Provence in the Rain (April). HELP
 

Dang our great plans to hike in Cassis appear to be a total washout. Looks like steady rain and strong winds starting tomorrow when we arrive and ending when we leave and heading to St. Remy on Thursday. Soooo we have a car... we have teens (so not going to do wine tasting). HELP! Looking for ideas for rainy day activities maybe within an hour drive of Cassis? Getting out the guide books now and a glass of wine and trying to figure out what makes sense. I know... gotta be flexible when traveling but was so looking forward to those Calanques.

You should of chosen northern France and our glorious warm and sunny weather. It was 27° in Paris today, the warmest city in France. :)

Sorry, for where you are, but I can't really suggest things to do other than visiting museums or caverns (and some of those are closed when the weather is rainy due to flood risks).

I am IN Paris and its been great but the weather is going to fall apart tonight here too. Tomorrow we leave for Cassis.

Always check out the offical town website for ideas: https://www.ot-cassis.com

Go to a museum in nearby Marseille.

Stu Dudley

The MuCem is outstanding.

In Cassis you are less than an hour's drive to Aix-en-Provence. Although the weather forecast for Aix isn't promising, there are museums and other historic sites. We were just in Provence a couple of weeks ago and also encountered chilly, windy and wet weather. We did visit Aix one afternoon with the goal of visiting Cézanne's workshop and the Terrain des Peintres. Neither site has parking. It wasn't raining so we parked in the Parking Pasteur garage and walked nearly a half mile seriously uphill to visit the workshop. The English language presentation was excellent. Did not go to the Terrain des Peintres. Here's a link to Trip Advisor's list of attractions. Hope the weather changes for the better for you.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...te_d_Azur.html

I agree with Kerouac and StuDudley that Marseille has much to offer. In addition to visiting MuCEM, we enjoyed a ride on the Petit Train up to the wonderful Notre Dame de la Garde basilica high on the hill above the city. The views are spectacular.

Off-beat but famous the Chateau d'If, just off Marseilles, could make a good wet day destination:

Château d'If

https://www.google.com/search?q=imag...ih=613&dpr=1.5

Of course the home of the Count of Monte Christo in book fiction fame.

I doubt it, but I agree, what else can people tell you but what you'd do anywhere indoors as a tourist.

I think Aix is actually a pretty good idea, more manageable than Marseille and you can actually drive into the center of it pretty well to park. Enough to do there.

Aix would be my choice too - really sweet town with old town and spiffy tree-lined boulevards too - a university town.

" Off-beat but famous the Chateau d'If, just off Marseilles, could make a good wet day destination "

A boat ride over possible high seas in wind and rain? Sounds just about perfect.

Well for d'If you'd play it by ear - rain no problem but yes rough seas would be foolish and boats probably not running.

Most of the picture on the web site given are views of the château from a distance. There is not much to see in the château itself, and the ride could be rough in bad weather.

I was just giving options and not recommending or not. I enjoyed the boat trip and yes was a bit of a let down - but I loved the boat ride and views from sea.

Hardly a recommendation for a bad weather activity.

Is the bad weather for sure? What evidence is there of that except OP asking for rainy day ideas. Weather is changeable and it may be nicer than expected. But an option for everyone who rads these posts - many more than just the OP. Something for readers of Alexander Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo perhaps - but yes not recommended in rough weather - just rain could be neat..

You could spend hours (days really) in Marseilles. I've only spent 2.5 days there but ran out of time long before I ran out of things to see/do. EN

(Just a heads up: That 'EN' link is to the official Marseille tourism website)

>>Is the bad weather for sure? What evidence is there of that except OP asking for rainy day ideas. <<

Could she be be wrong - sure. But he OP has looked at the forecasts and likely knows more what the weather is than you do sitting in northern Michigan.

>> but yes not recommended in rough weather -<<

So you recommended it why?

>>But an option for everyone who rads these posts - many more than just the OP. <<

Perhaps. I suppose someone could read this thread looking for good weather options, when the title and OP ask for rainy weather help. Not that likely though.

As a few others mentioned, the Museum of Civilization of Europe and the Mediterranean in Marseille would be my first choice. Even the building is a modern work of art. I do love Aix, but not so much in wind and rain. Eat Moroccan food. It is great in that area, especially the Tagines.

The wind may be a bigger factor, btw. I agree on Marseilles and Aix. If you run out of ideas for the teens, there is a factory outlet center near Salon de Provence, on the way to Arles (another destination)