Les Calanques: an uppy downy coastal path hike

We’ve had a lovely 10 mile hike through the Parc National des Calanques. It was harder than I expected… I should have known better because I’m used to coastal paths that wind up and down between cliffs and bays! It didn’t help that we had to get to the start of the hike from the campsite, and the campsite is outside the town on a steep hill… not so bad on the way out, but rubbish on the way back in the hottest part of the day!

Once we’d reached Cassis, we walked past the port, then past a small beach with a view of the lighthouse before heading uphill to Les Calanques. We would be visiting 3 of these rocky inlets or fjords on our hike.

The first was the Calanque de Port-Miou. This was a very long inlet full of boats. It seemed to take a long time before we passed it and climbed over to the next calanque, Port Pin. There was a small beach here… very busy and noisy, and rather unpleasant! John had our snorkels and swimming gear in his rucksack and we hoped to find a quieter beach later. We certainly weren’t stopping at this one!

The path was steeper now, and very rough and rocky underfoot. There were also fewer people on the trail as it became more difficult, which we were pleased about. The views that opened up in front of us were stunning… sheer white cliffs dropping into turquoise and azure blue sea. The boats far below us looked tiny.

Eventually, after a couple of hours, there was a steep descent down rough steps to the next calanque, Calanque d’en Vau. Our hopes of a quiet beach were dashed when we arrived! People had arrived from several directions, including the sea and the beach was only small. We managed to find a quiet spot on the rocks, in the shade, to have lunch and enjoy the scenery, then we made our way back out of the inlet.

I was surprised to find that the climb out of the calanque didn’t take as long as I expected, nor was it too exhausting in the heat. Maybe I’m getting used to the high temperatures at last. We had originally intended to do a circular walk but, instead decided to retrace our steps along the coastal path and enjoy the wonderful views for a second time.

We picked up a few geocaches on the way back, including one at Pointe d’en Vau, which we’d missed on the way out. The breeze had increased now and we watched the kayakers below bouncing over the waves.

When we stopped for a snack, we noticed that the top of Cap Canaille, the high cliffs in the distance on the opposite side of the bay by Cassis, were shrouded in a rather random cloud, despite the rest of the sky being blue and cloudless. We had planned to hike up there today but didn’t because we had a late night and it requires a bus to the start. It looks as though we had a lucky escape because we wouldn’t have seen anything!

We continued meandering up and down, backwards and forwards past the calanques of Port Pin and Port-Miou until we reached Cassis. After fortifying ourselves with a cold beer, we then climbed the hill back to the campsite. Despite the busy beaches, which meant we didn’t go swimming, its been a good day. The trails weren’t overcrowded, and the scenery was amazing. I hope that little band of cloud lifts so we can climb Cap Canaille tomorrow.