Paris

We are nearing our final destination of what I call Cote d'Azur but many guidebooks call already Provence: Cassis.
But we are not there for the moment. We are still on the D 559 driving to LA CIOTAT. We pass first a place called SAINT-CYR, a little distant fro the seaside, but amid vineyards and artichoke fields. Then LES LECQUES, a sheltered small resort with a long and narrow sand beach, small boulevard and little harbour.
Finally: LA CIOTAT. As resort it less agreeable than Cassis, because the beach is not protected against the wind.
But this harbour with 32,000 inhabitants shows a noticeable contrast: part of it kept a typical Provencal character thanks to its coloured houses and fishing boats. The other part with its shipping yards and yacht harbour shows that La Ciotat didn't plan to stay behind in modern times.
First called Citharista and an outpost to Marseille, then named La Cotati by the Romans, its harbour now resembles a resort in Florida. People carry an unpretentious air about them, and the long flat beachfront is lined with souvenir shops. But the problem is that this beachfront (dogs not allowed on the beach) is 1,5 km away from the centre and you have to pass first, the ship building yards for which La Ciotat is very famous. Huge shipyards that build oil and methane tankers at one end keep La Ciotat from achieving ultimate picturesqueness. And believe me or not, I was not very satisfied with the cleanliness of the water.

Calanque Figuerolles

That doesn't take away that La Cioat is a very frequented and visited city. Some of the town is quite pretty, particularly around the old port and the 17th century Notre Dame de l'Assomption. And let's not forget that La Ciotat possesses also a few pretty "calanques", but the calanque "Muguel "is not for swimming and "Figuerolles" is ugly and polluted. A shame!
An interesting tourist attraction is the beachfront monument the Freres Lumiere (inventors of motion pictures). It's here that one of the first pictures was shot: "L'arrivée d'un train en gare".
Leaving La Ciotat we take the very picturesque ROUTE DES CRETES, which climbs up, down, over and down again. It's the D 141, twisting along the coast side. First we pass a light beacon, a semaphore with a grand view, up to the Grand Tete, then mounting to CAP CANAILLE, having a breathtaking view on the sea again. Here we are at 416 metres and the highest cliff in all of continental Europe. Far away, with good eyes you can see the Iles de Riou and its small sisters, lifeless plateaus. Are we on the moon? The north blocked by Sainte-Beaume on top of which Maria Magdalena is visited every morning by her angels, southwards the endless views on the sea and, passing some frightening deep and steep ravines, as floating in the blue of the sky and water. We are approaching CASSIS.

Bibliography

Mary Blume, "Cote d'Azur. Inventing the French Riviera" (Thames and Hudson, London 1982), The Twenties, From Notebooks and Diaries of the Period, by Edmund Wilson (Cannes 1921), "Oostkust aan Middelandse zee", by Koos Steenhouwer (1998), "The Mediterranean passion", by John Pemble (Oxford University Press1988), Histoire de la Provence, by Raoul Busquet (Que Sais-je?).

From Nice to Saint-Tropez (suite)

Cap d'Antibes

Juan les
Pins-Golfe-Juan-Vallauris

Cannes

Iles de Lerins

La Napoule and Henry Clews

Esterel cornice to Frejus

Frejus

Sainte Maxime to Port Grimaud

Old Grimaud and Cogolin

Saint-Tropez

From Saint Tropez to Cassis

Ramatuelle-Gassin-Croix Valmer-Cavalaire sur mer

Le Lavandou-Bormes les Mimosas