The guide
A road with the sea underneath it
The corniche runs about five kilometres along the coast south of the old port, mostly elevated, with open sea on one side and cliffs and villas on the other.
There is no equivalent in the other cities we work in. The horizon is uninterrupted, the Frioul islands sit out on it, and in the evening the whole thing faces directly into the sunset.
What it does not have is shelter. Not from wind, not from sun, and not from the traffic, which is constant.
The mistral decides
Several days a month the mistral blows down the Rhône valley and out over this coast. It leaves air of extraordinary clarity — you can count the islands — and conditions in which no session works.
Hair, clothes, cold and the general wish to be indoors arrive within ten minutes, and they are visible in every frame after that.
So we check the forecast two days out, and every booking here carries a fallback. Usually the Panier, which is the opposite of this place in every respect.
The Vallon des Auffes
Halfway along the corniche, a small fishing harbour sits in a cleft beneath a stone road bridge: a few dozen boats, coloured cabins, steps down.
It is enclosed, so it is sheltered; it is small, so it is intimate; and it is under the road, so the traffic disappears. It is the most reliable part of this location and it is where a windy-day session ends up.
What it suits
Couples in the last hour of light, which is what most bookings here are.
Proposals, for the same reason and with the same warning about wind. Families work at the Vallon rather than on the road itself, where the traffic makes a session with small children unwise.
For shade and shelter, Le Panier is ten minutes away. Prices are on the rate card.