Wednesday 25 July - Aix-en-Provence - 34C

Today we set off for Cassis a small town on the coast south-east of Marseille with limestone hills around the coastline. It was market day and parking in the town was at a premium and so we ended up parking about 1km out of and above the town with a long downhill walk back to the town centre. We browsed through the markets first, There were stalls selling the usual clothes and drapery but they also had beautiful food stalls including vegetable, cheese and dried sausage stalls, the most unusual being the sausage stalls that sell all types of cured sausages (lavendar, goats cheese etc.) – the sausages could be smelt some distance off.....

Next, a visit to the beach, covered in pebbles. We wet our feet in the cold, but refreshing water, the beach was quite small Compared to what we had seen at Cannes yesterday but not crowded with umbrellas and deck chairs in the same way as there.

We then booked seats on one of the cruise boats that take you out to view the famous Calanques (creeks) that dot the landscape from Cassis back to Marseille. On the cruise, we saw some of the old hotels, the old, but busy port and the village that is very famous for its seafood.

However the best view was the Calanques - small fjord-like features in the limestone cliffs formed millions of years ago by eroding creeks.The best was the spectacular scenery of the En Vau calanque which means 'in the valley' in old French. The cliffs are some 130 metres high and has a lovely beach at the base which attracts canoeists to the clear waters and climbers to the sheer cliffs. Our boat tour took about 45 mins and showed us 3 of these features along the coastline near Cassis.

Of course then we had to climb back up the hill to the car. Tonight we went to dinner in town after walking down the main boulevard where the market stalls open at 8pm on one side and the restaurants are busy on the other side.

Settled for a some Sushi and an early night. Big day tomorrow.