Carqueiranne

Infobox Commune de France|nomcommune=Carqueiranne
région=Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
département=Var
arrondissement= Toulon
canton= La Crau
insee=83034
cp=83320
maire=Marc Giraud
mandat=2001-2008
intercomm=Toulon Provence Méditerranée
longitude=6.07416667
latitude=43.09583333
alt moy=26 m
alt mini=0 m
alt maxi=305 m
hectares=1 448
km²=14,48
sans=8 436
date-sans=1999
dens=582|

Carqueiranne is a town and commune in the Var "département" of southeastern France [http://www.carqueiranne.fr/] . 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. However, a bracelet known to be his, with a fragment of cloth still attached, was found in the sea east of the Islands of Frioul south of Marseille. In 2000, a crashed P-38 Lightning was found in the seabed off the coast of Marseille, near the Islands of Frioul, 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 80km 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.

ee also

Communes of the Var department