We return to France

 After 27 years, we returned to France during Spring break. Unlike previous trips to France, we didn't stop in Paris. Rather, we connected there to a flight south to Marseille with plans to use France’s second city as a pied à terre. On our first day, a Sunday, we struggled to find a restaurant near our hotel, so we decided to dine at the hotel’s own restaurant. To our surprise, the menu offered only two options: steak frites or andouillette frites. Not in the mood for steak, we opted for the andouillette.

Now, I speak decent French and was familiar with andouille, the beloved Creole/Cajun sausage, so I assumed andouillette would be similar, just smaller sausages. When the dish arrived, the first bite was an unexpected shock! This was no spicy, smoked sausage like the ones from Louisiana. Instead, it was sausage made from pig intestines—chitterlings! Having butchered pigs before, I know what their entrails smell like, and this sausage tasted exactly like that smell. At least the frites were good!

Anyway, we decided on the spur of the moment  (true to the spirit of Now or Never!) to push beyond Marseille and someone in the hotel recommended Cassis, a nearby town just east of Marseille. It’s a cute little fishing village whose harbor is lined with pastel-colored buildings and numerous restaurants.

It’s actually a vacation spot frequented by French people. The ruins of an ancient château look over the harbor filled with sailboats and fishing boats.

The region around Cassis is renowned for its and white wines and rosés. It was early Spring so the vines were just budding out.

We visited Clos Ste Magdeleine where we bought 1 case of white wine and ½ a case of rosé. 

When we think of the Mediterranean coast of Southern France, we often think of sun-swept beaches. The coastline around Cassis, while sporting beaches here and there, is not as friendly to sunbathing. 

We bought carry-on luggage in which we could pack the case and a half of wine that we bought at Clos Ste Magdeleine. The security agent at Charles de Gaulle jokingly suggested that one of the bottles was for him. This visit to France was way too short but it was great to be in France again. Our next rip would take us to a very different part of France.