This past September, I turned 30. Our trip to Provence was my way of celebrating the start of this new decade. I planned and saved for this trip for months knowing that I wanted to experience everything that we could. France is one of my favorite countries. The scenery is beautiful no matter which region you travel to, the food is delicious and we can’t forget about the wine.

My actual birthday was our last full day in France, before hopping over the channel to the UK. We had seen so many charming villages in the Provence region so we decided to celebrate my birthday by the sea. In my research I had found Cassis listed as a must-see spot in the South of France. The estimated drive time from our B&B was an hour and a half so we went back and forth on whether or not it would be worth the drive.

We decided that we would get up early and drive to Aix-en-Provence which is only an hour away. Aix is known as the capital of Provence and is the largest city we visited. We agreed that driving to Aix would be worth it on a market day and if we felt up to it, we could continue on to Cassis.

Aix-en-Provence is beautiful and a shoppers paradise. It reminded me of a smaller Paris, with designer shops lining the streets. But after spending the past few days shopping the other towns of Provence, we decided that we wished we would have skipped Aix and gone straight on to Cassis for something different.

Driving into Cassis was spectacular! The town is situated right on the Mediterranean and encompassed by the surrounding limestone cliffs. The town is vibrant and colorful right from the start.

Just to note, if you do plan on visiting Cassis, you will most likely be taken the toll route. Just make sure to have plenty of coins available to pay the multiple tolls along the way. We found the toll system to be very easy to navigate. Each toll booth will display the amount of Euro you owe based on your vehicle type.

We parked and walked to the beach immediately. The water was so clear and sparkled in the sunlight. Even in September it was warm enough to get in, but sadly we hadn’t brought our swimsuits. So instead we grabbed an ice cream cone and wandered around taking in all of the hidden streets of Cassis.

We both fell in love with this charming little town by the sea. A trip to Provence is not complete without visiting Cassis. If I had to do it all over again, I would skip Aix-en-Provence, pack up a beach bag and head to Cassis first thing! It was truly the best place to turn 30! xo Bryn

Note: All photos in this post are of Cassis – we did not take any photos in Aix-en-Provence.