La Croix-Valmer , an authentic Provencal village, famous for its protected coastline and its hiking trails, is one of the key places of the Provence Landing.
Early in the morning of 15th August , its beach which nowadays spells farniente, was the theatre of this historic event. A spectacular armada set sail for the peninsula of Saint-Tropez. The allied troops trod the fine sand of the beach before heading for Toulon and Marseille , via Cogolin.
A few hundred metres from this emblematic beach, on the Square du Souvenir , the stele of the 1st Free French Division pays homage to the armies who liberated La Croix-Valmer, with help from the Brigade des Maures. It had been occupied since November On 20th August , right after the start of the Allied combats to take back Marseille, a popular uprising against German occupation burst out.
A walk around the basilica of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde , the protectress of the town, helps to understand a highly symbolic episode of the Liberation.
Part of the troops took a passageway unknown to the Germans from Rue Jules Moulet. Others took the stairs up to Notre-Dame. Using a variety of objects retrieved along the river, they built a ferry, which transported the first jeeps.
