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Trip Report, Europe..BEACH DAY 8....Cassis
Trip Report, Europe..BEACH DAY 8....Cassis
BEACH DAY!!!!!
Leave hotel….only 10-15 minute drive to Cassis, France our destination for the day….so exited…whole day for the beach and boat ride to Calanques….
Rick Steves guidebook recommended parking above the town due to limited parking within walking distance to beach. I was thinking right above the town, and a trolley to take you to the beach…WRONG….We wound round and round, and up and up to the free parking lot. The parking was free, but you had to pay 1 euro per person for the bus ride to town.
Just an observation of different customs….We bought our tickets, and waited for the next bus. Now in the South, we would line up (or get in a queue) according to the order we bought our tickets. We would then orderly load each bus until it filled up, and then wait on the next one.
We came quickly to the conclusion that we would never make the trip to town if we followed our custom. Everyone started breaking line and jumping ahead to load the bus. We quickly saw the practice and began forcing our way to the front of the line. By the end of the trip, I realized I had adopted the local customs and stopped letting everyone break ahead of me. (all Southern Politeness aside) At least until I get back to the States……
We were so excited to reach the water, I failed to take any pics of the town on the way…
We reached harbor side
And finally a view of the BEACH….
This is where you stepped down from sidewalk to the beachfront area:
NO SAND HERE!!! ONLY ROCKS…..and it hurt to walk on them….they don’t look sharp…
We get our tickets for our boat ride to the Calanques….
“The calanques are deep narrow inlets, sort of Provencal fiords, in the rocky cliffs along the coast between Cassis and Marseilles.”
We had been pronouncing the word CAL en kay…which sounds much more romantic and inviting than KAK LUNK……….alas… the proper pronunciation is the second version…..
The boat docks were numbered…so we go to the corresponding number to match our ticket….our time was 1:00, Boats keep docking and we think the next one will pull up to our dock number….again and again….the time is now 1:15……
Our view as we are waiting;
And waiting…..finally a boat pulls into our dock…but the Captain jumps off and proceeds to take a lunch break…..He informs us to go to another departing dock….So we walk down to the next boat which is quite crowded…at this point we see the SMALLEST boat in the dock, which only holds 12 people…so we think….this would be a more personalized tour…not crowded…. So the 6 of us along with a family of 4 and another couple load up for our tour…. We are given a guide in English…but the captain of this boat speaks French….
Did I mention the girls were singing the theme to Gilligan’s island at this point??????? A three hour tour……
This is half the boat
First View after leaving port;
Finally some crystal clear water that we all love
So EXCITED….our first Calanque
HOW DO I GET TO THIS BEACH?????? The guidebook told us…but it was a long hike, and the trail could be closed due to fire risks later in the day…..and no dinghy for us…
At this point, we head out from shore to our next Calanque
The whole trip we were getting COLD ocean spray in the boat…which was fine…it felt invigorating….BUT remember the Gilligan island theme…..
we head to open water to reach our next Calanque…and regretfully there will not be any more pics from this point since I was quickly becoming terrified! I have been on boats in the lake all my life…and out in the ocean on vacation, so I am not an inexperienced boater…..The wind was blowing quite hard and had generated some very big wave action….hmmmm….like taller than our boat….She (our Capt) kept us pointed directly into the waves…
She radioed in to base…but of course she was speaking French so I had no idea if she was laughing at the scared Americans or asking for HELP….waves were crashing into the boat at this point…we all tried to secure our cameras in our Ziploc bags…held up our bags to prevent them from getting soaked in the bottom of the boat…which had a few inches of water…. I was searching with my eyes for life vests and trying to determine if I could breathe long enough in between waves if we capsized. I don’t know how many feet high they were….but they were much bigger than our boat….She was running the windshield wipers full blast..
I look across the water and the bigger boats seems to be having a rough time also….some of the boats were double deckers, and I was glad not to be on one of them at this point….This probably happens every day on these trips….but I was really scared….finally we cross back to the side where the sea calms…. And we make it back to Shore….
So now we head to the beach to RELAX!!!!
Guidebook stated there was a spring offshore that kept the water cool….HMMMMMM….try freezing cold….much colder than the Ocoee river in Tennessee if you have been white water rafting…We wondered why hardly anyone was in the water…..if was freezing…and the rocks just pummeled your legs and feet…it took your breath away it was so cold…
A little more crowded at this point
Think a lot of people were jealous of us because we had a picnic on the beach….cheese, French bread, salami, chutney, and crackers…so good.....after a great day....we load up and get back in line ( a real line this time..no cutting) for the ride back to our van...
We had planned a scenic drive, but the guidebook stated it might be closed during high winds....and we were experiencing high winds....so we decided we had been through enough excitement for one day....
Next day….Provence Region of France……..
Leave hotel….only 10-15 minute drive to Cassis, France our destination for the day….so exited…whole day for the beach and boat ride to Calanques….
Rick Steves guidebook recommended parking above the town due to limited parking within walking distance to beach. I was thinking right above the town, and a trolley to take you to the beach…WRONG….We wound round and round, and up and up to the free parking lot. The parking was free, but you had to pay 1 euro per person for the bus ride to town.
Just an observation of different customs….We bought our tickets, and waited for the next bus. Now in the South, we would line up (or get in a queue) according to the order we bought our tickets. We would then orderly load each bus until it filled up, and then wait on the next one.
We came quickly to the conclusion that we would never make the trip to town if we followed our custom. Everyone started breaking line and jumping ahead to load the bus. We quickly saw the practice and began forcing our way to the front of the line. By the end of the trip, I realized I had adopted the local customs and stopped letting everyone break ahead of me. (all Southern Politeness aside) At least until I get back to the States……
We were so excited to reach the water, I failed to take any pics of the town on the way…
We reached harbor side
And finally a view of the BEACH….
This is where you stepped down from sidewalk to the beachfront area:
NO SAND HERE!!! ONLY ROCKS…..and it hurt to walk on them….they don’t look sharp…
We get our tickets for our boat ride to the Calanques….
“The calanques are deep narrow inlets, sort of Provencal fiords, in the rocky cliffs along the coast between Cassis and Marseilles.”
We had been pronouncing the word CAL en kay…which sounds much more romantic and inviting than KAK LUNK……….alas… the proper pronunciation is the second version…..
The boat docks were numbered…so we go to the corresponding number to match our ticket….our time was 1:00, Boats keep docking and we think the next one will pull up to our dock number….again and again….the time is now 1:15……
Our view as we are waiting;
And waiting…..finally a boat pulls into our dock…but the Captain jumps off and proceeds to take a lunch break…..He informs us to go to another departing dock….So we walk down to the next boat which is quite crowded…at this point we see the SMALLEST boat in the dock, which only holds 12 people…so we think….this would be a more personalized tour…not crowded…. So the 6 of us along with a family of 4 and another couple load up for our tour…. We are given a guide in English…but the captain of this boat speaks French….
Did I mention the girls were singing the theme to Gilligan’s island at this point??????? A three hour tour……
This is half the boat
First View after leaving port;
Finally some crystal clear water that we all love
So EXCITED….our first Calanque
HOW DO I GET TO THIS BEACH?????? The guidebook told us…but it was a long hike, and the trail could be closed due to fire risks later in the day…..and no dinghy for us…
At this point, we head out from shore to our next Calanque
The whole trip we were getting COLD ocean spray in the boat…which was fine…it felt invigorating….BUT remember the Gilligan island theme…..
we head to open water to reach our next Calanque…and regretfully there will not be any more pics from this point since I was quickly becoming terrified! I have been on boats in the lake all my life…and out in the ocean on vacation, so I am not an inexperienced boater…..The wind was blowing quite hard and had generated some very big wave action….hmmmm….like taller than our boat….She (our Capt) kept us pointed directly into the waves…
She radioed in to base…but of course she was speaking French so I had no idea if she was laughing at the scared Americans or asking for HELP….waves were crashing into the boat at this point…we all tried to secure our cameras in our Ziploc bags…held up our bags to prevent them from getting soaked in the bottom of the boat…which had a few inches of water…. I was searching with my eyes for life vests and trying to determine if I could breathe long enough in between waves if we capsized. I don’t know how many feet high they were….but they were much bigger than our boat….She was running the windshield wipers full blast..
I look across the water and the bigger boats seems to be having a rough time also….some of the boats were double deckers, and I was glad not to be on one of them at this point….This probably happens every day on these trips….but I was really scared….finally we cross back to the side where the sea calms…. And we make it back to Shore….
So now we head to the beach to RELAX!!!!
Guidebook stated there was a spring offshore that kept the water cool….HMMMMMM….try freezing cold….much colder than the Ocoee river in Tennessee if you have been white water rafting…We wondered why hardly anyone was in the water…..if was freezing…and the rocks just pummeled your legs and feet…it took your breath away it was so cold…
A little more crowded at this point
Think a lot of people were jealous of us because we had a picnic on the beach….cheese, French bread, salami, chutney, and crackers…so good.....after a great day....we load up and get back in line ( a real line this time..no cutting) for the ride back to our van...
We had planned a scenic drive, but the guidebook stated it might be closed during high winds....and we were experiencing high winds....so we decided we had been through enough excitement for one day....
Next day….Provence Region of France……..
Last edited by CBama on Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Great journal entry from France
Thanks for the pictorial look of your visit in France. The boat ride sounded scary but you made it back in one piece.