Shared Illusions

Oh-la-la!

I couldn’t be this close to the Med, ie in Provence, and not buzz down to the sea. Then the realization – I was last here in 1978, or ’77. Which is it Laurie? Oh, the memories. Laurie and I had one piece bathing suits. We got to the beach and all the women were in bikini bottoms. Off we toddled to some cheapie store to pinch some bottoms of our own. Now we were properly attired for the French Riviera! We somehow managed to spend time on the beaches of Nice, Cannes, and Eze-Sur-Mer. We tried to hitchhike to St. Tropez, but gave up. Back then when you bought a Eurail pass for a month you could travel as much as you wanted to. Once we hopped on a train for a lark just to see where it would take us. Nowadays you have to choose how many travel days you want within a month – and pay accordingly. Time for a photo…

We are in La Ciotat, east of Marseilles. I opted for a smaller town, though it’s still plenty large. But we can walk to the old port, veille ville, and beaches in about 20 minutes.

Today we walked to Parc Mugel, with its sea vistas and tail end of the Calanques – steep cliffs rising from the ocean.

France is a rocky country.

And while this beach wasn’t big rocky, it wasn’t sandy. Though the ocean floor was incredibly fine sand.

The above two photos in Parc Mugel. As is the next one of a field of Sweet Alyssum.

Tomorrow we return the car in Avignon and the following day will find us on a train to Rennes, Bretagne, from which we’ll do some day trips. Rennes also sounds interesting, so stay tuned. Don’t touch that dial!