Last day in Cassis. At this time tomorrow we'll be dressing for the opera in Paris. We'd much rather be here.

      We were busy with trains, taxis, hotels, apartments, museums and tours during the first part of this trip. So much packing and unpacking. We gave ourselves a full week in Cassis, which we'd visited in 2018, and it is beyond well worth it.

      No side trips to Marseille or Aix, which we'd once considered. No formal activities at all. We briefly pondered taking a boat tour of the Calanques (stunning local fjords), but that would have involved standing in line for tickets, waiting for the boat and other unacceptable impingements on our right and desire to chill.

      We are en vacances. It is beautiful here when you step out the door. Relax.

      We took a long hike westward into the Calanques one day, and another one eastward to obscure, nontouristy beaches. And we spent a little time in the Park of the Little Prince on the peninsula. We always came back to rest, head to a cafe for a late afternoon spritz along the waterfront, then have dinner at places in the alleys of the old part of town.

      And the market. You've heard of French markets. Endless tables of a thousand varieties of cheeses, olives, peppers, breads, meats. You go to ogle as much to buy.

      And unlike the rainy, gray first part of the trip, which was nonetheless very enjoyable and, shall we say, full of character, the sun has shone on us in Cassis.

      We would love to come back for a month from mid-September to mid-October, as the tourist season winds down. We are of an age when we just want to wander about in beautiful settings, to develop favorites among cafes, hikes, beaches and places from which to watch the sunset.

      To sit at the window and write stories that will never be published. To listen to people talk at the sandwich shop in the alley below. To hear the bell toll from the fine old church.

      Steve Williams is a writer, editor and musician based in Durham, NC.