The narrow strets throughout the city
I love the colours
Beautiful shutters
View from the top
Again...loving the colours
Walking back down...again through the narrow streets
It was a relaxing and enjoyable trip...nice way to end the cruise.....tomorrow we are in Barcelona...kim and i would stay a few days...to have a few days of holidays before starting all our ventures in SA again....exciting ventures though....so for today....cheers...next time...barcelona.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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