The calanques of Cassis and Marseille

We began the day today by heading back to Cassis where we hopped on a little boat called the Tiki  to explore the Calanques.  These are little inlets with the bluest of blue water and limestone cliffs shooting skywards.  This stone was quarried by prisoners and used for such things as the pedestal of the statue of liberty.  On ledges, people were fishing and sunbathing and trees were growing out of the rocks.

We then came back to Marseille and did a bus tour of the city.  Marseille is the second biggest city in Paris and like most big cities anywhere in the world, it has areas that are ugly and in need of serious renovation.  It’s actually quite sad to see beautiful old buildings which are filthy dirty and with shutters that haven’t seen a lick of paint for a century.

But the area near the port was truly beautiful.  Our little bus ride took us to the spectacular basilica called Notre Dame de la Garde.  Something I have noted in France, not just on this visit, is that in order to be faithful in this country you have to be fit.  All the magnificent churches seem to be at the top of several flights of stairs.  In any case, it was worth the effort – the interior was absolutely beautiful.

On the tour we passed lots of notable buildings including the pool where French Olympic champions train.  One of the little islands just out of the port has the Château d’If, a former prison which was the setting of Alexandra Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Christo.”

Some of the things Marseille is famous for is the fish soup called Bouillabaisse, soap products and aniseed flavoured alcohol such as Pernod, Pastis and Ricard.  At lunch time Anne and I ordered a Pastis and I thought the waiter was going to choke when he saw me putting Coke in it. There was a local couple sitting near us and the lady asked what it was like.  Anne said, “Not bad.”  The man was hilarious – he said, “Ben, ce n’est pas mauvais, mais ce n’est pas bon non plus.” – It’s not bad, but it’s not good either… as if to say it simply is not the done thing.