Only about 30kms from Marseille, the small fishing port of Cassis is one of the first stops along the coast that exude French Mediterranean charm. Cassis’s quaint and colourful old town is clustered around a compact little harbour, and some of its buildings date back to the 16th century. The village was a favourite subject of the fauvist artists, including Georges Braque (who lived here) and a bohemian, creative spirit has remained. On the first Sunday of every month (April to October only) a group of local artists set up an open-air market, with interpretations of Cassis and its famous landscape. Cassis is surrounded on one side by a pebbly beach and the glittering blue sea; to the east by Cap Canaille, a massive, ochre coloured rampart, and to the west by soaring white cliffs that plunge straight into the sea, Their limestone was an important source of income until 1990, but these days this part of the Riviera is best known for the calanques, a string of sapphire blue, isolated inlets that stretch all the way to Marseilles.The calanques were once the mouths of ancient rivers. Similar to Scandinavia’s fjords, glaciers activity forged them deeper into the earth and ...