TOULON was half destroyed in the last war, and its rebuilt whole is dominated by the military and associated industries. The arsenal that Louis XIV created is today one of the major employers of southeast France, and the port is home to the French Navy's Mediterranean fleet. The shipbuilding yards of La Seyne have, however, been axed, closing the book on a centuries-old and at times notorious industry. Up until the eighteenth century, slaves and convicts were still powering the king's Gallerys, and following the Revolution, convicts were sent to Toulon with iron collars round their necks for sentences of hard labour. After 1854 convicts were deported to the colonies in whose conquest ships from Toulon played a major part.

Today, French nationals of non-European origin receive second-class treatment from the Town Hall, controlled since May 1995 by the Front National. Its victory - the most significant electoral gain for the extreme-right party to date - shocked the whole of France.

Toulon has never been a particularly pleasant city, and it isn't improving under its new masters. The museums are dull, motorway traffic crawls through the centre, it has all the paranoia of a big city with few of the charms, and is claustrophobic and ugly - in short, a place to avoid.

The gare SNCF , on place de l'Europe, and gare routi�re , on place Albert-1er, lie northeast of the town centre. There's a tourist office (June-Sept Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 10am-noon; rest of year Mon-Sat 9.30am-5.30pm, Sun 10am-noon; tel 04.94.18.53.00, www.toulon.com ) on place Raimu, in the old town : head down rue Vauban, turn left at place d'Armes, follow the busy avenue that runs parallel to the coast, and turn left into rue Letuaire. Around place Victor-Hugo you'll find any number of cheap shops and places to eat, and a market (Tues-Sun).

If you do get stuck here, there's plenty of cheap accommodation : the Foyer de la Jeunesse hostel, 12 place d'Armes (tel 04.94.22.62.00), just west of the old town; the H�tel des All�es , 18 all�es Amiral-Courbet (tel 04.94.91.10.02; 160-220F/?24-34); or Little Palace , 6-8 rue Berthelot (tel 04.94.92.26.62, fax 04.94.89.13.77; 220-300F/?34-46) - all very central.