Artist at work

Friday
Today, Magali took us to Port d'Alon, near Saint Cyr sur Mer, one of the calanques on the stretch of coast between Marseilles and Cassis. A calanque is a steep-walled inlet, cove, or bay that is developed in limestone, dolomite, or other carbonate strata, either by flu vial erosion or the collapse of the roof of a cave that has been subsequently partially submerged by a rise in sea level. It was a beautiful area. We went for a short walk along the coast, where we came across this young man painting, before settling ourselves on the stony beach. Unfortunately, I never did go in the water, as we soon realized there were numerous small jelly fish in the water - unfortunately not before Roger had been stung. Happily, it seemed to be a relatively glancing touch, and he didn't react too strongly. A little later we saw a lady up by the cafe, dabbing something on her leg - she had two nasty-looking red inflamed areas on her leg. They didn't deter several children, however, who were collecting them in nets, and putting them into buckets or sort of rock pools they had created on the beach! We enjoyed a very pleasant lunch at the café, then another hour or so on the beach, before leaving. Before returning home, we drove a section of the spectacular Route des Crêtes, with its glorious views.
In the evening, we went down to the fête taking place in the village. They were serving soupe au pistou, a traditional local dish, a soup made of summer vegetables and pasta and served with pesto. After the food there was live music, which was quite an impressive production for a small village. After a while however, there was the distant rumbling of thunder and a few stray raindrops, so we thought it was time to head home. We ended up running the last bit as the rain came harder. It turned into quite a storm, so I think that was the end of the fête for that night!