Tag Archives: France

Aug14

A solo, lonely but happy, walk through Les Calanques

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Sunday, 14-July-2024


I was sad and lonely after dropping my Mom and Steve off at the airport. So I went for a walk.

We’d had a great week together – Exploring Aix en Provence, appreciating the quiet of Cassis, eating an absolute ton of amazing food… and just relaxing and enjoying a vacation (in contrast to the Adventure that I’d been on). Finding myself alone again was interesting, melancholy, and a little bit challenging… so I did what I try to always do when I’m feeling blue, and I went out into nature.


One of the nice parts of Cassis is just how close to the Calanques it is. I didn’t have to drive, I didn’t have to get a bike or a scooter (not that Cassis has either of them), all I had to do was walk.

In contrast to the first day I was in Cassis, I prepared a bit better for this excursion: I picked up a sandwich, of course, but I also tossed in a cold drink, some water, and slathered on a metric ton of sunscreen before venturing out into the slightly oppressive heat of the day.

Part of the lessons that I’d learned was when I departed, alongside what I brought. I didn’t try going out into the heat immediately after getting home – first, I relaxed, napped, and had a bit of espresso to power myself up… and to let the heat of the day dissipate a bit. Siestas aren’t only for Spaniards, don’t’cha’know.

With that done, I headed in.



The hike didn’t eliminate all of my feelings of melancholy, of course. But between the sun, the drink, the Sandwich, my book, and the laughter of all the people cliff-diving and swimming…

Well, life isn’t all the bad.

Aug13

Cap Canaille the second

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Saturday, 13-July-2024


It was still a bit too early to head home, after our jaunt of wine tasting… but it was comfortably early enough in the day still, so we retraced our steps to Cap Canaille, though choosing to go clockwise around the meandering road instead of our previous counter-clockwise.

As before, the views were absolutely amazing – and well earned, after a day of Kayaking, wandering, and wine tasting.

I don’t have much to say about the drive, or really the wanderings around the various parking lots… instead, I’ll simply comment on the beautiful serenity of the escapade. It was the last full day of my Mom and Steve’s visit, the last day that I’d have familial company on my adventure. We’d made an excellent week of it, and I was (and still am) endlessly thankful that they were able to come out and join me. We’d gotten a lot done, while also relaxing quite a bit.

I, for one, wasn’t quite ready to see them go… and so I savored this last brief escapade together. I’d been rolling solo since Iceland, for just about two months, and had gotten quite adroit at enjoying the quiet of my own company without getting lonely… but, somehow, I was scared to be alone again after the inevitable departure from the airport after dropping them off.

I’d persevere, I know, but… still.

This last adventure drive was appreciated.

Aug13

A quick wine tasting at Domaine du Paternel Vineyards

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Saturday, 13-July-2024



How could we not do a wine tasting, while in France?

I mean, obviously, right? Especially in Cassis, since we’d been having “Cassis wine” with almost every dinner out that we’d gone to. It would just be silly not to go to a vineyard tour and wine tasting!

It may be silly not to, but it sure as heck wasn’t easy to find one. I mean, okay, it was super easy. We just went on google maps and picked one that was open. But what was hard, actually literally impossible, was to find an actual vineyard tour. There were a handful of wineries, all offering tastings, but none that we could find actually offered a tour of the working parts of the vineyard. Which was a bummer, because that was all I was really interested in if we’re being honest here. And it’s my blog, so… yeah, being honest here.

I was disappointed, no doubt, but I worked with it – I got to be the chauffeur for my Mom and Steve, and in trade I got a bit of time to veg and catch up on text messages while gazing wistfully out across the absolutely gorgeous vineyards, not so silently wishing that I could learn exactly what chemistry made the works click and that I could, possibly someday, even run my own vineyard.

Yeah – that’s a random pipe-dream that I’ve got. Run my own vineyard. Or maybe distilling company…


Anyways, Domaine du Paternel was super lovely, and the little bit of wine that I did try was excellent. And I got to check out their fermenting room, and the stainless steel reactors, so… that was cool too!