A blistering three tries in six breathtaking minutes, as Blues were reduced to 13 men following two penalty tries, saw the Pool 2 encounter explode into life.
The result means the French giants have wrapped up top spot and with it a last eight place in the Heineken Cup.
For Blues it was very much a game of two halves as they threatened to edge the opening 40 minutes with a try from Filo Paulo seeing them only trail 15-13 to the boot of Jonny Wilkinson.
The fired-up home pack did flex their muscles after the break with real menace and two penalty tries saw the game decided as a contest in Nice.
However, Blues can take real heart from the opening half and the way they battled until the end after the three-try burst with Sam Hobbs a deserved scorer in the second half.
And they go into next week’s final pool game with Exeter Chiefs on home soil knowing European knock-out rugby is still a possibility if they can secure another pool win at the Arms Park.
The European clash started to the backdrop of a hostile home crowd with over 32,000 packed into the lavish new stadium in Nice.
The home side looked inspired from the start as a scintillating break from David Smith saw the big winger tear down the right and cut inside to feed Joe Van Niekerk.
The flanker was pulled down by Josh Navidi but the penalty was conceded on the floor and Wilkinson opened the scoring.
The first scrum of the game saw a titanic battle up front and Toulon win the collision as they were awarded a penalty as the pitch tore up badly under foot.
Jenkins unloaded a huge hit on Juan Smith before Matt Giteau found a yard of space in midfield to send David Smith away. His run was abruptly halted by a tackle from Chris Czekaj that was adjudged high by referee Greg Garner.
The Blues duly lost a man, as the wing was yellow carded while Wilkinson doubled the lead from the resulting penalty in front of the posts.
Gareth Davies looked to unlock Toulon with a chip head for Richard Smith, but the hosts countered with menace as wing Rudi Wulf bounced off tackles with real power.
Blues were dealt a blow as Navidi was forced off with a hand injury, replaced by Ellis Jenkins, before the visitors enjoyed their best spell of the game as Robin Copeland blasted into tackles and won a penalty. Halfpenny did the rest to cut the lead to 6-3.
Copeland was again in the thick of the battle as he took the fight to Toulon and when the home side failed to roll away in the tackle another kickable penalty was presented to Halfpenny who split the posts the level the score.
The busy Ellis Jenkins won a crucial penalty as he swarmed over bodies at the breakdown while a series of big hits drove Toulon back and forced Giteau to kick out on the full as he ran out of options.
Another big home scrum secured Wilkinson a penalty close to halfway but central. But this time the former England man was off target as his kick drifted narrowly right.
Wilkinson looked to atone as he kicked deep for position after Benoit Bourrust was penalised for not rolling away. The driving lineout quickly secured a penalty and from wide the home No.10 kicked Toulon back ahead on the half hour.
A minute later Wilkinson was at it again as Blues failed to deal with a high bomb from scrum half Sebastien Borde and were pinged for sealing off as they looked to protect possession.
Blues struck with a brilliant try just before the break as they picked up ball and went left with pace and flair. It was lock Filo Paulo that kicked ahead into space and when Drew Mitchell had his clearing kick then charged down by Czekaj it only found Blues hands.
Copeland was first to react and he raced to the line and, as he was shunted out, intelligently passed back in field for Paulo to brush Wilkinson aside and bulldoze over. Halfpenny added the extras from out wide and the visitors were ahead.
Back came Toulon before the break and another trademark catch and drive was pulled down to give Wilkinson the shot at goal he craved as he nudged over his fifth kick of the day.
Blues were given another injury scare before the break, as Jenkins was left in real pain on the floor after a ruck clear out impacted his knee. He made it to the break but was replaced by Hobbs at the interval.
A rare knock on by Halfpenny at the start of the second half gave Toulon an attacking platform at the start of the second half. A huge scrum saw Bourrust sin binned and the home side immediately went to the scrum again, with Scott Andrews on in place of Czekaj.
The resulting scrum was shunted back and referee Garner awarded a penalty try, despite Steffon Armitage touching down in the process. Wilkinson’s simple extras made it 22-13.
Toulon were now looking to open up with the extra man as Wilkinson kicked in behind and forced Halfpenny to take the ball into touch. The resulting driving lineout was forced back at pace and this time Jenkins was yellow carded and another penalty try awarded.
The tries were now flowing against 13 men as Blues were pulled all over the field. A break down the middle from Giteau opened up play and Carl Hayman and Craig Burden took ball on before a floated pass from Wilkinson found Smith to crash over.
Toulon started to unload their star-studded bench with the likes of Martin Castrogiovanni and Frederic Michalak unleashed as the hosts hunted a fourth try and bonus point.
Blues still looked to play with Jenkins releasing Cuthbert into space and Copeland bashing past tired tacklers. Halfpenny then had a dart and Lewis Jones also looked to dummy and go as the region battled away.
The hard work finally paid off as Hobbs was driven over from close range after Macauley Cook was just shy of the whitewash.
Toulon looked to apply the late gloss to the game and, after a series of penalties at the scrum and breakdown, a fourth yellow card of the afternoon, this time to Copeland, saw the hosts push forward and referee Garner signal a penalty try in injury time.
Timeline:
02m Wilkinson p 3-0
08m Wilkinson p 6-0
13m Halfpenny p 6-3
18m Halfpenny p 6-6
30m Wilkinson p 9-6
32m Wilkinson p 12-6
35m Paulo t Halfpenny c 12-13
39m Wilkinson p 15-13
43m Penalty t Wilkinson c 22-13
47m Penalty t Wilkinson c 29-13
49m Smith t Wilkinson c 36-13
70m Hobbs t Halfpenny c 36-20
80m Penalty t Wilkinson c 43-20
Cardiff Blues: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Richard Smith, 12 Gavin Evans (Hewitt 70), 11 Chris Czekaj (Andrews 42, Bourrust 53) Fish 72), 10 Gareth Davies, 9 Lloyd Williams (Jones 56); 1 Gethin Jenkins (Hobbs 40), 2 Marc Breeze (Williams 61), 3 Benoit Bourrust, 4 Chris Dicomidis, 5 Filo Paulo (Down 66), 6 Macauley Cook, 7 Josh Navidi (Jenkins 11), 8 Robin Copeland.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Williams, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 James Down, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Dafydd Hewitt, 23 Dan Fish