Carqueiranne
Encyclopedia
Carqueiranne is a commune
in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
region
in southeastern France
.
It is known now as a tourist seaside resort with good windsurfing nearby, at Almanarre Beach, and a nudist beach at Ile du Levant.
The town has a literary claim to fame as well. In early August 1944, an unidentifiable body wearing French military colours was found near here, which was long believed to be that of famous novelist Antoine de Saint Exupéry, author of The Little Prince
.
In 1998, a bracelet known to be his, with a fragment of cloth still attached, was found in the sea east of Riou Island (south of Marseille
). In 2000, a crashed P-38 Lightning
was found in the seabed off the coast of Marseille, near where the bracelet was found, and it was confirmed to be the one that St. Exupéry was flying.
However, it remains plausible that ocean currents could have carried the body from the crash site to Carqueiranne - a distance less than 80 km by sea - over the course of several days, which is the time difference between the crash in 31 July 1944, and the discovery of the body.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.It is made up of:* the former French province of Provence* the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in southeastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
It is known now as a tourist seaside resort with good windsurfing nearby, at Almanarre Beach, and a nudist beach at Ile du Levant.
The town has a literary claim to fame as well. In early August 1944, an unidentifiable body wearing French military colours was found near here, which was long believed to be that of famous novelist Antoine de Saint Exupéry, author of The Little Prince
The Little Prince
The Little Prince , first published in 1943, is a novella and the most famous work of the French aristocrat writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ....
.
In 1998, a bracelet known to be his, with a fragment of cloth still attached, was found in the sea east of Riou Island (south of Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
). In 2000, a crashed P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
was found in the seabed off the coast of Marseille, near where the bracelet was found, and it was confirmed to be the one that St. Exupéry was flying.
However, it remains plausible that ocean currents could have carried the body from the crash site to Carqueiranne - a distance less than 80 km by sea - over the course of several days, which is the time difference between the crash in 31 July 1944, and the discovery of the body.