Day Trips from Aix Part 3 - Hiking Parc National des Calanques

Provence is known for many things, especially the rolling hills blanketed in lavender and fragrant herbs.  Another part of the natural beauty of Provence that I did not consider as "Provencal" is the coast line.  Certainly I knew of the French Riviera and I knew it was close to Aix, but I did not realize it was part of what is called "Provence".  Turns out it is.  The French Riviera is an area of coastline that is known for its fancy towns and super yachts (think Saint Tropez, Monaco and Cannes), but the coast line is just that, a line, and as you move further up the coast towards Aix it is less glam and more natural beauty.  This natural beauty is what we explored on our day trip to walk the Calenques.  The Calenques is Europe's only national park that includes land, sea and urbanization.  The park is large, extending from Marseille to the ocean and islands just offshore.  We were interested in the section that features beautiful limestone rock and trails that follow the fingers of coastline that jut out into the Mediterranean.

On a beautiful sunny day, with a jet blue sky and electric blue ocean, we drove to the seaside town of Cassis to begin our exploration of the coastline. 

We had a bit of route finding challenge until we realized we should simply follow the other people who looked like they were heading out on a walk.  The area is well known as a place to go for a beautiful hike and there are many trails that extend out once you start.  We wove our way following the coastline while walking the outline of fingers.  We could see where we wanted to go but there were narrow inlets of water between us and the where the path led.  The definition of a Calanque, so says Wikipedia, is "a narrow, steep-walled inlet that is developed in limestone, dolomite, or other carbonate strata and found along the Mediterranean coast."  The path was taking us along and around these inlets.  We passed a couple of beautiful inlets that would have been more than fine for a swim, but in true Leo and Alethea fashion we decided to just "go a little further" because we read that the third Calenque was exceptionally beautiful and worth the effort.  So we walked, and walked some more, in the hot Mediterranean sun, while the shimmering water tantalized us far below.

Finally we came to the point of descent.  The path continued in a couple of different directions, but the way down to the water was only one way, down.  We saw groups of young people grunt their way up the path, hot and sweaty, their time on the beach likely long forgotten.  We asked a few if the hike down was worth it and we got conflicting answers.  But we had come this far we decided to go for it.

The "path" that led us down. And down.

V on the path of scree and loose rock.

When we finally made our way down to the water's edge it was indeed beautiful.  By now it was late afternoon and there were pockets of shade as the sun moved behind the cliffs, but there were still patches of brilliant sun.  We all eagerly headed to the water's edge, ready to cool off with a swim, only to be confronted by really cold water.  Yikes!  The temperature was a bit of a surprise and definitely limited our water time.  We decided we might have been spoiled by the bathwater temperatures we got accustomed to in French Polynesia and Vietnam.  So a leisurely Mediterranean swim it was not, but there were rocks and shells to gather, a picnic to eat, and beautiful scenery to gaze out on.

As the sun sunk further and further behind the cliffs we started the walk back.  The trail was still steep and rocky, but somehow it did not seem as bad as we thought it would be while we had walked down.

Some of our favorite sights on the way back to the car were: a wild boar sniffing around a beach; an older couple, Hobbit sized, with climbing ropes and gear slung over their shoulders returning from a day on the rock walking holding hands (inspirational); the rock and scrubby brush; the sun and sea all playing together to make shadows and pops of colour.

Our day walking the Calenques was a beautiful, blood pumping, nature reveling, beauty abounding day.  Another highly recommended day trip while in Provence.