Livre Vins de Cassis

Vivre à Cassis,

c’est bien sûr profiter de l’air marin, de l’ensoleillement particulièrement généreux, des paysages somptueux, tour à tour impressionnants, comme le cap Canaille, ou bucoliques, comme les pinèdes qui bruissent de cigales, la garrigue aux milles senteurs, ou encore les vignes ébouriffées par le vent. Vous ne serez pas les premiers ! Que ce soit le temps d’une journée, comme les Marseillais en promenade, ou le temps d’un été, comme les vacanciers, ou plus – si vous décidez de ne plus repartir –, partager avec les Cassi- dains cet art de vivre qui n’appartient qu’à eux, est un peu un avant-goût de paradis. Ça n’est pas un vain mot. Tous les producteurs vous le diront : « Se réveiller ici chaque matin, dans ce cadre, c’est un privilège. » Vivre à Cassis est déjà en soi un art de vivre.

DE L’ART PICTURAL…

Cassis est l’un des endroits qui a inspiré le plus de peintres en France, et ce, depuis le xix e siècle. On parle souvent de l’école de Pont-Aven, ou de celle de Barbizon, ou encore de Martigues, mais Cassis a également la sienne – et quelle école ! Lancée vers 1845 par Adolphe Monticelli et Félix Ziem, notamment, elle s’est sans cesse renouvelée au fil des décennies, avec la venue à Cassis de grands noms comme Paul Signac, Maurice Vlaminck, Louis Mathieu Verdilhan, Francis Picabia, André Derain ou Raoul Dufy… en tout, près de 200 peintres !

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To be in Cassis is,

naturally, to benefit from the sea air, the particularly high levels of sunlight, the sumptuous landscapes that alternate between the impressive, like Cap Canaille, to the pastoral, like the pine woods murmuring with the song of the cicadas, the garrigue shrubland with its thousands of intriguing paths and even the wind-ruffled vines. You certainly wouldn’t be the first to enjoy all of these! Whether it’s just for a day, like Marseille residents on a day’s stroll, or for the summer months, like those who flock here on holiday, or even longer if you decide never to leave, you too can share this lifestyle that for everyone who lives here is a small first taste of paradise. And that is not an overstatement. As all the producers will tell you: “Waking up here every morning in these surroundings is a privilege”. Living here in Cassis is a lifestyle in itself.

school, but Cassis also has its own... and what a school! Initiated by Adolphe Monticelli and Félix Ziem in 1845, it has consistently reinvented itself decade after decade, bringing great names to Cassis; names such as Paul Signac, Maurice Vlaminck, Louis Mathieu Verdilhan, Francis Picabia, André Derain and Raoul Dufy… around 200 painters altogether! The most evocative paintings to depict the identity and atmosphere of Cassis include two works by the pointillist painter Paul Signac, Cassis, Cap Canaille, and André Derain’s La Pinède à Cassis, 1907. So what were these artists seeking when they arrived in Cassis? The first thing was the very special light here, which can be harsh, diaphanous, scintillating, amber or glowing red, depending on the time of day and viewpoint. And then there were real subjects: the picturesque maze of alleyways close to the port, the gaily coloured fishermen’s cottages, the imposing fortress, the harbour gateway to the immensity of the Mediterranean, the most sheltered inlets, the regular stairways of dry stone walled terraces and their rows of vines, the Calanques and their arresting contrasts between the blue of the water, the green of the pines and the white of the limestone, the last rays of sunlight on the sea and the cape...

From pictorial art...

Ever since the 19th century, Cassis has been one of the most inspirational locations in France for painters. Reference is often made to the Pont-Aven school, the Barbizon school and the Martigues

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