Once we had had our fill of lavender fields and olive trees (as if that’s possible!), we drove about an hour south to Cassis, a small town on the French coast (a little east of Marseilles). Cassis is built into the side of a hill, with the town center at the bottom, right next to the water, and houses perched on the hillside. We stayed at an Airbnb for our one night in Cassis (this one – it was great!), and had about a ten-minute (steep!) walk into town. The first afternoon we walked down to the public beach, intending to go for a dip. The water was beautiful but very choppy and cold. However, that wasn’t what stopped us from going in – it was the ROCKS. This is a Very Important Tip, in my opinion: if you want to go in the water at a French beach, make sure you bring water shoes! I found it almost impossibly painful to walk or stand barefoot on the (confusingly smooth-looking) pebbles, especially when being buffeted by waves. However, other people were doing this with no apparent difficulty, so maybe I just have inexplicably tender soles. We ate dinner in Cassis’s town center. It was good, but not our most memorable meal! If you like seafood, a coastal town is definitely a great place to be. We also indulged in gelato and crepes for dessert while strolling on the seawall. The main reason we added Cassis to our itinerary was the calanques, and they did not disappoint. The Calanques National Park extends from Cassis to Marseille, making Cassis a great starting point to venture from. We visited three calanques on foot, for a round-trip total of about 8 miles (with some serious elevation gain). Information is a bit scarce (and often