We’re on the road today, originally intending to visit a few more Villes on the way to Aix-en-Provence, but cut out our detours to Cannes and St. Tropez after a bit of traffic getting into Antibes and not wanting to miss our 2:00 reservation for a day on the water in Cassis—our last day on Cote d’Azur, the French Riviera.
If Nice was a lot like Honolulu or Miami, our drive to Cassis reminded us of San Diego or Southern California. Palm trees and flowering vegetation, homes built up the hills, and toll roads.
We hoped to see the luxury yachts on “billionaires wharf” in Antibes, but it was quite a walk to get over the wall so we contented ourselves with a walk around the “regular yachts.”
A beautiful town close to the water with the typical narrow cobblestone streets lined with cafes.
Before arriving in Cassis, we stopped for gas and ended up with a lot of French treats as well (gas station treats). We skipped the bbq chips and opted for French flavors instead. Fun to try, but won’t miss when we go back to the US!
Cassis is a beautiful town and hats off to Dan for his amazing parallel parking job in a space designed for a tiny Smart Car. I wish we had a picture!
He also has done great navigating and driving this whole trip. Glad it’s him and not me.
The waterfront was lined with colorful buildings and probably more than 30 cafes including a sandwich shop where we could get something to take on the boat.
On the other side of the harbor, a former castle has been turned into a bed and breakfast with only five rooms.
Would love to come back and check it out!
And if not stay there, then stay here.
It would be so fun to cruise up the coast and stop in each of these towns for the day/night.
Our first stop was a quick swim in the emerald waters in a cove just around the corner from the harbor.
Lots of boats are out with other groups like us hoping to cool off for the day.
Calenques are majestic limestone cliffs jutting into the sea with many small fjords hiding beautiful coves.
Think Lake Powell, but white instead of red and ocean water instead of a lake.
Just as many fun hiding spots or places to discover as in Powell. Roman, our driver, took us into quite a few little caves. He drives a prop boat so didn’t have any problem maneuvering into tight spots!
Swimming into this cave was so cool!
The only disappointment was not having a camera.
Back on the boat Roman saved the day with a waterproof camera bag,
so Dan and the boys swam back to capture the clear waters and joy of cave swimming.
Next stop, cliff jumping, and I’d say there were even more jumpers at several spots here than there are in Lake Powell.
Roman had a bigger challenge for the boys at the next jumping off spot, but I wasn’t quite comfortable with their original height and they were nice enough to comply with my request to find a lower spot.
A couple of fjords welcomed anyone preferring seclusion from all the boats—they could get there by kayaking, albeit a pretty big kayaking commitment.
This one is considered one of the top 10 prettiest fjords in the world.
Our tour was from
2:00 - 6:00, the perfect amount of time.
We wondered if the waters would be rough in the afternoon, and while they were wavy, it wasn’t uncomfortable. Very much like a day on the lake.
We didn’t need to go far along the cliffs or into open water to have fun and explore.
That’s what got me thinking a cruise along the French coast might offer more to do than our trip within the Virgin Islands which seemed more focused on snorkeling. Plus these towns offer a lot to enjoy as well.
Just an hour drive from Cassis brought us to Aix-en-Provence and our very fancy villa/hotel Villa Gallici.
Toile, silk, lavender and perfume give a fussy vibe, but the staff is so friendly, it’s not pretentious.
We walked into town to find dinner and the villa is a little farther removed than we may like, but it’s not a bad thing to have an excuse to wander French streets in the evening. Everything was quiet and closed, then suddenly around a corner we happened upon a hopping square filled with dozens of outdoor restaurants and hundreds of people.
We’re proud of ourselves because we were awake all day for the first time this trip. Well, Miles got in a power nap at dinner again.
But was wide awake for a late night tea break.
Again, I thought the hotel might be too fussy for the boys, but they are embracing with style. 😂
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