Marseilles is a big, old harbor town, and turned out to be unfriendly for driving - even with a GPS-based navigation unit in our car. in fact, we found the navigator sometimes was more hassle than benefit. We were successful in connecting with Bari and Phil, so headed out to Cassis, a nearby seafront town Lynn remembered from her days studying French in this part of France 20 years ago. We searched out a parking spot (man, one of the biggest hassles of driving in France is finding parking for your car, in almost any town!), hiked into town, and wham! had an unexpectedly wonderful afternoon.
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| Cassis Jupiter buddies! |
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| Fishing boats on harbor front - Cassis |
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| Bari and Phil at inspiring bakery storefront! |
Cassis is an old fishing harbor town, that has grown into quite a tourist destination in the 20+ years since Lynn was last here. It’s situated at the base of towering limestone cliffs and mountains that come right down to the sea. We walked all over the harbor area, taking photos of things I never thought about before/ Bari and Phil are artists, and seeing this town through their eyes and sensibilities was really illuminating. They were happy seeing photo composition possibilities of the colorful harbor area, and the sea. Phil must know every type of stonework and plant type known to man, while Bari had a wonderful eye for the various colors and textures the sun and sea give to the buildings and rock formations. Wow, I will see things differently the rest of our visit! Lunch was at a waterfront creperie, then we walked to the old town center (which was gorgeous in its own right), and explored the outdoor pottery market where the artists were displaying selling their wares. Beautiful setting, art, people, and atmosphere. How can we be so fortunate?
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| Cassis - side street scene with castle atop cliff |
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| Lynn with artist's pottery display, Centre Ville, Cassis |
At Lynn’s insistence, we got tickets for a boat ride to explore the calanques just down the coast from Cassis. They are fjord-like indentations in the coastline, lined by high limestone formations. You can only see them and appreciate their beauty from the sea, thus the boat ride!
On the way down, our boat captain was careful to point out the nude sunbathing going on at several spots along the seafront. Apparently, you have to walk quite a way down the cliffs to get to those beaches. Local nudists are helping the calanque-tourist-boat trade! Other than the weathered saggy skin on view, there were more ancient geological wonders to see. We saw, but were unable to adequately photo, the “Finger of God” formation at one calanque: a solitary column pointing to heaven atop one of the cliffs at a “saddle” looking depression. Lots of boats, kayaks, swimmers, and scenery. Lots of photos if you’d like to see, at the link down below.
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| Calanque d'En-Vau |
We eventually returned to our car and headed for the high coastal road running out of Cassis, La Route des Cretes.. It’s FANTASTIC: severely steep, twisty, well-paved and uncrowded, with plenty of pull-off spaces for us tourists to get out and marvel at the views of the Mediterranean Sea, Cassis, and other natural and man-made sights below. We loved the drive and views. Photos don’t do the sights justice, but we tried anyway. This drive is reputed to go on for miles, but we turned back early to meet the cruise ship on time, for Bari and Phil not to be AWOL!
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| John and Phil above the Mediterranean Sea and Cassis - Cap Canaille |
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| Route de Crete, on the way back down to Cassis |
We found their ship, said our farewells, and all headed off to our destinations: THEY’RE headed to Majorca, and Lynn and I headed back to L’Isle! We got home in time to clean up and crawl around town for a different supper restaurant. We ended up at a small Breton place on a side street near our apartment, with gallettes, cider, and salad for a bon repast - a delicious reminder of our month in Brittany 3 years ago.
We feel so blessed to be able to have these adventures, and to have friends and family to share our fun with. Thanks for being interested in our diary.
LINK TO all the photos we took so far, if you'd like to see more:
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