The Calanque de Sugiton

Xavier and I traced another bit of the coast between Marseille and Cassis today, to the Calanque de Sugiton. A wonderland, this series of sea cliffs called 'les calanques.' The region is gripping for me. I go back again and again and each time feel jolted by the spectacle. Wild, unbelievable color and scale. Au pays des merveilles.

Les Goudes and Calanques

One of my resolutions this year is to hike from Marseille to Cassis in one day - along the coast in the Calanques. The trek is 37 kilometers (23 miles) and represents an elevation gain of 2203 meters (7228 ft) in total. A long day and really tough, but these are the most beautiful parts of this part of the coast and there is little access in or out, so best to do the whole thing end to end. I did a segment of it the other day - started early in the morning at Les Goudes and hiked to the Col de Cortiou. Just spectacular. I saw three other people. It felt really wild and lonely in a nourishing way. A guidebook I found recommended staying on the more technical trail along the coast. It turned out to be a lot of exposure, but well-worth the views and the sensation of being perched on a true cliff with the sea straight below. A few cables and a bit of climbing - mostly just fun.

The culmination of the stretch I did, the Col de Cortiou, offered these spanning vistas of the sea and the small islands that hover out in the distance. The sky that day came on strong, the clouds convincing in their changing forms.

























I found the Calanque de l’Escu and sat on the enormous chunks of rock there in a stupor for a while. Such a wild and hidden place, almost like a sea cave. The day was a bit stormy, so the waves came crashing into the cavern with force. The place feels tragic and ominous because it is. Above the cavern there is a plaque with a boy’s name on it: Sylvain Menu. In 1981 an older boy scout dove into crashing waves to save one of the younger boys in their troop of hikers. He managed to save the boy, but was carried out to sea by another forceful wave that came just after.

Andrew in Provence

My littlest brother Andrew came to stay for a week, having just finished a two-year mission in France. I’m very happy to report that he is a true French speaker now and we will compel him to spend lots of time here going forward. I took him to some of the places I like best around here...Gordes, Bonnieux, Cassis and the Calanques

Les Calanques.

Stephen and I headed out one day last week to explore the Calanques between Cassis and Marseille. It is a stretch of land between those two coastal cities that is protected - a national park, actually. The calanques are inlets in the Mediterranean coastline with high limestone cliffs on both sides. The water beneath is turquoise. The trees - phosphorescent green.



We started in Cassis and hiked through the Calanque de Port Miou (just outside of Cassis), the Calanque de Port Pin to the Calanque d'en Vau. We started around noon and were back in Cassis about 4pm, with a nice rest/swim on the beach near Calanque d'en Vau in the middle. We also scrambled up a pretty steep and poorly marked trail on our way back (climbing at certain points, afraid we'd have to turn around and certain the way down would be much trickier than climbing up the rock faces). It was a wild trek and was just right. I had been craving that kind of excursion for a long time. The terrain is unreal - such beauty. The water was frigid, but fitting with the rest of the experience. I loved spending time there in between those cliffs with my brother - having a good heart-to-heart. It made the notion of living this far away from him more bearable.