The Mountaintops

I visited and slept in a place that should be drawn rather than told. I arrived at the mountaintop and whispered an unsolicited prayer: I had stumbled into paradise.

I appreciate the naivety of my alarm clock when it rings at six in the morning.

By eight, I decide that catching the train to Marseille is the first goal after breakfast. By nine, while rollerblading towards the train station, I already know that Cassis will be the destination. Specifically, the mountains, valleys, and coves of the Calanques.

In Saint Martin Crau, I get a baguette to go with the salami and olives I already have. At the Monoprix store in Castellane Square, I also get grapes, figs, and water; enough for two days. Another forty-minute bus ride from Marseille takes me to Cassis, followed by another forty-minute walk among the seaside villas until I reach the entrance of the Calanques National (or as they call it here: natural) Park. From there, it’s just another forty-minute walk above the Miou cove, which rivals for the title of the world’s most beautiful sailing harbor. A cove that stretches between two limestone cliffs, resembling a river mouth. What makes it interesting is the sunlight and the colors. The water surface almost always sparkles, a true azure that doesn’t need filtering, and the same goes for the vibrant green forests perched on the white limestone.

Quite a few people walk above Port Miou. Oh, did I mention? You can only drive to the entrance of the Calanques, but it’s always full, so it’s much smarter to leave the car in the village. So, the average tourist doesn’t climb up to the Miou mountaintop. Yet, the enjoyment starts from here, as from these peaks, you can already see the village and a few coves.

From this point on, when you can’t even hear the sounds of civilization, everything is beautiful. It’s not complicated to describe: shades of blue, green, and white everywhere. But the feeling when I arrive at that beach, embraced by pine-covered mountains on both sides… And the water quickly deepens among the rocky shore. So clear. Very clear.

I left in the morning at nine and arrived at the Port du Pin beach at three in the afternoon; eighty kilometers as the crow flies.

The remaining part of the day shows little excitement: a siesta in the shade, reading, writing. In the evening, at the height of the sunset, I climb to the next mountaintop, just a ten-minute “walk” away. I go there because the hiking trails bypass this peak, and also because it’s a bushy area, so you can’t see it from anywhere as I set up my hammock between two pine trees. Then I go up three more meters because at the slightly higher top, there’s a large rock that serves as a perfect dinner table, with the – now – dark sea as the backdrop.

Here, outdoors, I watch the movie “The Warriors.” It was supposed to rain, so I’m only in my beachwear, everything else locked in the bag, which I hang on a tree trunk.

The air is pleasant now, the scenery is lovely. The scent of the sea reaches here. I love it.

I love my life today too.

Cassis, 2024. 09. 01. Sunday.