France
Cassis
White limestone calanques plunging into water so blue it silences the conversation on the boat.
The boat swings round the headland and the first calanque opens up — white limestone walls dropping sheer into water so intensely blue it looks synthetic. Cassis, on France's Mediterranean coast, sits in a natural harbour between the calanques and its vineyards, a fishing port where the boats still come in and the day's first glass of the local white is poured by mid-morning. The light here is hard and clean, the kind that makes shadows sharp.
The calanques are narrow limestone inlets running east from Cassis towards Marseille, and since 2012 they have been the Calanques National Park, which sets the rules: boats from the harbour thread into them, marked paths climb over the headlands to the coves between, and in high summer the park closes the paths on days of fire risk. Cassis wine is among the oldest appellations in France — recognised in 1936 alongside Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Arbois and Sauternes — and its white, mostly Marsanne and Clairette, grows on limestone within sight of the sea. East of the port the red cliffs of Cap Canaille rear up out of the water, among the tallest sea cliffs on the French coast, with the corniche road along their top is the other view worth the climb.
Couple
A boat into the calanques in the morning, lunch on the harbour with the local white, and a swim from the rocks in the afternoon. The day practically plans itself.
Friends
The coastal path from Cassis into the calanques is a scramble through pine to swimming coves — each inlet another discovery. Pack lunch, carry water, and check the fire notice before you go.
- The calanques — white limestone inlets with turquoise water — are reached by boat from the harbour or on foot over the headlands, inside a national park.
- Cassis white comes from one of the oldest appellations in France, recognised in 1936, and is hard to find anywhere else.
- The harbour is small enough that fishing boats and pleasure craft share the quay at arm's length.
- Cap Canaille's red cliffs rear sheer out of the sea east of the port, among the highest on the French coast.
Cassis white — Marsanne and Clairette off the limestone above the port — mineral-bright, with the day's grilled fish on the quay.
Tapenade and anchoïade with a pastis at a harbour table as the boats come in.
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