Every design for La Seyne-Sur-Mer

La Seyne-sur-Mer sits right beside Toulon, on the western shore of its great roadstead, looking across the water at its larger neighbour. For generations the town lived from shipbuilding: the Société des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée ran one of the finest yards in Europe here, employing thousands of workers, and the Porte des Chantiers still marks the way in.

The commune takes up the eastern part of the Sicié peninsula, a slice of crystalline Provence halfway between Marseille and Saint-Tropez, with a fishing port, a marina and the seaside district of Les Sablettes. When the yards fell quiet, the town turned to tourism, and the old docks became a park and marinas. Up on the heights stands the Fort Napoléon, while the Villa Michel Pacha musée d'art contemporain recalls Michel Pacha, whose neo-Moorish institute housed a marine biology laboratory for more than a century. A former bascule bridge and the post-war houses of Fernand Pouillon add their own chapters to the town's heritage.

For anyone who grew up Seynois, the map traces the way from the yard gates down to the Plage de Balaguier, the route of every summer.