TODAY'S WORD: la calanque
: rocky inlet
: cove
: creek
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Dimanche on est parti se balader dans les calanques de Marseille où il y a plusieurs plages… Les “culs nus” de Sugiton sont officiellement reconnus dans la carte postale du plus beau site du golfe du Lion, menacé de surfréquentation.
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A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE
On Sunday we stopped into Le Vin Sobre, where Jean-Marc works every other weekend. Today he was not working, but the store, located near the Obélisque round about, not far from Luminy university, was the perfect place to meet up with the others in our small hiking group.
While waiting, Jean-Marc and I chatted with Marie, his co-worker who was manning the store. She is a lively and very warm and friendly person, and she made our one-hour wait (our friends were late!) worth any inconvenience. While we were sipping the spicy cardamom tea that she made us (Le Vin Sobre is a gourmet store with a wonderful selection of thés and specialties to eat!), Marie stopped to sniff the air once again. "Funny," she said, it smells like… "de la fumée"…
Marie approached Jean-Marc and me, still sniffing for the source…when I realized that the accident we had Tuesday night had deeply infused every item in our home–including us!–with smoke!
"It's us, it's us!" I explained, and it wouldn't be the first time that day, for our friends finally arrived, and halfway into our walk, they mentioned the smokey scent they kept getting a whiff of…. And it was not coming from the trees around us!
It was doing us a world of good to get out of our smokey house and into all this fresh salty air! The wildflowers had bloomed and it was fun trying to name them all, even if I didn't get pictures of every one (like the wild purple irises!). But this papery ciste was easy to capture…
An hour into our walk along the sentier, Jean-Marc, Nicolas, and Carol began searching for a way to descend the steep calanque to access the pristine beach below. But when they began to talk about the need for ropes and special climbing equipment, I headed in the other direction and anchored myself to a rock beneath a shady bush. Already shaking from walking along the slippery pebble path (one false step and plunge to your death), I could not push my nerves any farther!
What a relief when the three decided to find another spot to picnic! And what a magnificent place it was, overlooking the white rock beach below. "It's known as Les Culs Nus," Jean-Marc explained.
The naked butts? As my brain searched for a translations, my eyes began to notice clusters of naturistes. This was a nudist beach! And just as all this info was percolating in my head, our friends asked an unexpected question:
Did we mind if they got naked?
The photo above just about explains the look on my face on hearing the question above. Smiling Carol looks a lot more adventurous, n'est-ce pas?
Having managed to get everyone to avoid rappelling down to the beach, I now needed to figure out how to get everyone to keep their clothes on.
La bouffe! Yes, food is enough to distract any French man or woman. So we all settled down, with every thread of our clothes on, and dug into a delicious picnic!
The best part about a picnic is sharing the food and discovering new things to eat. Nicolas shared a specialty from Martigues, something Jean-Marc called "le caviar des pauvres": its real name is "la poutargue," also known at Bottarga.
Carol warned that the taste is not for everyone. Ha! She could have said that about nude sunbathing. Ah well. I'll loosen up someday. In my own time.
* * *
FRENCH VOCABULARY
Increase your vocabulary with this list. More tools here.
cul-cul = butt, also means wishy-washy, ridiculous
le thé = tea
de la fumée = smoke
le ciste = "rockrose" or cistus
le sentier = path, way
la plage naturiste = nudist beach
la calanque = rocky inlet
la bouffe = food, grub, nosh
le caviar des pauvres = caviar of the poor
la poutargue = boutargue, or bottarga
Stories you may have missed: Can You Drink The Water in France? Click here
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WORDS IN A FRENCH LIFE: a collection of early blog stories from 2002-2006
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What a beautiful day you had Kristi. Merci for the adventure.
Kim
I’d only skinny-dip if you joined in Kristi!!! Love your adventures!
HI Kristi!
What a fun day and beautiful photos! We went skinny dipping on a Greek beach with some people we had just met on a military hop from Germany to Greece. We figured….ah we will never see them again so who cares if they see us naked! Years later….I’m talking maybe 10 years or so….we met the at a military function and they immediately said….”Greece!” We all laughed so hard! 🙂
Very funny! Thank you very much for sharing this nice story! Comme tu nous connais bien nous les français : “manger” et hop hop hop… tout s’arrête!!!! How stategic you are!
My grandmother, born in Bordeaux, used this expression for silly or ridiculous –
cul-cul la praline.
Also made me recite the vowels with an “R” in front – try it, not easy – re, ra, ri, ro, ru.
Your photos are beautiful! You have a great eye for capturing things! You might want to think about compiling them for a coffee table book. 🙂
I wish I could tell you how often you capture what would be my reaction or sentiments exactly! Looks like a beautiful hike…. When I was in my 20s, I visited the calanques for a day with friends and jumped off a high rock — seemed like a cliff –into the water. Took all the courage I could muster! What a lovely day you had. Thank you for sharing this story.
Many thanks Kristi for the link to your Instagram which works perfectly. (You say: “To see every photo, hit the follow button here.” So I did!). I really envy anyone who has NOT yet discovered your Instagram as they have a possible 1,683 lovely photos and comments to discover, all linked to your life and blog. A wonderful browse and escape therapy.
Hi Kristi, your story was very entertaining and ho so funny! I have been reading your witty blog for many years now and this had to be the funniest story you ever wrote! And to answer your question, I’m with you, I would never go nude whether it’s with friends or strangers! I’m curious, what about Jean-Marc, would he have done it?
Hi Kristi! I am Américaine and I did join the culs nues club… for a day.. it was on an island called the Porquerolles which I’m sure you’ve heard of. Anyhow, it was my one and only time nude bathing on a beach and I absolutely would do it again! It was difficult to get there… being from the USA we have such puritanical values as you know! But the freedom and the feel of the water on my body… priceless! P.S. It helped that there were very few sunbathers that day and we found a private cove overlooking the Plage Notre Dame. This was 14years ago and i remember it like yesterday!
Your photos of les calanques are wonderful. They bring back so many fabulous memories of holidays in the south of France with my children. But be warned – the calanques are deep and can be freezing cold even in August. (30 years ago) my 6 year old dared her 5 year old sister to dive in – they’d gone for a little walk – and brought her back blue and shocked! You can imagine how I felt – and reproached myself for allowing the sun to go to my head and let them out of my sight for a few minutes. All 3 of us were quite shaken.
What a fun story, and those photos and your expression – delightful! Nude sun bathing, I’d probably pass. But, skinny dipping? That would depend on who 👙😎 BTW, it appears you may mean gulf (water) instead of golf (sport game)??
Another inspirational story and photos that make us want to flock to Provence! Nude on the beach? Skinny dipping? Oh yes!
Your story makes me want to book a ticket at walk that trail. Love the hat – looks great on you. Thanks for sharing your beautiful day. Only my doctor sees this naked body. Like you I must protect myself from the sun. Trying a tisane.
That area is beautiful! The closest I have come to no clothes is wearing a bikini when I was younger. I couldn’t go without anything. Glad everyone is doing fine from the incident at the house. Last fire I was in had me smiling like it for a few days. Once it gets in the hair it doesn’t want to leave. Good thing I don’t mind the smell.
Wow, gorgeous! I’m with you – no butt naked for me (more emphatically – “nfw”) and not for sun protection reasons, either….. Though, I must admit, I do admire people who are comfortable enough in their own skins to do so!
38 years ago I was in Marseille for 2 months in the spring. I met a friend from Alliance Francaise classes and one day she suggested we take the bus eastward out to the end of the line to the first calanque to sunbathe and swim. I brought my bathing suit in a tote bag and after we arrived and climbed around the rocks a bit, I found an alcove where I endeavored to slither into my bathing suit without being very much naked or exposed. I was pulling on my one-piece when a large, corpulent male German tourist totally lacking clothes walked about 4 feet in front of me, looking around and taking in all the scenery.
I wasn’t expecting that!
(He was speaking in German to a companion some distance away, but I don’t know what he said about me).
What beautiful photos. I could look at them all day. No butt naked for me!!!
xoxo
I enjoyed reading your story, as I do all of your others. You are living my dream… As for the nude-beach and disrobing, about 20 yrs ago, my ex-husband and I went to Key West, FL booking a very last minute reservation. All that I could find was a “clothing optional” hotel (which is now gone, btw). They informed me that they were clothing optional over the phone when I booked the reservation. I asked if we had to disrobe to stay there. They told me not at all, but wanted me to know they were clothing optional, in case I would be offended by the nudity.I was fine with it as long as it was my option to participate. I had never gone to a nudist resort, was very shy about showing off my naked body, in public, and had no intention of disrobing. However, once we checked in and went to the pool, I found that I stood out far more then the nudists did, by sitting there in my bathing suit, so I relented and took off my clothes, covering up very modestly while walking to and from the pool area or hot tub. Their nude breakfast buffet by the pool in the AM was a bit surreal. Strange to be buttering my toast next to a bunch of old and out of shape naked people. And sitting around a huge hot tub each evening, sipping a cocktail with a bunch of naked people in all ages and shapes and sizes, with piercings and tattoos in some very interesting places, was a bit eye opening. Fortunately, it was dark outside, because some of the time I caught myself staring at the places people were pierced. It hurt to imagine having it done! Yikes!There was only one nicely toned middle-aged man with his perfectly shaped (not a bulge, no cellulite, not a vein) very young “girlfriend” who looked to be about 18-21yrs old)who made us all feel very “old and wrinkly” (I was in my mid 40’s at the time), but fortunately no one else looked that good.And seeing a bunch of middle-aged and older people of all shapes and sizes, showing off everything they had, drooping skin, wrinkles, cellulite and more, made me feel much less self-conscious about how I looked nude and I stopped thinking about it. Since then I’ve traveled to the Cote D’Azure, including the beach at St. Tropez, where the bathing is topless (not me) and other places in the world where they routinely sunbathe topless and have opted to keep my bathing suit on (I wear a 1 piece) Would I do a nude resort again or succumb to the suggestion of friends, that we disrobe on a nude beach or near one, now in my early 60’s and 15lbs heavier?! NO! If a clothing optional hotel was my only option, for a stay anywhere in the world, last minute, I would postpone the trip. I’m with you! LOL
No naked butt for me, either. Since, like you, I’ve had surgery for skin cancer I would just use the excuse that I don’t have enough sunscreen to cover all of me adequately, so I’ll keep my clothes on so as not to burn the parts of me rarely exposed to the sun. I don’t care if others do it, but sitting out in nature without protection seems like I’m setting myself up for a million skin irritations since I’m someone who has so many dermalogical sensitivities.
Our dear Kristi,
There surely could not be a happier way to start the week than your wonderful post and terrific pictures!
Once again you had us wrapped in smiles–and hugs!- at your delicious looking picnic and adventures near to Naked Butts beach!(ps I am with you!)
Your descriptions are nothing less than awesome!
Thank you!
Love
Natalia. xo
Yes, we’d join them. We did in fact, while we were living there in France. Our High School aged son, however, left us on the road above the beach, and went to another!! When we got to the beach we found a gap in the ages of the people who were there that roughly corresponded with his age!! There was one woman who’d been nude sunbathing before, but usually wore a bikini. The places usually covered were a brilliant RED! I had been sunbathing with just the bottoms on before and felt embarrassed by the “white flag” that waved behind me (on my “cul nu”) as I walked into the water. I think I prefer wearing bikini bottoms (don’t like sand in some areas!!), but topless is fine.
Thank you, Trina. This edit is so helpful. Someone wrote in saying there were many errors in todays post, but did not list them. So I appreciate your note.
Enjoying everyones comments. Thanks so much.
Thanks, Antoinette! As for Jean-Marc, he said he would if I would. 🙂
Gardez vos fesses couvertes LOL
I would probably be more inclined to like nude sunbathing than to enjoy la poutargue, ha ha! Really, how lovely to be in the great outdoors in your birthday suit. 🙂
My Marseille friends tell me that bread, butter and poutargue, with a glass of rosé, was a traditional fisherman’s breakfast in the old days. It’s delicious (though maybe not for breakfast) but unfortunately not as inexpensive as it used to me.
Gorgeous photos, place! I enjoyed your fun story and it was also great fun reading all of the comments! BTW, I just bought one of those french knit shopping bags linking to Amazon from your post. Looking forward to having it. It will be great for so many things – going to a beach resort with grandson – will hold all his little toys and sun lotion!
Laughing here!
Thank you, Judi, for your purchase. I hope you like the knit shopping bag.
Thank you, An. Loving the stories here. Reading them aloud to Jean-Marc as he drives us back from Marseilles.
Thank you for this post with the lovely pictures. I so enjoy your posts and picture. About nude bathing, I know I would not care for it. Please, never stop the posts. Vivian
I used to go skinny dipping off of our sailboat in the North Channel in Canada. I loved it. I remember waiting for the fishermen to leave, but they never did, so I just went skinny dipping as usual. They were too busy fishing to even notice me.
reminds me of my one and only experience with public nudity. I had traveled to Olympia, Washington for a visit with friends, and found myself on an overnight trip to the San Juan Islands. on the ferry to Doe Bay, a clothing optional resort on Orcas Is., my friend Di and I chatted with a young husband and wife headed that way. upon arrival, and after checking into our (separate) quarters, we went for a walk to where she spent her honeymoon in a yurt. at a bend in the trail we encountered….you guessed, i bet…..the folks from the ferry, au naturel! Di is a nurse, and i’m pretty calm, so the nervousness was kept to a minimum, as we just passed eachother and went on. I was actually more uncomfortable later, when i went to the sauna before bed. Di doesnt like the heat, and passed. no one else was stirring, so i threw a towel over my shoulder and went in alone. After several minutes of course our friends from the ferry showed up there, too. I would have been more comfortable if they hadnt been half my age, and looked every minute of it!
Embrace your gift of modesty, Kristi, as that is truly a gift not often enough practiced these days. You are Jean-Marc’s and he is yours. Your beauty shines through the gifts that our Lord has given to you. So glad for the way He helped you out of that situation, so proud of you!
God bless, C-Marie
la poutargue = boutargue, or bottarga
What is boutargue or bottarga? Never seen this word in English.
Ps. I would never at a public place but I just remembered skinny dipping on occasion at our own pool years ago
Hi Dana, Good question. Heres a definition :
Bottarga is the Italian name for a delicacy of salted, cured fish roe, typically of the grey mullet or the bluefin tuna, frequently found near coastlines throughout the world, that often is featured in … Wikipedia
Thank you, Vicki!
Once, in Baja, when it was pristine, four of us, two couples, settled on the EMPTY FOR 20 MILES BEACH only to spot a white van coming toward us and it pulled up right alongside and began to unload the couple and two kids. THERE WAS NO ONE FOR MILES AND ANYWHERE ON THE BEACH BESIDES RIGHT NEXT DOOR WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE. Thinking on our feet, we stripped and started for the blue Baja Bay of Angels and watched with glee as the mother put her palm over the kids’ eyes and said, Let’s get out of here!!!
This was long ago. Once at a very elaborate dinner, I returned from the kitchen with my Canard a la Monmorency to find EVERYONE at the table naked! This was the 60s, remember. I, dressed, took everyone’s HUGE napkin and draped it over all the ‘parts’ as any good hostess would….Laughed myself silly later.
Kristi, I’m just catching up on my blog reading. I’m glad that everyone in your household is okay after the accident. As for the picnic story, it’s hilarious and the photos are lovely. I also have enjoyed reading the entertaining comments of other readers. I am not one to sunbathe nude or go skinny dipping (unless in the dark, on a private beach). However, I feel comfortable in a bikini and wish that more women felt better in their own beautiful skin. Still, modesty is a different topic.
Dear Kristi, what a wonderful blog! Who cares if it contains an error or two; you are beautiful in so many ways and your humanity’s concomitant minor errors can not possibly take any value from this most enjoyable story. In my youth, few opportunities to skinny-dip occurred but none were passed up! As a life guard for 5 summers my body had little to shelter. At age 85 a major surgery kept me from home for 27 days. At discharge a your pretty French native nursing assistant watched (for safety reasons I’m sure) as a welcomed shower was enjoyed. After that and previous in-hospital em-bar-ass-ing moments, modesty was lost. 2 months and one day short of my 90th birthday, with a body not fit for display, if warm waters and an appropriate situation presented itself I would give it one last try! Ah, the freedom!
Mais oui, nu à la plage, sans maillot, bien sûr! La liberté de sentir la chaleur du soleil, tout nu et la brise de mer, l’eau sur le corps, c’est revigorant. Oui, nous avons appris –par les exemples des français –comment être confortables dans nos costumes d’Eve et d’Adam, nos costumes de la naissance. Nous y avons commencé sur notre lune de miel il y a 52 ans, dans la Caribe, à Magen’s Bay, St Thomas, et en trois ans après, en France, à la Camargue et à Nice (pas tout nu, là). Plus récemment, nous aimions la plage pour les naturistes à St Martin–la plage Orient. Pour les dernières 23 étés, nous visitons la plage à Aquinnah en île de Martha’s Vineyard. Nous avons beaucoup d’amies et d’amis qui viennent pour l’océan, pour la beauté de la plage et les falaises, pour les grands rochers, et pour l’amitié des personnes gentils et respectables. Sans maillot ne veut dire sexe. Sans maillot est parfait pour la plage. Et vous savez, tous les personnes, si vous regardez leurs dos, ont la même forme et aspect, et de l’autre côté, pas beaucoup de différence. Bien sur, c’est les info que nous avons su depuis notre jeunesse!
Venez, maintenant, promenez, nagez, dormez, lisez, mangez quelque chose de bon, vivez avec joie!
Thanks, Fred. Your note has absolutely made my day. I love your stories and the connection we have, after meeting here in 2006. I have met some of my dearest friends thanks to this blog. Your writing encouragement has kept me going. Give Nancy a BIG hug, and here is one FOR YOU .
Merci beaucoup, Joanne. Vous avez reussi à mouvrir lésprit! Jai beaucoup apprécie votre commentarie, ainsi que celle de C-Marie–carrément lopposé mais avec beaucoup de tendresse et passion aussi.
Thanks to all who are reading. I read and appreciate very much every comment.
Thanks for this fun article!
Would I go nude? Yes, and I have in various places like Spain, Greece, Costa Rica, California and Hawaii. It is sad that the Puritan ethic in the US holds people back from enjoying their bodies. If you want to explore the spiritual side of sexuality, check out http://www.thebodyelectricschool.com. There are transformational workshops for men, women and mixed gender.
Of course!!! Nothing more wonderful than sun and wind and seawater on your skin directly……What is wrong with the human body naked???
When everyone else is in the nude, it’s the most natural thing in the world…….My first time was at Cap D’Agde 40 years ago……One does peek and compare in the beginning. All the different shapes and colours are fascinating…..But after a while you just get only with your sunbathing and reading ……… TRY it!!!