The French coast: but not quite the Riviera!

Saturday 13th May

Our last day in Marseilles meant we had to do the one visit that we weren't able to do until today. A visit to MAC, the Museum of Contemporary Art whose new exhibition opened today. We were intrigued from the start by a car in the Reception area: Ewan had quite a chuckle about it as form one angle it looked just like a normal car, but not from the opposite angle.

Ewan loved this piece of art for obvious reasons

There was a fascinating collection of media including video, sculpture,  painting, drawing form a range of artists. The special exhibition was called Hip-hop and included lots of sound and video stations, clothes, skateboards, graffiti and everything that has become part of the hip hop culture. Initially I thought I was too old and I wouldn't really get it, but there were some fascinating footage linking hip hop with civil rights and the progress of the Negroes in the slums of America. so it was very engrossing. I particularly liked the videos of the dancing of course, and the skill and energy required!

Then we set off for a trip eastwards along the coast of France. We aren't going to make it to the Riviera so Cassis was a taste of that lifestyle. A beautiful blue bay set in some towering mountains - it was the quintessential beach resort. Tanned bodies, tourists prowling, expensive shops and even more expensive restaurants and of course, fabulous ice cream which we enjoyed.

The main beach was terrifying as there was a huge swell and the beach is very steep so huge waves just dump close to shore and actually swimming seemed far too dangerous.
And most importantly the sun was shining! I even changed into my sandals for the first time since we arrived. Hooray!

We wandered around the promenade to have a good look and ate some lunch sitting in the sunshine overlooking the beach and the multitudes of boats bobbing in the blue Mediterranean Sea.

As it was still early we decided to drive further eastwards which meant climbing up the enormous sheer mountains that line this part of the coast. They are so high that by the time we reached the top the sun had disappeared and white cloud was drifting by, obscuring the view. Staying on the very circuitous road was an effort as lots of Saturday motor bike riders had decided to wind their way far too fast around the bends, which was rather worrying as there were steep cliffs on my side of the road!

We drove through La Ciotat which is a working port town and had none of the glamour of Cassis. On the way back to Marseille we climbed even higher and stopped at some of the lookouts where lots of cars were parked. It seems that walking these very steep mountains is a favourite pastime for many locals and there were tracks everywhere.

At the last stop on the very top we stopped and were horrified to see two people abseiling down a cliff that was literally hundreds of metres above the sea, with nothing between them and the water. As the girl carefully climbed Ewan commented that it would be terrible if she was one of our daughters and I had to agree, I know it's an adrenaline rush but not for me!

Tomorrow we head for Lyon to meet wiht Liz and Tony for a few days so most of the day wlll be spent travelling.

your warm and sunny correspondent

Dianne