The Trail's Our Thing

Looking down toward Cassis (photo by Kelly)

We were in no hurry to get home from Bandol, so we decided to take a little detour and take a scenic drive up along the cliffs between La Ciotat to Cassis. We had tried to do this drive last summer when we visited Cassis, but the road was closed due to high winds.

This year we did the drive in the other direction, beginning at the big beach town of La Ciotat. La Ciotat was an interesting place with several busy beaches, an attractive old port, and a big shipbuilding yard on the west end of the town. We struggled a bit to find the beginning of the Route des Crêtes, but there were several signs and then suddenly we were out of the town, making our way up a steep and narrow road.

The road is only about 12 miles long, but it takes you up to some of the tallest seaside cliffs in France (1188 feet at Cap Canaille and 1310 feet at Le Grand Tête. The scenery was spectacular, and there are several places to stop and look. Our first stop looked out over Le Ciotat, which got smaller and smaller as we climbed. We passed some very unusual rock formations. We must have stopped about six times, including a detour out to the Coastguard Station. At Cap Canaille I climbed out on a rocky point to look at the sea almost straight below. And at another stopping point, we looked out to the west to several small inlets, vineyards, and Cassis far below. We could see the boats heading out to the calanques.

A hiking trail wound along the cliffs. I'm sure this would be a breathtaking hike.

La Route des Crêtes is an absolutely fabulous drive, though not for the fainthearted, as the road is narrow and there were quite a few cars. We took our time and enjoyed the stops, finally winding our way back down toward Cassis and then on home to Bonnieux.

Enjoy the view!