OMG! Another Perspective

I don't think I have ever taken over 100 photos in one day before. I've never even come close but Saturday was different.  I took over 250 photos which will give you some idea of the kind of day we had!

In the previous blog, I wrote about the coastline in this part of France.  Along it, there are small, very picturesque inlets or coves known as les calanques.  In fact, from just east of Marseille to La Ciotat, there is a marine national park of that name.  I had seen pictures of them on the Internet but was not prepared for how stunningly beautiful they are.  From Bandol, there are boats trips which vary in the number of calanques that you see.  Information on Trip Advisor said take one that visits at least 10.  We chose one that would visit 12.  By the way, the boat trip is rated as the #1 activity to do here.  So, Saturday we boarded the boat along with about 50 French people - not one other English speaking person - for the 3 1/2 hour trip.  While the weather had started out sunny, just about the time of our 2 p.m. departure, some clouds rolled in.  I can only imagine how much better my photos would be if it had been sunnier.  I was really looking forward to seeing the cliffs we'd walked on the previous day from sea level.  I was not disappointed. 



One of les rochers not far from La Ciotat

During the trip I alternated between wishing my French was a lot better (the entire commentary was in French) and wishing I knew more about geology.  What is clear is that the land here was at some point millions of years ago under the ocean.  You could see the layers in the rock formations. Also, while the cliffs around La Ciotat were ochre in colour (much like the earth around Roussillon, a village inland from here, and the coastline further east around St. Raphael) as we went west, they became more calcified and limestone. So, with no further ado, here is some of the scenery we saw. 

This is the first inlet we visited

This one is called, not surprisingly, Tete du Chien, the dog's head

Looking up at the cliffs where we stood on Friday

The other remarkable sight we saw on this trip was the incredible places that people choose to climb.  In some of the photos, you will see a little red or green mark. They are actually people who are climbing up the rock face!

This calanque is called The Fallen Stones

There is actually a couple sitting at the edge of the cliff!
No acrophobia here!

As I say, I have hundreds of photos like these.  Maybe I will put some more in a separate blog.  They are worth posting but I have to straighten them first!  Sunday is our last day here so we took it easy.  The weather had turned very cloudy and cool so we weren't inspired to go very far.  Besides, we'd been woken up very early (7 a.m.!)by the sound of someone on a PA system.  Apparently, unbeknownst to us, it was Bandol's turn to host a triathlon.  So, from our balcony, we could watch hundreds of competitors swimming, cycling and running.  so much easier than doing it ourselves!