Regarding the "free" mooring balls at Tintamarre and Columbier, I didn't think those were free. I was under the impression (from the base manager at The Moorings) that those balls are paid for from your park fee that you should pay - at some point to someone.
We pay a small ($6-7 I think) park fee when we get the boat, for each night we stay at Pinel or Columbier. We get a little slip of paper with a stamp on it proving that we paid. Now I'll grant you that nobody has ever asked to see those strips of paper but the implication was that there could be.