A visit to Sanary

August 8th, 2009 by discover

Since the beaches are uber crowded right now… It was another “Red” Saturday – with 800 km of “bouchons” (traffic jams) all around France today as some vacationers headed home and a new crowd goes on vacation – we decided to do the wise thing and spend the day NOT on the beaches or the roads. (In France, most vacations run from Saturday to Saturday – something to keep in mind if you’re planning on renting a villa on the French Riviera – or elsewhere in France, or if you want to rent any kind of vacation accommodation for a week or longer.)

Instead we took a trip to Sanary-sur-Mer, a lovely little seaside village about 8 km from Toulon.

And by the way, Sanary is next on my list to create a city page for, so I’ll let you know when I get it finished.

The Port of Sanary

Here’s a photo Alain took from on top of a 13th century Romanesque tower, giving you a glimpse of the harbor and village.

We went to see the Frédéric Dumas International Diving Museum – http://www.scuba-museum.com/ – which used to be inside the tower, but the collection got so big that they had to open a new building. (The collection hasn’t quite grown into its new location yet), but you’ll find some of the first underwater cameras, as well as an old scuba diving suit made completely of leather, as well as some great photos of Frédéric Dumas, Phillipe Thailliez and Jacques Cousteau, who were really the pioneers of scuba diving.

During WWII, sanary became a place of sanctuary for intellectuals, artists and writers who fled here from

Alain on a narrow street in Sanary

Germany to escape Nazism. Some of the houses are still standing – you can take a walking tour and find the plaques that show their homes or favorite places to gather, debate and drink at a group of little cafes on the harbor. The exiles included Aldous Huxley, Thomas Mann, Sybille Bedford, Wilhelm Herzog and others.

While we wandered around we sipped on the French version of a slurpee called ‘Granitas” (pronounced granitay), which helps to take away the slap of the sun. All in all, it was a very lovely way to while away a few hours in the afternoon!

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