Only Provence Day Trip #5

!e Glo"#s Med...

Depending on the location of your villa, the trip to Cassis may take a bit more than an hour. Cassis is known for its dramatic white limestone cliffs with sweeping views of the Med. It’s a great place for families--super for a picnic and a hike or an afternoon boat tour after a lazy lunch.

While Cassis is a most picturesque town with an abundance of boats, there is a bit of a scarcity of parking spaces. Your best bet is to use the following GPS co-ordinates as a target, you might find another spot as you drive through the town.

GPS: 430 12' 15.03" N 50 32' 26.90" E

You’ll find that the picturesque part of Cassis is clustered around its harbor. The houses are very colorful and it would be wise to take along a box of Kleenex or a camera. The first, because it is quite possible to drool, looking at all the boats anchored in the bay, the second to get a picture to take back to your very own naval architect to design your personal ocean-going yacht!

Shops and restaurants abound and it is absolutely possible, nay almost required, to have a pre-lunch aperitif , a Kir or better still a Kir Royale, a mix of white wine and Crème de Cassis in the first instance or champagne and Crème de Cassis in the second. Contrary to what the true “Marseillaise” are telling you, the Bouillabaisse in Cassis is just as fantastic. So is the Baguette served alongside. Things to Do in Cassis: • wander, shop and eat :) • sit on the beach...can get quite busy in summer • take a BOAT RIDE: Boats leave from the harbor and you'll find a number of boat tours ranging from 45-90 minutes (15-25 euros per person) • hike the trails and have a picnic (limited hiking in summer weeks due to risk of fire)

Should you wish to carry on, leave the parking lot, and assuming you parked where recommended, exit on to the rue de l’Arène, by making a left turn. Follow that road, leading into the Avenue de Provençe and then into the Route Pierre Imbert, which will lead you to the D141, a.k.a Route des Crêtes, in the direction of La Ciotat.

This road follows the coastal crest on top of the Calanques, the coastal cliffs. The Route des Crêtes, has several view/parking areas, giving you the opportunity to take some souvenir pictures.

At the tip of the peninsula is a signals station and lighthouse, worth a visit. La Ciotat is at the end of the Route des Crêtes, The town has a very large ship yard and to the west is an interesting rock formation called “Le Bec de L’aigle”, the eagles beak, quite appropriate when you see it.

The following may be of interest to a film buff and to anyone wondering where the French penchant for throwing balls at a little target on a sandy patch comes from.

La Ciotat was the setting of one the very first projected motion pictures, L'Arrivée d'un train engare de La Ciotat filmed by the Lumière brothers in 1895. After several private showings, the fiftys econd long film was given a public screening on December 28, 1895, in Paris, the first recorded commercial public showing of a motion picture. According to the Institut Lumière, before its Paris premiere, the film was shown to invited audiences in several French cities, including La Ciotat. It was screened at the Eden Theater in September 1896, making that theater one of the first motion picture theaters.

Another three of the earliest Lumière films, Partie de cartes, l'Arroseur arrosé (the first known filmed comedy), and Repas de bébé, were also filmed in La Ciotat in 1895, at the Villa du Clos des Plages, the summer residence of the Lumière Brothers. In 1904 the Lumiere Brothers also developed the worlds first colour photographs in La Ciotat.

The Palais Lumière, the home of the family, is now open and admission is free of charge. The Palais is located at Allée Lumière F and the GPS co-ordinate is: 430 11' 16.26" N 50 37' 01.48" E In 1907 Jules Le Noir invented the game of pétanque in La Ciotat, and the first tournament was held there in 1910. The history of the game is documented in the Musée Ciotaden, which is located at: 1 Quai Ganteaume (tel. +33-04-42-71-40-99)

Leaving La Ciotat, follow the signs to the A50 and then to Marseille/Aix-en-Provençe if you are located in that direction, or towards, Toulon/Nice if you are located in the Côte d’Azur area. a note:

Cassis is NOT the place where the popular blackcurrant liqueur originates from.

This is what the internet tells: The modern version of the beverage first appeared in 1841, when it displaced "ratafia de cassis”, which had been produced in prior centuries. It is made from black currants that are crushed and soaked in ethanol, with sugar subsequently added. While Crème de Cassis is a specialty of Burgundy, it is also made in Anjou, Luxembourg, Quebec and Tasmania. The quality of crème de cassis depends upon the variety of fruit used, the sugar content of the berries, and the production process. If it is labeled "Crème de cassis de Dijon”, one is guaranteed berries from the commune of Dijon. Since 1997, a syndicate has tried to obtain an "Appellation d'Origine Controlée" for"Crème de Cassis de Bourgogne," which would guarantee the origin and variety of berries and the quantity of berries used in its production. Nearly 16 million litres of crème de cassis are produced annually. It is consumed mostly in France but is also exported.