'I visited the beautiful French beaches so lovely they're keeping tourists away'
A stretch of French coastline is so beautiful that the authorities are working hard to keep tourists away.
Les Calanques are a wild and rugged stretch of the south of France that runs for 15 miles from Marseille east towards Cassis, a series of hills between the serene bays dramatically rising up to 500metres above sea level.
The national park is treasured by those who live in Marseille, where late nights drinking pastis and smoking seemingly impossible numbers of cigarettes in the city's squares are washed away with an early morning trip to the seaside.
When I visited the area wicker hat wearing sunseekers go off the metro at the same spot and filed towards a special bus stop with a sign declaring 'pour le plage'. From here, a 20 minute ride out of the suburbs dumps you a winding walk away from the water and the stresses of the city far behind.
Tickets are required to visit Sugiton at les Calanques (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Despite the half an hour scrabble down to the beaches from the bus stops being far from easy going - especially with the heat as intense as its been this summer in the south of Europe - Les Calanques are not suffering from a lack of visitors.
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In fact, the authorities have started limiting the number of people allowed to visit the beautiful area to preserve its natural beauty and the feel of the place for the future.
For both the popular Calanque de Sugiton and les Pierres tombées several weekends in June, everyday from July 1 and September 3, and the first two weekends of September a ticket is required to visit the bays.
If you are quick enough off the draw to bag yourself a reservation, you will be asked to show a QR code before settling yourself on the sand. Like a lot of the busiest coastal areas down in the south of France, the beaches are the most disappointing part.
The bays are the perfect place to unwind after a heavy night in Marseille (AFP via Getty Images)When I visited Les Calanques the two bays I stopped off in had narrow beaches that were crammed full of sunbathers making the most of the slightly scratchy sand. Although the tidal range is small, it was enough to suddenly flow over a hump in the sand, soaking the towels of several rows of loungers.
A much better time can be had if you're willing and able to scrabble around the rocks to the side of the bays, where - if you're lucky you will find - a flat rock to sunbathe on and to act as a diving board.
If you want to go hiking, it is necessary to be well prepared. This isn't an idle suggestion, but one that should be taken seriously. When I decided to head over the hill from one bay to another, it became clear quite quickly that the ferocious afternoon sun would make a quite simple climb anything but.
One of the beautiful bays in les Calanques national park (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Halfway up the sheer path we'd drank three of our four litres of water and were struggling to firmly place our feet on the crumbling path, obscured as my vision was by a steady trickle of sweat from my warmed brow.
The view from the top of the hill of the dramatically craggy mountains as they jut into the sea and the boats that bob gently in the Mediterranean waves are superb, but perhaps better kept for a cooler spring or autumn day.
Take a map, good shoes, sunglasses, a hat, at least 1.5 litres of water per person, a telephone, a first aid kit, and if you go alone, tell your friends and family of your departure, local guidance advises hikers.
If you fancy heading down to Les Calanques from the UK, several airports have direct flights to Marseille. Catching the Eurostar from St Pancras may take a little longer but it is a much nicer way to travel.
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