Dunns On Tour

A final balcony breakfast and then back on the bus to Marseille. Arriving around midday we were too early to check in to our hotel - the same one as before - but they let us leave our suitcase. We decided initially to head back into the Panier district, as Joff wasn’t feeling well enough to enjoy it the first time around. It seemed to be busier this time, with more people around. Such a nice vibe in that part of the city. Joff had looked up somewhere to eat in that area, and we weren’t able to get in for the evening, so decided to have lunch there instead. It was a good decision, and really tasty food - Restaurant La Ripaille, should you happen to be passing. After that we followed another urban walking trail, this time taking in the area south of the port, and around to the Palais du Pharo, where we were able to sit in the shade for a bit, looking out over a different view of the city. The temperature has been steadily climbing all week, and when we left the hotel around 7pm, it had g...

  Joff had an appointment at 1pm and another at 7pm, so we stayed local. We decided on a final visit to Cal. de Port-Pin this morning. My own personal wild swimming pool awaited, as we were the first ones there. I embraced the opportunity for a magical moment alone with the undisturbed fish. This afternoon took us to the town beach - the only local place so far that we hadn’t swum from. The beach is tiny smooth pebbles, so it’s comfortable to lounge on, and we took full advantage. We both enjoyed our sea swim, and followed by ice cream on the way back up the hill, it felt like a fitting end to our spell in Cassis. Em x

  La Calanque de Port-Pin was today’s destination. We had walked through it on our way to Cal. d’En-Vau, but hadn’t spent any time there. The latter is hands down the most spectacular of the calanques, due to its precipitous and narrow canyon walls, but Port-Pin is very lovely. As with all the others, the beach is small and stony, but the walls on either side have long, sloping ledges leading down towards the water in the direction of the sea. As a result, people pick their way along the rocks, and very much like sea birds, find a spot to perch and make a nest of towels. We did likewise, and managed to find somewhere that was flattish, wide enough, and just about navigable into the water on bare feet. The 20-30m of water nearest the beach is relatively shallow, and so we found that although it was cold, the temperature was ok once we were in. There were noticeably more people in the water here than at other places we’ve been, so it’s not just us! After some time back at the flat wi...

We both slept well and as a result have been really dozy all day. I had a nap in the morning and afternoon - unheard of! We reminded ourselves that on holiday it’s very much ok to do nothing, and relaxed into reading and simply gazing at the view, which I am really going to miss. Dinner drew us out, followed by a brief sit on the town beach, and that is the sum total of our day. Em x

 The downside of last night’s festivities was that the music pounded until midnight. The upside was that we had ringside seats to a superlative AND EXTREMELY LOUD firework display. From our vantage point it seemed at times as though the entire sky was filled with colour. I was up early and down to the town to pick up breakfast. Asking in the tourist info yesterday about walking eastwards over to the next town, we were told that on Sundays the Route des Crêtes is closed to cars so that cyclists can enjoy its hairpin bends, and that for walkers there is a shuttle that takes you to the start of the walk following the same route. The shuttle only takes 8 passengers, and leaves hourly, so we wanted to make sure we were on the first one at 9.10. Particularly as the tourist advisor had told us that the walk to La Ciotat would take around 7 hours. Her normal punters must be octogenarian one-legged hikers, because half that time brought us to the outskirts, and we weren’t rushing. The Cap C...

A slow day, incorporating a late breakfast and the two-minute walk to our nearest beach. Turns out that the sea temperature is no warmer than the water in the calanques, ie blimmin’ cold! It looked so inviting that we still managed a couple of dips to cool off. It’s funny how the noise for ‘OMG it’s cold’ is a universal language.  The main town beach is by the harbour. The one near us is much smaller, and soon filled up. We were entertained/disproportionately irritated by the obligatory and seemingly endless posing for selfies. What’s the universal language for grumpiness at the extreme narcissism on display? An eye roll, maybe? A late lunch on our balcony watching the busy sea traffic. There’s some kind of sailing festival on, so the town is the busiest we’ve seen it, and there was a sound check earlier for a covers band playing 80s hits, so we have that to look forward to? Joff was delighted to find a rugby match on telly, and I enjoyed a snooze before we headed down for some din...

A good night, by 2025 standards, which meant that Joff was feeling human for the first time in a while. And a sunny breakfast - yay!  Friday is market day, so after a cuppa we headed down to see what was on offer and to pick up breakfast supplies. We spent a stupid amount of money on some very fine cheese, drawn in by a superlative salesman, who engaged us with cheerful banter and some fooling around with a hat.  Looked at that way, we bought not only the actual cheese, but also some cheese theatre, so it was money well spent. It turns out that the sun hits our balcony only in the mid-morning, so we took our chance, then packed bathers and a picnic (cheese, obviously) and set out on the two hour walk to Calenque d’En-Vau, west towards Marseille. According to the local tourism info this is the ‘must see’ calanque, and it merits that epithet. The walk is pretty strenuous, with many rugged and sometimes skittery steep ups and downs. So beautiful, though. Pines, sea and rock, of c...

 No sunny breakfast yet, as we awoke to a cloudy morning following a little overnight rain.  A bad night, but not the worst, partly a result of the unfamiliar surroundings and sleeping arrangements probably. Stupid French square pillows. What’s that about? And who, in their right mind, in the 21st century, uses sheets and blankets rather than a duvet? Quelle horreur! It was a coolish blustery morning so we decided to find our way into les Calanques to start to orient ourselves. On our way westwards we skirted our local beach, a whole 2 minute walk away.  The first Calanque is Cal. de Port-Miou, a long inlet with small leisure boats moored all the way up. A bit like the coast path in Cornwall, you descend all the way down to the water and back up the other side. The landscape is gorgeous without being pretty, thanks to the ruggedness of the rock, and I can’t get enough of the pine trees. Just love ‘em.  We needed to get back for a 2pm online appointment for Joff, so w...

  A bad night, but a pretty good day. We took our time this morning, dumped our suitcase at hotel reception and set off to explore another bit of the city. Our first target was the area around the Marché des Capucins. Another hotch potch of narrow streets, widening for the market place. This area has a very north African feel. Shops selling spices by the bucket load and halal stores.  Via many a plane tree-lined street, we ended up at Parc Longchamp, with its fantastically grand and fountained entrance. The two wings of the building host the natural history and fine art museums respectively. Heading back towards the hotel to retrieve our luggage, we had a pitstop for a bite and an alcohol-free beer. Joff is supposed to be avoiding alcohol, and I don't need to be rendered any more sleepy than I already am. Lovely and refreshing. Luggage safely in hand we set off to walk the half hour to our bus stop for Cassis. We had allowed plenty of time to find it, so we hit a cafe nearby. ...

  The hotel breakfast was welcome this morning after our slightly weirdly-timed meals yesterday. Fresh fruit and yoghurt, bread, pastries and cake.  We weren’t terrifically rested as we were regularly disturbed by violent flashes of lightening and some booms of thunder. However, fortified by le petit déjeuner we set off under cloudy skies to get to know the city. Our first foray took us to the Panier district - the oldest in the city. A warren of narrow, hilly streets, almost every wall covered with interesting street art and less interesting graffiti. It reminded me a little of parts of Lisbon. Joff was struggling a bit and I was also on a low ebb, so we made it back to the hotel for a spell to regather. Once we’d recovered we decided to head up to Norte Dame de La Garde, the basilica on the hill that we see from our window. It’s the highest point in the city, and as the skies had cleared, it seemed like a good time to take in the view. It was a steep trek in places, and we a...

A long day travelling, but everything went very smoothly. All train connections from Taunton to Paddington to St Pancras to La Gare du Nord to La Gare de Lyons to Marseille were all made with time to spare.  The TGV is aptly named, and we hurtled south through France as if pursued by a very hungry velociraptor. With a jet pack. We arrived in Marseilles shortly after 8pm, and enjoyed our trot down to the harbour to the Hotel Belle Vue, which indeed it is. We are in a room overlooking the water, which is lovely, though it’s pretty busy out there even at 11pm on a school night. We were both pretty tired and a bit peckish, so we dumped our bags and parked ourselves outside a café serving cold beer and tapas. We ordered modestly and it was just right. Our weariness just about permitted a short leg-stretch part way round the bustling waterside in the balmy air before we succumbed to the lure of our room. Em x