cassis and les calanques

to begin our time along the south coast of france, we spent a couple of days in and around the beach town of cassis. we had heard about the "fjords of france" and wanted to experience that natural wonder. we were thoroughly charmed by cassis and totally stunned by the fjords, which are known as "les calanques" ("the creeks"). our first taste of the cote d'azur was pretty exhilarating!

^^ we explored les calanques on a boat like this one. ^^ it was the most beautiful blue-skied day!

^^ can you spot the sunbathers on that platform of rock?? ^^

^^ i mean ... the colour of that water!! incredible. ^^

^^ to get to this beach, you have to complete a kind of gnarly hike (at least gnarly if you have two small kids with you :) ). we were glad we opted for the boat tour instead of the hike last minute. ^^

^^ had to snap a couple of selfies with that water and those cliffs! ^^

^^ i snapped a photo that included these kayakers - for scale! i was truly blown away by this spectacular natural beauty. at one point on the boat ride i turned to ian and said, "wow. god is really awesome." this place really inspires a lot of genuine awe. ^^

^^ coming back into port! ^^

^^ we had to grab some gelato before returning to our airbnb for nap time. moses developed a deep love for "ice cream cones" on this trip. ^^

^^ on the afternoon after our boat ride, we got our first dose of beach time in (there was lots more of that later in the trip). moses looooooved (i mean really, really loved) splashing in the water. and gabriel had a snooze :) ^^