Tag Archives: France

Aug12

Kayaking out to sea with my Mom!

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Saturday, 13-July-2024


I went Kayaking!

I… Wow. I don’t know how long it’s been since I last went kayaking. Like… seriously, I used to go at least once or twice a week when I was in Boston, and that was only… yeah okay that was 9 years ago. I’ve probably gone a half-handful of times since. Wow.

Okay anyways I went kayaking with my Mommy! It was awesome! I only got a little seasick!



It was really fun, but also quite a bit more challenging than I expected, to be fully truthful. I hadn’t put on a full slathering of sunscreen, first off, which added a bit of anxiety into the mix… but the main challenge was that the Mediterranean isn’t quite as placid as the Charles River in Boston.

Who knew, right? Well… almost everyone knew. Probably. But that’s fine – we had a blast! We spent a quick hour or so on the water; trying to coordinate paddling, dodging yachts, and exploring around a neat spit that went near the Cassis Harbor. It was really fun, and I’d absolutely have loved to try it again if we’d had enough time (and sunscreen) ((and Dramamine)) (((And maybe a more comfortable seat))). But for now, I’ll put the adventure into my back pocket of options we can try out for the next time.

Aug12

Birthday wanderings

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Friday, 12-July-2024


It’s my birthday!

For my Birthday, I relaxed. I know, crazy right? So different from my normal day-to-day life on this adventure.

Which is sarcasm, and actually made figuring out what to do for my birthday a bit challenging. I mean, I’ve been doing literally whatever I want, whenever I want, for two and a half months now. I haven’t been worried about deadlines, or project completion dates, or bills or planning flights or trains (with a few notable exceptions, of course). I’ve been having the time of my life, so how do I celebrate above and beyond that?

Well… I don’t worry about it, I guess.


I mean, okay. I could have scheduled a rock climbing guide. Or a SCUBA session, or countless other birthday adventures… but I didn’t quite feel like it. I was enjoying visiting with my Mom and Steve, going slow and enjoying the quiet pace of life in Cassis. I was feeling good, and I didn’t really feel the drive to go above and beyond.

So I didn’t.

We relaxed, had a lovely slow breakfast, and wandered around town a bit. We booked an early-evening massage for myself, and tracked down a nice spot that would have a fun dinner. I wandered out to the beach for lunch, solo-style, to just sit back and enjoy listening to the waves and the swimmers and the boats slicing by through the waves.

I had a good, quiet, French day. And I’m endlessly thankful for it.

Aug11

The Day Market, and the Night Market, of Cassis

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Various days between 06-July and 18-July



Cassis is, at the end of the day, a tourist town.

And, as befitting of a tourist town, it’s got lots of interesting shops to walk and wander and peruse through… but what if there could be MORE shops? Well, they thought of that – a few times a week during the day, and most evenings, there’s markets that take over areas of town!

These are pretty awesome, and pretty consistent in their wares – We saw the Day Markets at least twice, and the night markets almost every evening we were there, and I don’t think I can recall the vendors changing up at all during that time.




The day market was, by far, the bigger of the two; it took over a good portion of the center of town, and had vendors selling everything from cured meats, to fresh-pressed oils, to wooden kitchen supplies and jewelry… I even found a vendor selling Pokémon keychains!

The evening was far more sedate, but also far more frequent. Which, in my mind, equals out pretty well. There wasn’t any food on display, but there were some clothing vendors and quite a few jewelers displaying some quite beautiful options.

Unfortunately, I somehow missed out on taking photos of the night markets… so bear with me and use your imagination: The scene is a lovely French evening, out by the Mediterranean. It’s still warm from the day, but comfortably cool thanks to the light sea breeze. The street and sidewalks are white polished stone, almost slippery in how well worn they are from centuries of citizens. It’s dark, but the market is bright. You walk in.