Emmanuel Macron expected in Toulon this Friday: since his election in 2017, the President has made his mark on the harbor.

The President in the Var region isn't exactly a new thing, as Emmanuel Macron has taken up his summer quarters in Brégançon every year since his election in 2017. His visits to Toulon, however, have been less frequent. The most emblematic was undoubtedly the one on August 4, 2020.

Toulon walk

In the heart of summer and between two lockdowns, the head of state traveled to the heart of the Var capital . At the Chalucet media library, accompanied by the city's former mayor, Hubert Falco, he first met with home helpers during a segment dedicated to caring for the elderly. After a short walk, followed by many curious onlookers, Emmanuel Macron had lunch in Place de la Liberté, one-on-one with the Toulon mayor.

After a surprise visit to the police station, the President visited Gisèle, a widow from Toulon, then aged 80, who received him in her modest apartment in Pont-du-Las.

At attention

If this day in Toulon is the most significant, the most recent actually dates back to November 2022. This time, it was as head of the armed forces that Emmanuel Macron presented himself not on the shore of the harbor, but on the harbor, aboard the amphibious helicopter carrier (PHA) Dixmude . After the traditional twenty-one gun salutes, he presented the "National Strategic Review", announced the end of Operation Barkhane and decorated soldiers from the three armies, before going to Saint-Mandrier to meet commandos.

This military context has already, on two occasions, provided the President of the Republic with the opportunity to visit the naval base and particularly aboard the aircraft carrier Charles-de-Gaulle . In January 2018, he presented his wishes to the armed forces, then a few months later, in November, attended qualification maneuvers of the embarked air group .

Missed appointments

In 2024, however, the meeting with the prefecture city was missed . Along with several African leaders, the head of state was due to attend the evocation of the Provence Landings, the 80th anniversary of which was being celebrated, on the beaches of Mourillon. But the weather was not conducive to celebrations, and conditions deemed unfavorable by the prefecture led to the cancellation of the Toulon festivities.

Emmanuel Macron and Toulon are also a rumor, when in 2023, unions believe they know that the President will be present in March at the Palais Neptune to announce the generalization of the Universal National Service. "Jupiter in Neptune": the play on words is too good. The meeting, however, is nothing but mythology.