Cassis - France

Take a picture of Cassis and you have an instant work of art, colorful and painterly in the manner of the French Impressionists. Certainly, the lively fishing port has all the elements to inspire a timeless composition: vibrantly hued boats bobbing in the harbor, rugged hills carpeted with luxuriant shrubbery, a headland crowned by a rocky plateau (called Cap Canaille), and a 14th-century castle, today a privately owned hotel, overlooking it all. Take a walk from town or board a boat to discover Cassis’s renowned calanques, steep-walled inlets with turquoise waters and small beaches. Naturally, you will want to have your camera ready to memorialize these and other sights, including the old fountains and open-air markets of the village and, farther afield, acres of vineyards and pine groves.