After spending three days in Lyon, Thibaud and I continued our road trip to Cassis! Cassis is a town located in the south of France right on the coast. It is absolutely beautiful there, which is probably why there was no easy-to-find parking. The town was full of people and very lively. We stayed in another extremely well-located AirBnB, a 30-second walk from the port, which is filled with restaurants and stores.
One of the most major attractions in Cassis is visiting the calanques. A calanque is an inlet area along the Mediterranean coast. Cassis has three calanques: Calanque de Port Miou, Calanque de Port Pin and Calanque d’En-Vau.
Sometimes in the summer, the calanques are closed due to the risk of fire. Fortunately, they were open for the two days we spent in this town. Calanque d’En-Vau is in my opinion the prettiest of the three, so I was super excited to go to that one specifically. In order to get there, you have to hike. There might have been an option to park somewhere but with the difficulties of finding parking, walking is probably the better option.
After reading this blog by Ellie (known on social media as Ginger Wanderlust) and several others, I felt prepared for the hike. Ellie explained how in order to get to Calanque d’En-Vau, you must start at Calanque de Port Miou and then walk to Calanque de Port Pin, too.
I knew the hike wouldn’t be easy, but I definitely underestimated just how hard it was. This hike was NO joke. I quickly learned that this was a full rock-climbing, 4-hour feat.
From our AirBnB, it took about 40 minutes to reach Port Miou. This walk was mostly on the street so it was the least difficult segment to do. After reaching Port Miou, the path became rocky and more steep, and you could tell it was a challenge from my instantly tomato-red face. Just when you think you’ve made it after arriving at Port Pin, you realize there is one hour left (and the most difficult segment of the three). This is the steepest, rockiest path. There were two options for this path, one is a more “scenic” route and the other is more direct. We took the scenic (and maybe harder) route, but honestly I think they are not that different, as most of the way the colored signs were at the same places for both paths. In general, I seriously could not fathom how so many people were doing this hike and making it look so easy.
Rationing one large water bottle, after two hours we finally arrived at Calanque d’En Vau, and it was immediately worth the hike. The water was crystal blue and the view was gorgeous. We got lucky with the perfect beach day, too. The water was much colder than expected but it felt nice with the heat. Also, the beach there is all rocks, which is something I am not typically used to in the U.S. It was so surreal being in such a beautiful place.
After a few hours on the beach, we started the trip back to the AirBnB. It was much easier on the return; it felt like there was more time downhill and it was easier knowing when the end was in sight.
If you ever visit the calanques and choose to hike, definitely bring plenty of water and comfortable shoes. It’s definitely worth the trip!
Stay tuned for my trip to Marseille:)
Julia's Journey in Paris 
A very beautiful place, indeed!
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