Days 12 and 13: Marseille to Cassis

Kenneth:

Yesterday, we biked from Marseille to Cassis, a small port town on the most beautiful coastline. Bike Purgatory was had by all on the way here: a 1000 foot climb over the mountains that border Marseille, up a winding road with no guardrail protecting us from 300 foot sheer drops. After all that waiting, we finally made it to the top, and another epic downhill lay ahead. As we descended, the village unfolded before us, and then we were in heaven.

Cassis is so beautiful that we couldn't help but stay an extra day. The bikes are useful for climbing the hills, and for reaching the far away, less crowded beaches, which are in limestone channels the size of football fields. I absolutely have to come back here later in life.

Alex: 

Before leaving Marseille, we stopped off at a forlorn little McDonald's to make use of the free Wifi. The encounter I had with the manager was something out of another era.
"You're from America?" he exclaimed breathlessly. "Louis! Come here!" he called to the fry cook, gesticulating at me happily. "This boy has come from America!" he shook my hand vigorously.  "What is it like there? Is it as wonderful as in the movies? I have always dreamed of going to America!"

It's refreshing to see that there are people abroad who are still uncynical about America. 

Afterward, we biked the length of the city's famous coastline. The hot and rowdy seaside road ran by beaches and bistros overflowing with revelers, but at times its tempo would seem to slow for monuments-- mournful statues searching the horizon for vanished ships--and the silhouette of the infamous Chateau d'If.

Not long after, we were painfully crawling up a coastal mountain in the lowest gear possible-- all of Marseille's sprawling splendor spread out behind us. We climbed higher into the coastal mountains, until Marseille disappeared and a steep mesa loomed into view, with the small town of Cassis clustered along the shoreline beneath it.

We coasted into the bay in which Cassis is nestled and proceeded to spend an hour pitching our tent on top of solid rock (not a fun experience). We finally made camp, bought a bottle of the town's famous rosé, and headed for one of the calmer beaches south of the town center.

Cassis is an amazing place full of great restaurants beaches and coves called "calanques". Although the camping ground where we had rented a plot was a 45 minute walk from downtown, we decided to stay two nights.

The second day, we packed lunch and hiked out to the calenques--narrow limestone coves eroded from the shore in which azure water rushes in to white sand beaches. We swam, ate lunch and relaxed, returning to town in time for dinner by the docks and two bottles of good Normandy cider.

Today, we head for Port d'Alon, an even smaller town east on the coast which was recommended to us by a fellow biker we met on the way to Marseille.