Hi. I am so excited to make our trip to the south of france in July. My fiancee wanted to go back to Marseille(she went to summer school there) for Bastille Day and we have a week booked from July 14th-21, 2007 in Cassis. Any ideas on things to do around Cassis?
We want to relax but keep busy exploring as I have never been? My ideal day would be to wake up and eat breakfast at a quaint cafe, see some touristy spots till my feet hurt, hang by the beach in the afternoon, then have dinner and party till a respectable hour.
We have another week July 7th- 14th to travel from Venice (arrival) to Cassis. Our options and limitless and I have looked into Tuscany and Florence or Ciene Tierre or Portofino. Any suggestions on what to do for 5-6 days before the 14th from venice.
One of the nights on the way I wanted to stay for free with SPG points at Le Meridien Nice, Le Meridien Garden Beach-Juan-les-Pins or Le Meridien Beach Plaza-Monaco. We were thinking about day trips to Nice area from Cassis. Any ideas on these hotels and which is the best for a honeymoon?
Any experiences are really appreciated,
Bret
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There isn%26#39;t a whole lot to see or do in Cassis itself. It is really just a good-sized village, pleasant enough but you can see about all there is to see in a couple of hours. You can take a boat ride along the cost towards Marseille to look at the rocky inlets, the Calanques. There is a small sandy beach, a few cafés and restaurants mostly clustered round the harbor and that%26#39;s about it. I haven%26#39;t been there in July but I would be surprised if there was much in the way of nightllife even then. (Cassis isn%26#39;t St. tropez...) You can hike along the coastline to some of the Calanques where there are small hidden sandy beaches but these will be very crowded in July. (I have been there a couple of times in late September and there were plenty of people there the. BTW most of these beaches or the rocks nearby are %26quot;clothing optional.%26quot; I mention this just so you won%26#39;t be surprised. I%26#39;m not sure that you will be able to make your %26quot;ideal day%26quot; happen in Cassis...
It%26#39;s not clear if you will have a car but, assuming you do, under normal circumstances Marseille would be about a half hour trip, Aix-en-Provence about 45 minutes and Avignon about 1.5 hours. In the other direction St. Tropez would be about a 1.5 hour trip, Cannes about 2 hours and Nice about 2.5 hours.
I mention the %26quot;under normal circumstances%26quot; thing because the whole of the south of France including Cassis is wall-to-wall people in July and August. Travel times by road can easily double. Just the last 10 km or so getting into or out of St. Tropez for example can take an hour or more. Getting into and out of Cassis can be problematic too though probably not as bad as St. Trop. Since you would probably be leaving in the a.m. and returning in the p.m. it wouldn%26#39;t be as bad in any case. You do want to be sure that wherever you are staying has parking. Nice and the surrounding area are probably a bit far for a day trip especially in July..
If you are using the train to get about you can get to all these places except St. Trop. Normally it would take a bit longer by train. In July it would probably be quicker — and you wouldn%26#39;t have the hassle of trying to find somewhere to park when you got to wherever you are going...
Incidentally all the other places you mention in both France and Italy including Venice will also be at just about their most packed with visitors in July, possibly not quite as crowded as a week or two later but I don%26#39;t think you would notice the difference. Not to discourage you, but I wouldn%26#39;t want you to arrive without some idea what you were leting yourselves in for...
You do know that July 14th is the French national holiday, right? It seems you are planning to leave that day. I wouldn%26#39;t. First travelling is likely to be difficult. Second, wherever you are in France it would be a pity not to stick around for the party...
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Rovr, Thanks for the reply. Don%26#39;t worry about July 14th, as that is when we will be staying in Cassis. I worded it backwards and can see now that it was a little confusing.
Any ideas on the hotels I have listed?
We weren%26#39;t planning on a car. Can we pick one up in Marseille?
Any suggestions on road trips out of Cassis. Maybe we should rent a car?
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Last summer some friends and I spent 8 nights in the Luberon/Vaucluse area of Provence. It is full of little towns/perched villages that are just a feast for the eyes. We based ourselves in Pernes les Fontaines and took daytrips in a different direction each day. Being women, we based our itinerary on the various outdoor markets each day and then drove around that particular area to the villages we wanted to see. We did a daytrip to Cassis which we found to be very charming and I also would second the boat ride out among the Calanques. We found that the boat will drop you off at the few beaches among the calanques and then pick you up later. We just didn%26#39;t have the time to do that. That was probably an hour and a half drive from Pernes.
I would spend some time on the internet or at your local bookstore (Barnes %26amp; Noble or Border%26#39;s), see what towns/villages sing to you, find a good map of Provence, and then plan accordingly.
Some of the wonderful villages we visited were:
Pernes les Fontaines (stayed in fabulous guesthouse/B%26amp;B - www.lelavandinprovence.com)
Roussillon
Gordes
Bonnieux
Menerbes
Abbaye de Senanque (a monastery that has huge fabulous lavender fields)
L%26#39;Isle sur la Sorgue (spectacular market on Sunday - get there early for parking - 9A)
St. Remy
Pont du Gard
Vaison-la-Romaine
Seguret
Gigondas
Day in Cassis
With all the beauty in the Luberon/Vaucluse, I personally would base myself in that area and do a daytrip to Cassis or perhaps even spend one night there. Obviously, a car would be a necessity.
Enjoy!
joy/luvparee
P.S. The recent movie with Russell Crowe (The Good Year) was based on a Peter Mayle novel and was filmed in and around the Luberon area - Bonnieux, Cucuron, etc. Although not as much as we would have liked to have seen, the scenery is fabulous! That might give you a taste of what you can expect in this area of Provence.
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Luvparee-
Thank you for your help and I have already started looking at some of those small towns and they sound great.
Any ideas for places to stay coming from Florence to Marseille (Cassis) I know I liked the Juan les Pins/Antibes area...Do you find it attractive. What about St. Tropez as Rovr liked or St. Raphael. I think we could manage a day trip to their beaches from Cassis.
I would hate to miss Nice though and I only have 3 nights/4 days in between Florence and Cassis.
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luvparee makes some excellent suggestions. The problem is that the closest of those places is a goood two hour drive from Cassis, the farthest probably a good four hours — and that%26#39;s without taking into account heavy summer traffic. I wouldn%26#39;t attempt a day trip to St. Trop from Cassis in July. In the off season it would take you more than two hours to drive each way, in July probably more than three.
I tried to suggest this gently in my first post. I guess I%26#39;ll have to be more blunt. I do not think Cassis is a good base for a week at any time of the year. I think it is a bad choice in July. In fact I%26#39;d be inclined to spend as little time as possible on the coast at that time unless you are going to stay in Nice or Cannes or somewhere along that part of the coast with good train connections to those places. At least there will be enough for you to do in those places, enough restaurants and bars, enough nightlife to keep you amused. Even then you will be fighting monster crowds at every turn and every seat in every café and restaurant will be at a premium. (My friends who live inland from there never think of going to the coast towns in July and August.)
My suggestion would be that you spend a couple of days somewhere along the coast between Monaco and Cannes using the train to do any sightseeing you want to do and then pick up a car and head inland to somewhere close to the Lubéron — possibly l%26#39;Isle-sur-la-Sorgue — and stay in that area in one of the lovely B%26amp;Bs that abound there.
Besides the fact that Cassis as I said is really a place to visit for a few hours rather than stay for a week —unless you want peace and quiet and then you don%26#39;t want to go there in july or August — the one road into and out of the viillage is narrow and twisty and it will take you a long time, fighting holiday traffic in both directions, to get to other places you might want to see. It is just not a good central base for exploring the area.
To answer your question, yes you can rent a car in Marseille — or Nice, Cannes, ASix-en-Provence, Avignon or probably a dozen other places in the region. And i didn%26#39;t make any comment on the hotels you ask about because I really don%26#39;t know much about hotels in the area not having stayed in on for years and then not in any of those you mentioned.
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Luvparee..
Would you be kind enough to e-mail me at ...ajames13@cogeco.ca.
We are 4 ladies who travel to France every 4 years.Have done the St.Remy base...and now have rented a gite in Venasque for a week.
From reading your post , I think you%26#39;ll have some good tips for us.
Thanks,
Sharon
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Just briefly to add to other messages, the problem with southern France at the exact time of year that you are going is that this is where the French people from Northern France will have also gone on holiday. You could well find yourself in a car sitting for an hour or two (or more) in hot sun stationery in a queue of traffic just trying to get along the coast or in/out of a beach area. It is very unpleasant. Try and stick to centres where there is public transport. If you do hire a car then the best way is to use the motorways that go around the back to the Coastline, but these are very expensive.
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Portofino is supposed to be superb. Michael Winner always goes on about it, two very good hotels there, names have escaped me. If you travel from Portofino through border to Monacco and then see Nice, perhaps get train from Nice(?) to Cassis, or sneak along coast/inland early mornings. No point back tracking. Lovely medievel villages set back from coast include Gassan(not sure of spelling) which is right behind St Tropez and Bormes Les Mimosa behind Le Lavandou. Le Lavandou has beaches St Clair and Auguebelle unspoilt with great beach bars, but possibly busy in August. All on way to Cassis. Nice has Grasse and Chateau Nuef de Pape (bad spelling, sorry)set back from coast and well worth seeing. The French version of the grand canyon is set somewhere back from coast between Bormes and Toulon. Sorry to be vague, Hope you have a lovely Honeymoon.
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We pay the tolls every year from Nice to Bormes via the N8, it takes less than 2 hours (in May) and isnt expensive. Hope that helps.
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I just read your post and although we are headed to France for the first time I%26#39;ve been to Italy twice and the Cinque Terre was the most wonderful, romantic spot we have ever been and it was our honeymoon!!!! We hiked and ate wonderful seafood and love the great wine and taking the boat from village to village and thought it was a great bang for our buck and being in Italy in late June we were VERY hot and thrilled to be on the water. If you want our hotel recommendation or any other info on this area please let me know because I have an entire spreadsheet on Venice/Florence/Tuscany and Cinque Terre. It is hands down the coolest place we%26#39;ve ever been and only hope we can top it in France this summer.
Jamie Webb
bjam15@comcast.net
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