Picking up our Renault lease car went quickly and smoothly even though the gentleman who handled the arrangements spoke no English and my school girl French is awfully rusty. Once we were on our way we plugged the Cassis hotel address and let the GPS tell us where to go. We found it interesting that the route took us right through the middle of downtown Marseille. There is a highway somewhat like the Alaskan Way Viaduct through downtown Seattle that gives one a great view of the city. We achieved a more extended tour of the old harbor because we ended up in the wrong lane and exited when we should not have. The route to get back on the highway was circuitous and then we again ended up in the wrong lane and headed back towards the airport. Exiting at the first opportunity gave us an additional "tour" of the harbor past car ferries and cruise ships.
Finally we arrived in Cassis at about 7:30 pm. The GPS did not know about the town's one way system but there were good signs to the hotel. We dropped our bags and the car and then walked into the main part of town to find dinner.
The old town wraps around a protected harbor full of pleasure boats. Restaurants wring the quay and in spite of sprinkling rain there were lots of people meandering about. It was warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the views and people watch. We settled into one of the restaurants and relaxed, happy to finally have arrived at our destination. I was so tired that I cannot remember what we ate. I do recall a lovely Cote de Rhone red and Burnt Cream for dessert.
One of the more interesting sights in night-time Cassis is the old fort that looms over the town. It is brightly lit and dominates the harbor.
After a short stroll around town we returned to our hotel and crashed. Amazingly we slept until almost 9 the next morning. The day was somewhat blustery but partly sunny. After showering and packing up we walked into town and had cafe au lait and croissants at the first spot we came to. It offered a splendid view of the harbor and the hilltop fort, although the latter seemed smaller in daylight.
We strolled around the town again, meandering all the way out to the end of the breakwater. Here are several views of the town from the quay.
At the very end of the breakwater is what appears to be an automated lighthouse. Looking past it you can see the beach in front of our hotel. One of the drawbacks of finding a hotel online is that the moderate sized hill between it and town does not show up on any of the maps.
One of the reasons we visited Cassis is that several people had recommended it to us as a wonderful spot. Its big attraction is "le calanques" which are narrow fiord-like inlets along the coast to either side of the town. Dom and I decided that although we wanted to see them, we would save that for a future visit. There are two ways to do that--on foot or by boat. The latter sounded the most interesting but we hesitated to take the time. I really wanted to visit Avignon before heading to Italy, something we were both anxious to do.
We checked out of our hotel about 11 am and left for Avignon. The weather worsened as we drove inland. Heavy clouds and spitting rain did not bother us much and we arrived in about an hour and a half.
Our only delay was a spot of trouble on the autoroute. Dom was following a herky-jerky car through a toll plaza and became so intent on not running into it that he forgot to take a ticket. We realized this just on the other side so he pulled over and ran back to get a ticket. I watched him dodge traffic not sure what he intended to do. Finally, he came back with a ticket. His concern had been that if he took a ticket from a machine it might not give the next car one. We had seen this happen in Italy. However, the machine apparently spit out another ticket so all was well. We made sure to got a receipt when we paid just in case we get a ticket in the mail!
Coming soon: Avignon and Le Palais des Papes!
No comments:
Post a Comment