Mid-February- middle of grey Parisian winter. The time couldn't have been more perfect for a little romantic
weekend getaway to southern France. Plus, the Valentines Day was just
around the corner! What made it even more convenient was that I had to work near Marseille
on that Friday anyway, so the plan was to pick up Emma at the Marseille train station in the
afternoon and head over to Cassis.
The first night we hung out at the cute harbor of Cassis where we had a very good pre-Valentine’s Day dinner...
The next morning started with a great breakfast with a view to the Cassis bay. We then started our hike towards the Calanques (can be considered as Mediterranean fjord). We were lucky to get a sunny
day with pleasant temperatures, and the walking paths were not too crowded.
We walked back following the Devenson cliffs and crossing some typical
provençal scenario.
After seven long hours of hiking, we brought our day to an
end with a small picnic at the harbor while watching the sunset.
Finally we hopped onto the train and finished our night in Marseille near the "vieux port", the old harbor.
The next
morning in Marseille we walked along the beautiful seaside of Corniche. The
weather was quite pleasant (around +17°) and a number of families were enjoying
the beach and the most daring ones were already conquering the sea.
We climbed
up to the cathedral of Notre Dame de La
Garde, from where we had a fantastic view over Marseille and its surrounding
hills, as well as the entire Mediterranean Sea.
The stroll around the narrow alleys of the old district was very authentic (it really is the only nice part
of the Marseille itself) and finally we had some local dish for lunch: bouillabaisse (Bouillabaisse is
a traditional Provencal fish s tew originating from Marseille).
We surely didn’t forget to enjoy some chilled Pastis right on the waterfront.
Unfortunately
time flies when you’re having a good time and for us it meant it was already
time to get back to the station and return to our 'winter'. Thankfully we had our next destination already in mind- The Alps!