Daily life
Titre de séjour
TEE-truh duh say-ZHOOR
Your residence permit. A long-stay visa only becomes one once you validate it online within three months of arriving.
ANEF
a-NEF
The national online platform where nearly every immigration procedure now happens. Slow, occasionally broken, and unavoidable.
Carte Vitale
kart vee-TAL
The green health insurance card. It takes months to arrive; until then you pay and claim back on paper, so keep every form.
Garant
ga-RAHN
A rent guarantor — the central obstacle to renting in France. Visale is the free state-backed substitute, and almost nobody arrives knowing it exists.
Le bateau-bus
luh ba-toh-BOOS
The passenger boats crossing the bay to La Seyne, Les Sablettes and Saint-Mandrier, on an ordinary Réseau Mistral ticket. The best commute in France.
Le mistral
luh mees-TRAL
The cold dry north-westerly that clears the sky and blows for days. It is why Toulon is so sunny and why nobody puts an umbrella up.
Work
L'habilitation
la-bee-lee-ta-SYON
A security clearance. A very large share of jobs around the naval base and its suppliers requires one, and it is not open to everybody.
Culture
La rade
la RAD
The great sheltered bay the city sits on — the reason the navy is here, and the thing every conversation about geography starts from.
Le Faron
luh fa-RON
The limestone mountain rising straight behind the city, reached by cable car. Every local's default answer to what to do with a free afternoon.
Social
La cade
la KAD
Toulon's chickpea-flour pancake, baked in a wood oven and eaten in a paper cone with pepper. Nice has socca; here it is cade, and the distinction is defended.
Pilou-Pilou
pee-LOO pee-LOO
The chant the Stade Mayol crowd performs before a Rugby Club Toulonnais match. Learning it is a genuine shortcut to being taken seriously locally.
Emergency
15 / 17 / 18 / 112
—
15 for medical emergencies (SAMU), 17 for police, 18 for fire. 112 works for all of them and has English-speaking operators. 196 is the number at sea.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.