Our ferry arrived in Toulon at 7am. Soon after we were walking to the Gare de Toulon to catch the 11am TGV to Lyon. Lonely Planet has little to recommend about Toulon, Rick Steves doesn't even mention it, but I credit Toulon for a delicious breakfast. We were walking up a market street, the farmers and other vendors were setting up for the day, when we stepped into a patisserie and I had a delicious tart made of nuts and raisins with an almond filling. Mmmmm. Their cafe au lait was good too. The French, with their pastries, quiches, and espressos, serve my favorite breakfasts.
This patisserie was also notable to me by its customer-payment process, something I've only seen in Europe. It's all done by machine. People handle the food but not their money. Customers feed bills and coins into a machine that then dispenses change. Clever.
Nothing particularly notable about the TGV. It was fast and quiet but a bit cramped.
