I asked for another charming town, and Mohamed graciously obliged. We would head to Cassis! We did not know then that we'd soon embark on a day that we'd later characterize as unfortunately parking-themed. More on that later.
Cassis is a popular destination (extremely popular, we discovered) that is known for its cliffs and inlets, called calanques. The weather was just perfect, and we quickly found upon arrival that we weren't the only ones who wanted to enjoy the sunshine in Cassis. Mohamed circled this hilly town, with unbelievably tight turns uphill in a manual transmission, for over an hour while we looked for parking. We finally spoke to a traffic cop who advised us to drive to a nearby town and pay for a bus into Cassis. I was very hungry when we finally arrived, so we stopped at a cafe for some mussels. Mine were cooked in heavy cream and grainy mustard -- yum!
We then took a boat ride to see five calanques. The color of the water was very inviting.
I discovered my Crocs tan. Yikes!
I was impressed by how truly charming this town was with the colorful docked boats, imposing cliffs overlooking aqua waters, and cute shops filled with quaint handmade treats. I was not nearly as impressed with St. Tropez, yet another renowned destination that had me a bit confused over its rise to fame. There were some high-end shops and a rather non-distinctive harbor, both of which didn't interest me very much. The good news is that I some yummy ice cream (coconut and mango), which was very appealing.
In keeping with the day's theme of parking, I unexpectedly found myself face-to-face with a testy French woman at the "pay for parking" machine: she was standing off to the side and talking on the phone, and I inserted my parking ticket to pay. The next thing I knew, she was trying to grab the ticket out of my hand and spouting loud phrases in French. Thank goodness Mohamed was able to talk to her -- when I asked what she was so agitated about, he translated for me and said that she was insisting I had taken her ticket. Even though he continued to try explaining and calming her with soothing tones, she was so upset that she pounded on the service window and asked a parking attendant to come out. She quieted only when she found her ticket still in the machine. Ugh!
Cassis is a popular destination (extremely popular, we discovered) that is known for its cliffs and inlets, called calanques. The weather was just perfect, and we quickly found upon arrival that we weren't the only ones who wanted to enjoy the sunshine in Cassis. Mohamed circled this hilly town, with unbelievably tight turns uphill in a manual transmission, for over an hour while we looked for parking. We finally spoke to a traffic cop who advised us to drive to a nearby town and pay for a bus into Cassis. I was very hungry when we finally arrived, so we stopped at a cafe for some mussels. Mine were cooked in heavy cream and grainy mustard -- yum!
