Long weekend in Les Calanques

Over the long weekend, Tanya and Georgina and I went to Cassis in southern France. We weren't the only ones who had this idea, and accordingly we were immediately plunged into a giant traffic jam before we had even left Lausanne. The journey was accompanied by the dulcet tones of the Autoroute traffic updates in rapid French, and we nosed slowly through the countryside and finally arrived at our camp site at three in the morning. The bonus was that the night sky was particularly great that night, and we spotted shooting stars and drank a whisky nightcap before turning in.

Le Cap Cànàille near Cassis.

France is big compared to Switzerland, and we were struck by the crowds, the traffic, and the enormous choice of products in the enormous supermarket we went to in order to buy picnic ingredients. There was a great selection of cheese and we held a conference to choose one. The winning choice was an unremarkable looking camembert that was, by far, the stinkiest and most powerful cheese I have ever had the pleasure to smell in a hot car. It exerted itself without effort through two plastic bags and my hiking pack. It was a force unto itself and one of the marvels of the modern world.

French pastries are the best pastries.

Tanya warming up after a dip in the cold sea.

The weather was hot but the sea was cold. We walked to Le Calanque en Vau. Jumped into aquamarine water and re-heated on hot limestone. Ate fresh seafood with olive oil and lemon. Identified accents in overheard conversations.

Monday meant we had to drive back, and again we weren't the only ones. We joined the flux of traffic away from the coast and arrived back late in Lausanne to reluctantly wash off the salt and rejoin the real world.

A dry water-fountain makes a perfect spot to rest.