What to do in France on a Sunday: bargains, baguettes, walks… and soap
Anyone who’s ever found themselves in the South of France, (or Spain or Italy for that matter) may find themselves a little frustrated on a Sunday. You rock up out of bed at midday because Saturday night was, well, Saturday night and you need food because your fridge only has a leftover cheese in it and you figure you should probably get your lazy butt over to the supermarket. HAH! FOOL! You get NOTHING! The day of rest here is actually a day of rest. Craziness, right? But before you contemplate getting back into bed with your lump of cheese, here’s what you can do on a Sunday.
Your average Sunday in France does have its flea markets, long lunches (a lot of cafes/restos will open on a Sunday, as will many boulangeries) then a long promenade and/or a a game of pétanque and once you embrace it, it really is way better than pushing your way through crowds to get to the shops or running around like you would any other day of the week.
On the final day of our little trip to Cassis we ventured to the local flea market where I bought the rolling pin for one euro. If a rolling pin has muscle memory I’m going to be the most amazing French chef in no time.
I know it looks it, but let me assure you I did not try to hit the jolly French man with the one-euro rolling pin.
After a little shopping and lunch which, after two days of heavy meals, was a light boulangerie affair of baguettes and pain-au-chocolat (not as good as ‘the best pain-au-chocolat in France), we did what all French people do on a Sunday after lunch. Go for a little walk. Up there:
That sticky outy bit of France is Cap Canaille. While on one side you have the Calanques, which is the other walk you can do in Cassis for spectacular views, this shorter walk also offers breathtaking views after a bit of a climb. It looks a lot harder than it was, honest, and you’re rewarded with views like this:
Tiny Jono on giant cliff
Sometimes the walk is closed off when the wind is too high. Even on a mild day, by the time we got to the top I was feeling quite windswept, which is fun when you’re on the edge of a cliff face.
On the way back down we stopped at a local soap-making shop. I’m obsessed with handmade French soap so I was in heaven sniffing and touching things. They also had the most beautiful dog with an amazing shiny coat (I bet they washed him with the soap) so we bought ourselves plenty of soap to keep us going, though I’m sure I’ll be buying more very soon. I bloody love this soap.
A tremendous tower of soap
I want that dog.
Back in Cassis we’d checked in at a different hotel which overlooked the port and turned out to be excellent and good value as well. So in the evening we could watch the people playing pétanque down below.
And that’s it for Cassis – although I’m still planning a post with the rolling pin – what should I make?!
Today we head back to London for two weeks which I’m ridiculously excited about particularly because I’ll be seeing old friends and family AND meeting some new friends from the blogosphere! So this week, and probably next Travel Tuesday, expect to see posts about London and being ‘home’, whatever that might mean.
À bientôt!
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