In the mountains again

I've said before that the best place for sailors away from the sea is in the mountains, even better if those mountains are close to the sea.

This summer finds us in the Massif de la Sainte Baume the low mountains to the east of Marseilles which rise to about 1100 meters and plunge into the Mediterranean between Cassis , Le Ciotat and Toulon, forming the famous Calanques, sort of fjords with sunshine.

The view here, from what I think is called the Barre du Pin de Simon or it might have been Roque Forcade, the navigations apps on our phones had long given up along the D2, a wild and winding road between Gemenos and Plan d'Aupes Sainte Baume.

Above the view from the Grotto of Sainte Baume where the monks established a chapel in a large cave in a vertical cliff face high above the surrounding woods and still hold Mass. According to the religious chronology the site was visited by Mary Magdalen in AD47, today it remains a place of tranquility and spirituality.