Our initial plan for today was to go to Arles and Nîmes. However, after driving for over two hours yesterday, we wanted to spend less time in the car today, and abandoned the idea.
We went to a nearby boulangerie for a breakfast of quiche, croissants, coffee, and a cream puff.
We decided to go west to Cassis (where we initially thought we had booked, before picking an AirBnB in La Ciotat) to catch a boat tour in the Porquerolles. After a short drive to Cassis, we could not for the life of us find a spot to park.
The woman at the art gallery that we had talked to last night told us that Cassis was a much more touristy town than La Ciotat and Sanary-sur-Mer. So after 20+ minutes driving around looking for street parking, or even a lot that was not completely full, we decided to abandon Cassis for Sanary-sur-Mer.
On our way back east, I decided to explore the Route des Cretes, a scenic route back to La Ciotat, that wound it’s way over the mountains, offering breathtaking views of both La Ciotat and Cassis, as well as the blue ocean below.
I came back, dried off, and stood guard over our belongings, while mom went for a swim. A young man working at the nearby restaurant informed me that, no, this chair was not public, and that yes, I would have to leave. So I left my spot, and went to change while mom finished enjoying her first dip in the Mediterranean.
We browsed some more shops along the main road, grabbed an Aperol Spritz, and set off to find a vineyard. (Also, it turns out that we were in Bandol, and not actually Sanary-sur-Mer.)
We stumbled upon the vineyard Chateau Canadel, and they were able to fit us in for a tasting. I’m not a wine connoisseur, but it’s always fun to get to have somebody smart tell you about something they love. The man running the tasting was the owner, who ran it with his son and daughter-in-law. We got to taste seven different bottles, comparing some of the different techniques they used, see their barrels, and some bottle storage. The owner was very conversational– having studied business in New York, his English was excellent.
Bandol is apparently an AOC (controlled) wine, using specific grapes and specific aging. All but one of their offerings followed followed the rules. The one that didn’t, they tried just for fun- to mimic how the Romans would have made wine. It was all natural, and not barrel aged. I liked it more than mom did, but I think the owner wasn’t even a fan.
After the tasting, we drove back in the direction of La Ciotat, driving by a village on a hill. I’m a sucker for a village on a hill, so we set our sites on it, took a few wrong turns, and then ended up at Cadière d-Azur.
Driving through the small town, we saw a handful of restaurants, and decided to have dinner, which was…. duck… and… squid… and loup… which I initially translated as Wolf, but eventually was corrected to Sea-bass. The patrons near us struck up a conversation, with mixed success. Jean-Michel’s English was about as bad as my French, so at least we were on the same level. They had a dog named Prunella. I’m pretty confident he said this was “Jedi Pose”, but I can’t be sure. He also likes the Rolling Stones
