If you have the time to spend an entire weekend exploring the Calanques National Park near the southern French port city of Marseilles, we recommend you take the Three Calanques Hike that we described last week. This is without a doubt one of the most glorious and rewarding walks anywhere on the coast of the Northern Mediterranean Sea.
It is, however, also a trifle exhausting, particularly once you have thrown in the roundtrip between Marseille and the trailhead which can easily take a four-hour-chunk out of your day.
So, if you are on a shorter stay, say a day trip from Marseilles, or in the scorching summer heat (when access to the Three Calanques is also “controlé” as it says in the literature), you may be tempted by an easier and more convenient alternative.
The Little Prince Walk
…..starts the same way as last week’s hike: walk down the Rue de l’Amiral Ganteaume on the western side of Cassis harbour and follow the arrows into Traverse du Soleil on your right.
But then, instead of making another right turn on the next crossing, continue straight into Avenue Notre Dame, walking down the eastern side of the Port Miou peninsula with the Calanque de Port Miou on your right.
At nearly a full mile, the Miou is the longest of all the calanques between Marseille and Cassis and the only one which is lined with boats below and human settlements on top (albeit only on one side). In places, the peninsula is barely 100 metres wide, and through occasional glimpses into the side streets you can see the open sea.
Look out for the signs pointing to the Chemin de Petit Prince (Little Prince Way): this is where we are heading.
The Little Prince walk has a trail, a circular route around the edge of the peninsula, an easy promenade of approx. 2 km (so allocate a good 2 hours including your walk from Cassis and back), which is suitable for old folks and children.
It also features twelve information panels that tell you something about the history and the geology of the calanques.
The panels will teach you some interesting facts – you will, for instance, learn that limestone from this cliff was used for the foot of New York’s statue of Liberty – but, more importantly, also make you see the landscape with different eyes.
For example: the vegetation that looks so natural on the other side of the Miou (spot the hikers on the Three Calanques trail!) …
… is in fact nothing of the sort but the product of a devastating forest fire in 1990 and the subsequent forestry effort to re-establish the once abundant pine forests (that alone will take 50 years).
The ultimate objective, however, is then to use this refreshed layer of top soil for the planting of oak trees to give the area the look it had for thousands of years before human beings gradually cut these trees down.
The more you approach the end of the peninsula, the better the views become …
… and just above Cap Cable, the very tip of the peninsula, you also get a good look at the Pointe de la Cacau at the end of the neighbouring Port Pin peninsula and at the open sea beyond.
There is a hill with a small church, called the Chapelle Notre Dame de Bon Voyage …
… and from the coastline underneath, you also get a clear view of Cap Canaille and the red rocks of the Falaise de Soubeyrannes, with a height of nearly 400 metres the highest sea cliff in France.
This is where the Little Prince comes in who has given his name to the walk – I bet you were already wondering what the connection was.
This was the place where the military reconnaissance plane of the author Antoine de Saint Exupery was lost in July 1944. (The wreck was finally found in 2004.) The cliffs may therefore very well be the last bit of his beloved France that de Saint Exupery ever saw before his plane crashed.
Contrary to what you may believe, de Saint Exupery was already a famous author before the publication of his most famous work in 1943. In fact, The Little Prince – eventually to become the 20th century’s most successful book with 140 million copies sold – was only a modest success when it was published in 1943, whereas Wind Sand and Stars had stayed five months on the New York Times bestseller list in 1938.
You may have heard about this „other“ book even if you are unaware of the fact: its original French title, Terre des Hommes, inspired the founding fathers of the famous children’s rights organization.
From the chapel, walk past the tennis courts ….
… and return to Cassis.
Finally, one last bit of advice. Today’s Little Prince walk and the Three Calanques hike complement each other in a way, so it would make perfect sense to do both. If that is your intention, however, do yourself a favour and take this walk first – as much as you would follow up a delicately flavoured rosé with a flaming Sicilian red but not the other way round.
The Little Prince Walk is magnificent in its own right, but in a different key. You need to give its gentler tones the space they need to unfold.
