The trip was around 2 and a half hours, including the short stop we made at Marseille to change trains. We arrived at our destination in the early afternoon to blue skies and took a local bus down to the center of the village.
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| The itty-bitty gare of Cassis |
When we arrived down at the port, we were starving. We opted for a formule lunch at Le Perroquet, a very cute restaurant steps from the beach. I enjoyed moules frites and Danielle had calamari!
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| The horrendously, yet hilariously, translated menu |
The hotel was much farther than either of us anticipated and it was all uphill! By the time we reached the front desk twenty minutes later, we were hot and sticky from the sea salt and hike. The hotel was decent: our room was nice and comfortable, but the receptionist was extremely uninformed and unhelpful when we were asking questions about things to do or places to go in town.
After resting for a little, we rinsed off and headed back down to the port - the walk down was much easier (apparently, there is not bus or shuttle that takes you from the hotel so you're expected to walk or drive to steep, quarter-mile path). We were able to explore a little more, enjoying the town at dusk.
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| Still beautiful despite the imminence of a storm |
Dinner was at La Defonce, Cassis's top-rated restaurant on TripAdvisor. When we first arrived, we were a little blown away by the price (29€ for the set menu), but we decided to go for it. Not every day you get to be in Cassis!
We sat down outside, in the little alleyway where the restaurant is tucked away. The place was extremely small, hidden in a narrow street, away from the port traffic. We were instantly charmed by the hosts of the restaurant. It appeared to be a small, family business, ran primarily by a husband, wife, and their son. The wife was excited to have two young American girls there, eagerly speaking to us with a mix of English and French.
We both decided on the set menu and ended up ordering the exact same meal! Before our meal started, the son brought out a yummy garlic, hummus-like dip with crouton-like crackers while we waited for our first course.
This was followed by the entrée, toasted chèvre with an arugula salad. The cheese was spectacular.
Then came the spaghettoni with giant prawns - they were enormous - cooked in Pastis, a liqueur and apéritif from France. I am not a big fan of licorice and, perhaps because I knew that Pastis was anise-flavored, I could taste hints of it while I was enjoying my pasta. However, most of the alcoholic flavor had been cooked off and the liqueur, paired with tomatoes and pepper, definitely gave the pasta a distinctive and notable taste.
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| My heart-shaped prawns |
Though we were pretty full after the plat, we couldn't pass up our crème brûlée. And thank goodness we didn't because it was heavenly: the crisp of the crystalized sugar layer, the creamy custard underneath...
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| Danielle and the crème brûlée |
Ultimately, it was an exceptional meal that we left giggly and gratified. We even made it back up the hill to our hotel without too many complaints.
The storm came in the middle of the night and it was furious. I have heard so much thunder, seen such violent lightning, and heard so much rain! It woke up us in the middle of the night, crashing against the shutters that protected our terrace door. However, by the time we woke back up in the morning, it had passed and left Cassis with a promise for blue skies and a sunny day!
After checking out at 11, we made our way back down to the port and enjoyed some Nutella crêpes for breakfast by the water. We then decided to get a little crazy and purchase a boat tour of the calanques, famous inlets found only in the south of France - the most beautiful of which are in Cassis! Our tour began at noon and sailed us to 5 of the 11 calanques: Port Miou, Port Pin, En Vau, L'Oule, and Devenson. They were absolutely breathtaking. Carved out by glaciers millions of years ago, these small, valley-like coves can now be admired due to the change in the sea level over time.
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| Ancient Roman ruins on the water's edge |
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| My favorite calanque, En Vau |
On our boat, we met a friendly American couple from Atlanta who had been doing a little Euro-trip and were leaving for home at the end of the week. We ended up chatting with them for a good twenty minutes following the tour, sharing our funny travel stories and discussing our experiences abroad.
Before leaving, we purchased a bunch of postcards and sat down at a café for ice cream. By then, the weather had settled on beautiful and sunny. I could not have asked for a better afternoon.
Around 3pm, it was time to go home! We bought a couple of pastries for the road and headed to the bus stop. Despite a couple delays at train station, we were back in Lyon right before it got dark and arrived home safe and sound.
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| Our Mille Feuille and Tropézienne |
Honestly, there are few places I love more than the south of France. The people are much more friendly and open than anywhere else in the country, taking genuine interest in each other and taking the time to truly greet everyone they run into. Their pace of life is much more easy-going and their attitude toward life seriously inspires you to savor the present, to simply be.
No wonder Mimi and Papa chose this place to stay for a while...
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