Sunday 29 April 2012

Cassis revisited


When you think of the glamorous coastal resorts of the South of France, the first names to spring to mind are the really famous ones like Nice and Cannes, St Tropez and Juan-les-Pins. Then you discover Cassis, along the coast to the east of Marseille. This, you feel, as you wander down to the harbour in the warm evening, is what St Tropez must have been like fifty years ago.

Once a fishing village, Cassis is now a fashionably charming mooring for yachts and centre for sea trips. I wrote about it several times when I first started this blog - it has, after all, a relevance to The Lantern - and then haven't returned because I haven't returned in real life either for the past couple of years.

So instead of rewriting earlier posts, I'm just going to leave the links here, starting with what I wrote about the French artist Olivier Boissinot's stinging blue and turquoise painting (above) of the nearby Calanques.

Link: The Calanques: jazzy blue


Here's an early post about Cassis's literary connections. The Bloomsbury set came to the town in the 1920s, as did D H Lawrence to the equally enchanting resort of Sanary-sur-Mer further along the coast. Then there was Edith Wharton at Hyeres, where she wrote several novels, including The Age of Innocence.

Link: Red rocks at Cassis

And finally here's a very short post, mainly to illustrate the other-worldly red rocks in the wilder parts of this rocky Mediterranean coastline, as described by Eve in the opening chapter of my book.

Link: The rocks glow red



9 comments:

Forest Dream Weaver said...

Boissinot's painting has captured the incredible quality or light in this area. A beautiful dream on this rainy day!

Ruby

Elizabeth Young said...

Love, love, love the painting at the top of this page Deborah! The more I love literature the more I love all the arts. Just yesterday I purchased an oil painting I really shouldn't, but it was calling my name and will bring joy to my way for the rest of my earthly journey. I wonder if this is others experience, that their love for the arts becomes manifold?

Karen Wojcik Berner said...

Looks gorgeous and love the literary links to the area.

bright star said...

I enjoyed a day there a couple of years ago,I love literary and artistic links with the places I visit. Makes it more magic!

litlove said...

Deborah, you find the best art! That picture rocks (I didn't intend that to be a pun, but I'll run with it!). And you always describe things so very beautifully. I'd like a trip to Cassis, now, please rather than the start of Easter term....

Shelley said...

What a beautiful, vibrant painting! How lovely would it be to wake up to that every day?

Muriel said...

There is a saying in Provence "Qui n'a pas vu les calanques de Cassis n'a rien vu du tout".
I am feeling homesick now: it is raining in London. Originally, I am from Hyeres. Where did I for wrong?

Sara Louise said...

Cassis is my favorite! It's so chilled out :)

Susie Vereker said...

Lovely blog, lovely photos. Makes me feel nostalgic for France.

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