It was great to see our students this morning and catch up about their adventures with their host families these past two days. Trips to Marseille, picnics, shopping in Aix and dodging the rain seemed to fill most peoples’ days. Though the morning started out cloudy and threatening rain, the sun came out and gave us all a beautiful day in the lovely seaside town of Cassis. After some free time on the beach, we gathered for a boat tour of the Calanques. The dramatic coastline around Cassis is punctuated by massive deposits of limestone which form the Calanques National Park. These Calanques are deep inlets carved into the stone over the ages which are surrounded by steep walls of rock. There are also signs of the quarrying that happened over the ages as well. Accessible only by boats or hiking, several have quiet hidden beaches. It was a great tour, and the students had a fun time sitting in the prow of the boat! Afterwards, everyone picnicked on lunches provided by our host families and then played on the beach, got ice cream, and did some shopping. Cars and buses are not permitted in the harbor area of Cassis, so we boarded a small “train” bus to reach our coach bus above the town. An excellent excursion!
