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The Gazette · Toulon, Var & beyond

The Gazette: culture, society, entertainment and discoveries

Literature, books, exhibitions, bookshops, concerts, culture, society, entertainment, gastronomy and discoveries from Toulon, the Var and beyond.

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This summer, Toulon’s public library network becomes the setting for a literary treasure hunt for families with children aged seven and over. AI illustration
Entertainment AI-translated text By Jean-François Callen27 views

Toulon’s Libraries Turn Reading into a Treasure Hunt

With “Pirates des Cara'Bib 2: Le Secret du Livre maudit”, Toulon is using games and adventure to encourage families to explore its library network until 29 August.

A cursed book, a pirate determined to rule the seven seas and a creature that must be stopped: this summer, Toulon’s libraries are using adventure to lead children towards books. Free to take part in and open to families with children aged seven and over until 29 August 2026, “Pirates des Cara'Bib 2” turns the city’s library network into a playground. Behind the pirate story lies a very contemporary question: how can reading hold children’s attention in an age dominated by screens?

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Boris Cyrulnik and Bernard Werber come together in Toulon on 22 August as part of the Les Entretiens de l’été festival. AI illustration
Literature AI-translated text By Jean-François Callen42 views

In Toulon, Boris Cyrulnik and Bernard Werber Bring the Human Mind into Conversation with the Living World

The neuropsychiatrist and the novelist will meet on 22 August for an event that begins with their latest books and opens onto a broader question: how can societies rebuild?

Two worlds that might not immediately seem destined to share the same stage will meet in Toulon. On Saturday, 22 August 2026, Boris Cyrulnik and Bernard Werber will appear together at the Théâtre Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc as part of Les Entretiens de l’été. Drawing on their latest books, the neuropsychiatrist and the novelist will bring together two very different ways of examining our times: one through the human sciences, the other through fiction and imagination.

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Design Parade 2026 marks twenty years of object design and ten years of interior architecture across Hyères and Toulon. AI illustration
Exhibitions AI-translated text By Jean-François Callen67 views

Design Parade marks twenty years of creativity in Toulon and Hyères

The 2026 edition celebrates a double anniversary, with exhibitions continuing until the end of August across Toulon and Hyères.

Design Parade has grown into more than a summer event in the Var. Twenty years after the launch of its object design festival and ten years after its Toulon programme devoted to interior architecture began, the 2026 edition looks both backwards and towards a new generation of creators. Exhibitions remain open until 29 and 30 August in Toulon and Hyères, offering a final opportunity to see how the festival has evolved.

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For more than a century, chichi frégi was associated with Cours Lafayette and the Guglielmi family before disappearing from everyday life in Toulon. AI illustration
Gastronomy AI-translated text By Jean-François Callen871 views

Chichi frégi: the taste Toulon allowed to slip away

For more than a century, the Guglielmi family’s hot sugared fritter was part of everyday life around Cours Lafayette. The kiosk disappeared, the family left, and later attempts at revival failed to last.

There was the Cours Lafayette market, cade, the harbour, the local accent — and chichi frégi. For four generations, the Guglielmi family was associated with the large fried pastry that generations of people in Toulon ate hot, often leaving with sugar-covered fingers. The kiosk vanished in 2010, the historic G.Toine shop closed in 2022 and a later revival also disappeared. In 2026, Toulon still remembers one of its former culinary symbols, but can no longer easily tell a visitor where to find it.

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Bibliothèque Effet Mer brings books and public reading directly to Les Sablettes beach in La Seyne-sur-Mer. AI illustration
Books AI-translated text By Jean-François Callen795 views

At Les Sablettes, the library moves to the water’s edge

Until 28 August, Bibliothèque Effet Mer is bringing books, newspapers and comics out of the library and closer to summer readers.

In La Seyne-sur-Mer, reading has moved to the beach for the summer. Open until 28 August, Bibliothèque Effet Mer offers books, newspapers and comics at Les Sablettes, in a setting more usually associated with parasols and beach towels. Behind the seasonal atmosphere lies a straightforward idea: if libraries want to meet readers, they can sometimes leave their walls behind.

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Who really writes your favorite celebrities' books? Behind many bestsellers hides publishing's best-kept secret: ghostwriters. But how do these shadow writers actually work? AI illustration
Society AI-assisted text By Jean-François Callen861 views

In the Shadow of Signatures

Publishing's Best-Kept Secret

We often picture the writer as a solitary genius, hunched over a keyboard in the dead of night. Yet, on bookstore display tables, many bestsellers hide a very different reality: the reality of shadow work.

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A journey into the heart of Sword and Sorcery: when pen and steel forge modern mythology. AI illustration
Literature AI-translated text By Jean-François Callen889 views

The Empire of Swords

A brief history of heroic fantasy and its masters

In the dim light of my office, illuminated only by the pale glare of a tired computer screen humming softly, I often observe contemporary literature with an amused perplexity. It is customary among the fine minds of the boulevard and salon aesthetes to swear only by the psychological novel or sweeping realistic sagas. Yet, far from these quiet sanctuaries, a genre of literature from another realm ended up conquering the world through sheer force of sword and sorcery. It is called epic or heroic fantasy, a term sometimes dismissed, used to describe tales rooted in the oldest terrors from the dawn of time.

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Discover the 2026 Prix des Lecteurs du Var selection: novels, graphic novels, and picture books. Vote online or in local libraries by Nov 7! AI illustration
Culture AI-translated text By Jean-François Callen896 views

Var Readers' Choice Award 2026

Long live the Book Festival!

Dear book lovers, park your suitcases by the Toulon harbor, grab your notebooks, and step closer. Today, I’m taking you to the heart of a vibrant initiative pulsing through the South of France: the Prix des Lecteurs du Var (Var Readers' Choice Award).

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Traditional publishing, self-publishing, or vanity publishing? Between the fantasy of a publishing contract and the reality of book sales, the numbers speak for themselves. Here is a full breakdown of the book market to help you make the right choice before publishing your work. AI illustration
Literature AI-assisted text By Jean-François Callen881 views

Publishing House, Self-Publishing, Vanity Publishing, or Personal Project

Current State and Realities of the Book Market in FRANCE

In the collective imagination, finishing a manuscript and securing a publishing contract represents the ultimate achievement for a writer. However, the reality of the book industry shows that the publishing and marketing phases involve logistical and financial challenges that are often overlooked.

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