Virtual Calanques

I realise that most of my posts from France so far have been descriptive rather than visual, so to give you an idea of part of the area I have put together a selection of images to take you on a virtual walk through the Calanques – a protected area between Marseille and the south coast. The region is predominantly Limestone and gives characteristic scenery which is further specialised by the southern Mediterranean climate and heavy human usage of the area. So without further ado get your boots on, pick up the essential bottle of water and follow me.

A path through the Calanques just above the last buildings as we climb steeply out of the valley floor. This isn’t the most popular route, but it gives us a good overview of the area.

Stopping to drink some water on this hot morning after the climb you take in the view which has opened up over Marseille. The centre is around 5km away and can be found behind and to the right of the hill in the distance.

Looking the other way you see the strange sight of a university nestled into the countryside. I point out my building as behind the long building, but the campus itself isn’t as pretty as the location may suggest. After dark you can find wild pigs grazing the grounds though in the style of Asterix and Obelix….

Further along the ridge walk, following little dashes of different coloured paint and paying attention to whether the marks are lines (indication path direction) or crosses (the pathe doesn’t go this way) you stop again atop Col de Luminy and look out to an offshore island hidden in the haze.

Coming a bit lower we enter some deciduous woodland composed of a variety of trees, generally stunted. Among them though there are a few wild flowers among the low scrub and a butterfly is perched on one, resembling a Hedge Brown from back home, but I suspect it is not the same.

Crossing the path every metre or so are strange black centipedes like this one. Whatever they are seems to do rather well, but you can’t afford to be watching your feet the whole time. I suspect the mortality rate must be quite high on the busy paths.

After a path junction we descend down a steep valley on a concrete road, seemingly out of place in this semi-natural landscape. Around a corner this view of Sugiton calanque opens up and we marvel at the strange pale landscape.

In a sheltered corner we get a better chance to photograph both the vegetation and the scenery. Here Sugiton calanque is below us and the headland of Cap de Morgiou is in the distance.

After a swim at Sugiton in the clear 16 degree water of early June we take a different path away from the calanque and pass beneath a huge cliff. A momentary glimpse reveals quite a number of climbers on this face and we stop to watch them at their games – generally hanging in space and cursing… not like the Traditional climbers back home….!

Climbing high once again we stop for another breather as the vista has opened up again. Once again we can see Sugiton calanque and Morgiou in the background, but showing the elegant profile of Cap de Morgiou. The path along it is a killer in the heat. Strangely we seem to have caught a lull in the middle of the day where most of the tourist boats have departed. At times this morning we had seen three or four boats crammed with people within these calanques, paying €30+ a time from Cassis or Marseille.

After heading beneath a headland, we climb up a secluded valley at the back and finally feel like we have the area to ourselves, rather than the ever present human being. Up at 400m above sea level the cloud closes in and we can hear a rumble of thunder.

Cresting the ridge we can once again see down into Morgiou and this time along the South coast of the Calanques. However we don’t stop here for long as the rumbles are getting stronger and a few drops of rain have been felt. Experience says that rain here is a deluge or not at all..

 And so scurrying down the other side we make it back into the woodland and down a broad path to the university campus where we join the hoards of people waiting for a bus back to Marseille. Luckily they are quite frequent and we board one before the downpour starts bouncing off of the road. We have only walked 7 or 8 miles, but in the heat it feels considerably further and the lack of places to fill up a water bottle is obvious. 1.5 litres just lasted the day.