From Marseille to the Cote d'Azur OR Between rain and shine

After spending some time in the city of Marseille, it was time for another excursion into nature.

The Montange Sainte Victorie is arguably the most beautiful mountain in the Provence. It's only about 20km from the city and can be seen from quite a distance driving towards Marseille. 

This limestone massive is just over 1.000 meters high, but it is the most prominent feature in the area. The French painter Paul Cezanne painted over 80 pictures of this mountain in the late 19th Century.

My human took the bus to get to the trail head, leaving me to chill at the campground. When she left, around quarter to eight, the sun was shining and it seemed to be a good day for hiking. Well, that changed about an hour later, soon after she had started the track.

Suddenly it became very windy, clouds moved in fast and it started raining. About half way up, she actually considered leaving the summit be and going back down. Those of you who know her also know that she didn't do that, of course. But it became a tricky hike, the rock was super slippery and the wind really strong.

When she did get to the top, she could hardly hold the phone steady enough to take a shot of the less than fantastic view. Thank you very much!

An old monastery on top of the mountain

When she got back, semi-satisfied with her outing, she took a hot shower and we left for Cassis, about 30km down the road.

And a good move that was, because on the way the sun came out again and by the time we got there it was T-Shirt weather!

Making the most of it, my human and Carmelo walked to the small town from our spot for the night, some 30min out, next to a sports complex.

It's a charming little place with a small harbor surrounded by the obligatory fish restaurants and bars. In the back alleys you can find some artsy shops and galleries. To celebrate the good weather, they sat down in one of the bars to have a beer or two.

Cassis sits on one end of the Calanques National Park, with Marseille being on the other end. In between those two cities lies a greatly biodiversity natural area, above as well as under water. 

A calanque is a narrow, steep-walled inlet that is developed in limestone or other carbonate strata and to be found along the Mediterranean cost. There are 26 of these in the park. Some you can reach by hiking to them, others can only be visited from the water.

And since my humans modus operandi is walking, that's exactly what she did the next day. We parked with another hundred or so cars along one of the trailheads leading into the park. And off they went. They followed a route leading along three calanques and the closer they came to Cassis, from where you can walk in as well, the more it felt like an anthill.

So they turned around and went the other way, naturally. 

In the meantime, I had a little nap. And did not wake up when someone, somehow, managed to open the drivers side door and came in to have a look around. He, she or they upended the dirty-laundry-bag on the bed, took a few things out of a cupboard, went through the bike bag and the city bag - and took a 10-year old headlamp. Half dead anyway and fixed - Mac Gyver style - with a band aid.

And nothing else, nothing! Not the tablet, not the power bank or the Kindle. Which are all not very well hidden. But the bicycle was also inside, making it really hard to move around. So we guess that either they were disturbed or just so annoyed with the bike that they gave up quickly. 

When my human got back it took her a few seconds to realize what had happened. Then her heart rate went up for a few minutes and she felt very confused. After incredulously looking around and finding all the things worth stealing still in place, we moved on from the crime scene.

To explore the Cote d'Azur a little bit, we had picked out a campground close to Nice. From there it is easy to get around with the train. 

On the way, we stopped in Cannes for a few hours. It's got a beautiful, seemingly never ending promenade, alongside which runs the famous shopping street La Croisette. Famous if you are into high end fashion and shopping, that is. Which - no, I don't think I have to explain my humans take on that one.

But it also has a great marina with a lot of super fancy - "We need a bigger boat" - boats and a nice market. And being home to the Cannes film festival, there were some cool superstar paintings to admire.

So many stairs!

We then drove on to the campground and before anything else, my human had a good look inside my hidden compartments, just in case they did not take anything because the aim was to leave something. This was her brothers idea and although it sounded ludicrous at first, on second thought... 

But nothing was to be found. Thankfully!

After this piece of work she went on a long walk along the seafront. It was super windy once again and the ocean was in turmoil. No surprise that it started raining soon after she got back.

And didn't stop hardly at all during the following day. Which was the day she went out to check out Monaco and Nice.

In Monaco, the wind was too strong to open up the umbrella, lest it would fly away or break. So huddled in her rain coat, she walked around this second smallest of all European countries, only Vatican City is smaller. 

Of course there is the Casino in Monte-Carlo, which, from the outside is just a nice, fancy building. The price to enter is 17 Euros. And you have to be dressed the part, of course. So "no go" for my human. 

Front...

... and back of the Casino

As could be expected, there were more super yachts in the harbor than anywhere else we have seen. She walked past the aquarium and the Palais Princier, where Prince Albert stays when he is in town. Which he wasn't. A flag up the pole means he is in. No flag. Might have been because of the wind, though. 

Are you maybe overdoing it with the flags a bit?

A park my human wanted to check out was indeed closed because of the wind. The government seems to want to spare it's people the headaches from dropping palm fronds. All in all, Monaco might be fun to see in summer, but it also might not, for some people watching and celebrity hunting. In November, on a rainy, windy day - not so much.

Between Monaco and Nice the weather eased up a little bit, but it was still raining while my human explored the Place Massena and Place Garibaldi, the city's main squares, the small cathedral (closed, because of the wind?), and Vieux Nice, the old town center. 

An 18th Century high school

                    A tiny Statue of Liberty                          The Tour Bellanda, closed today

During the day...

... and in the dark

Here the parks were also closed, which was a shame. There is a lift you can take up a hundred meters into a park with a great view over the ocean front. It was not to be.

After a 12 hour excursion, a rather wet, rather cold human came back home and was thankful for the comforts of the campground, namely the hot shower.