We will be in Cassis for 3 nites in May, and are looking for a hotel in the $100 - $150 range. Any suggestions?<BR>Thanks<BR><BR>Also, the best boat tour for the Calanques!

Price may be higher but Les Roches Blanches is terrific. Could be $150. Les Jardins d'Emile is probably quite a bit less but very cute. Lacks AC

Here's the website for Les Roches Blanches: <BR>http://www.roches-blanches-cassis.com/<BR><BR>And another hotel that looks nice though not on the waterfront.<BR>http://www.royal-cottage.com/<BR><BR>And here's a site about visiting the Calanques.<BR>http://calanques.visite.free.fr/<BR><BR>All are available in English. Good luck!

Hello, Ron. My wife and I spent several days in late October at the Jardin d'Emile. It was a pleasant experience. The hotel is small and picture perfect -- two story, ochre colored, nestled against a cliff and surrounded by pine trees with a view over the sea to the massive Cap d'Anaille. There is a restaurant and a small outdoor dining patio which was wonderful for breakfast. Our room was quite small, but adequate, with a nice modern bathroom. It was on the second floor and reached by a narrow flight of stairs (no elevator). There are only 6 rooms, two have balconies (ours didn't). I don't recall what we paid but it was certainly within your price range. Prices of the various rooms are available at the hotels' web site. The food is quite good and, in fact, when we checked in we were asked if we wanted to book a table since the restaurant attracts other visitors. The restaurant was filled to capacity at dinner and I am glad that we were asked. The restaurant, as seemingly with all French restaurants, becomes smoky fairly quickly and you might want to know this if smoke bothers you. In any event, the smoke was less appalling than one experiences at CDG.<BR><BR>The hotel is just west of and within walking distance of the town which is scenic. The hotel is situated across the street from Plage Bestouan, a public beach, which even in late October was covered with sunning bodies although only children seemed to go into the water.<BR><BR>I also wanted to do a boat ride to the Calanques and there are ticket kiosks for several types of trips at the docks but when I saw the lines of people waiting for tickets (it was before the French holiday of All Saints Day) I decided I didn't want to hassle that. If you are a hiker it is possible to walk to the Calanques.<BR><BR>If you have a car you might want to take a drive on the Route des Cretes to the top of Cap d'Anaille for a remarkable view. I have climbed halfway up Huayna Picchu, I have looked down into the crater from Mount Haleakala, have climbed the Zugspitze and looked over the Cliffs of Moher to the sea below in Ireland and never felt any vertigo. There is, however, something about the Cap where, for the first time, I felt vertigo at the top. Nor was I alone, people would approach the edge and then drop to their hands and knees and crawl back to safety. Pretty interesting. Have a nice trip.

Topping for Ron. Re last paragraph of Jim's missive, it's Cap Canaille.

TTT is right, it is Cap Canaille. I was relying on memory which, yet again, proves fallible. On this topping business, doesn't it just clutter up the board?