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There now follows a self-guided walk around Cassis and it is inevitable that the casual visitor will be drawn to the harbourside – indeed this is where most time will be spent looking at the places where many of the artists previously discussed set up their easels. However, the start of the walk is the point where the bus from Marseille drops off its passengers on the Avenue du 11 Novembre, referred to as Gendarmerie which is actually just round the corner in Rue de la Ciotat. We will proceed down this road to the heart of the town but before doing so just note where Avenue de Provence leaves the roundabout in an easterly direction.
Click here to see a map of the whole route.
If you were to follow this road out of town for about a kilometer or so the estate and vineyard of Fontcreuse would be reached. This is where Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant together with other members of the Bloomsbury Group would spend a great deal of time in the 1920’s. If time and inclination allows the enthusiastic searcher for insights into twentieth century art history may decide to take this walk into the Provençal countryside. It is still possible to see the cottage of La Bergère from the road and the winery is open to the public during the summer season. Although the traffic on this road can be intrusive, it is still possible to appreciate the rural atmosphere which was so attractive and inspirational to artists and writers from almost a century ago.
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Back at the roundabout adjacent to the bus stop, turn right into Rue de la Ciotat and pass the Gendarmerie on the right side. This is a quiet road but lined with parked vehicles. At the junction with Rue V. Autheman and Rue Pierre Eydin turn round and look back along the road you have just walked along. On the right side you will see a distinctive tiled, pyramidical roof which features very obvioulsy in a painting by F.C.B. Cadell called Cassis of 1923–24 (1) and it must have been near to this spot that the artist took his view. Although there have been some changes to buildings and of course the parked cars are an unavoidable reminder of present times, the profile of the distant hills makes the scene instantly recogniseable. It was from almost exactly the same spot that S.J. Peploe, a fellow-colourist, painted Street Scene, Cassis in 1913.
Now turn left into Rue V. Autheman and continue until Place de la Republique and Place Baragnon beyond are reached. This is where there is a vibrant and colourful market on most Fridays, a timeless piece of French street theatre with all manner of local foodstuffs, household goods, crafts and souvenirs. This has been a popular subject for generations of painters including Terrick Williams who painted A Street Corner, Cassis in 1924–25 (2). Although the layout of the square has changed over the years, there are still elements in the picture that can be recognised today and perhaps the most obvious is the welcome shade offered by the magnificent plane trees. There is a distinctive square-shaped window in the side wall of the building that now houses the town’s museum and art gallery and this could be the same window that appears on the left of the painting. The museum is well worth a visit and if you are fortunate you may see work by some of the artists mentioned in this article.
Now leave the Place Baragnon and follow the Rue Gervais until you
reach Place Clémenceau. On the left you will see Le Cendrillon which is
now a bar and brasserie but in former times this was a hotel frequented
by many visiting artists. Across the road you will see the Square Savon,
a large dusty area shaded by more plane trees and the place where
locals gather for a game of boules. Indeed this game, or passion maybe,
was depicted in a canvas by Eduoard Crémieux, a local artist from
Marseille, called La partie de boules which you may be lucky enough to see in the museum. 
Another Provençal artist, Jean Aubéry (1880–c.1940) captured a similar scene in his Quai des Baux (4) (Fondation Regards de Provence). Now turn round and walk towards the sea with the rather uncompromisingly modern curved building on your right which houses the tourist information office. Cross the Esplanade Charles de Gaulle with its attractive palm trees and walk down onto the beach (Plage de la Grande Mer).
In 1889 Paul Signac would have been found here painting his neo-impressionist works Cap Lombard, Cassis Opus 196 (5) (Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague/www.gemeentemuseum.nl) which is the view to the right and The Jetty, Cassis, Opus 198 (6) the view to the left. The first picture is shown here and, essentially, nothing has changed at all. The second picture has already been reproduced earlier in the article and the main difference to be seen is the nature of the buildings on the right. The round tower and other structures have all been swept away, replaced by more modern buildings but the coastline beyond is unchanged. 
Now return to the esplanade and walk back to the tourist information office and down on to the Quai des Moulins. As the name suggests there may have been windmills hereabouts at one time and that may have been the original purpose of the circular tower that features in so many paintings. Now, sadly, gone and replaced by rather undistinguished buildings. The picture by Octave Gallian, Port de Cassis (7) (Private collection), painted in 1880 shows this very clearly and perhaps the ruined remains of another. The buildings beyond are difficult to identify but the limestone cliffs in the distance are unmistakable.
Although the architecture of the harbour has now completely changed and commercial sailing vessels have vanished from the scene, it is still possible with a little imagination to conjure up the view depicted in Brick grec à Cassis (8) (Private collection), painted by Raphael Ponson in the 1880’s. The quaysides are now crowded with tourists and most of the boats are devoted to the pursuit of pleasure but the church tower on the left and the profile of the distant hills still anchor this image in the present.
The romantic age of sail had not entirely disappeared over forty years later when the Scottish Colourist Samuel Peploe came to Cassis in the 1920’s. Again it is the church tower and the profile of the buildings on the quayside opposite that enables you to pinpoint the approximate place that he must have stood to paint Cassis Harbour (9) (Private collection).
You are now going to retrace your steps to the corner of the Quai des Baux and Avenue Victor Hugo. From this corner look back at the Quai des Moulins and through the serried ranks of pleasure vessels and with a lot of imagination it is just about possible to picture the much more tranquil scene captured by Joseph Garibaldi in Depuis le Quai des Baux, 1893 (10) (Private collection). There are still a few traditional fishing boats tied up along the quay but these are about the only familiar elements and even the coast beyond the harbour has been extensively developed. 
Walk along the harbour side past the multitude of bars and restaurants stopping to take refreshment if so inclined. At Place Mirabeau it might be worth a small diversion to take a look at the Galerie Marina which specialises in the sale of local artists, many of whom will have been mentioned in this article. Now proceed along the Quai Calendal and you will now certainly be treading in the footsteps of countless artists who have taken the view back along the Quai des Baux as their subject. In 1905 Charles Camoin painted Harbour of Cassis with Two Tartanes (11) (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid) in exuberant style using a vibrant palette which is so much in keeping with the jolly atmosphere of the place today. This is a motif that the artists returned to several times.
What a contrast it is to move one or two steps further along the quay and consider The Port of Cassis (12) (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge/ www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk) painted by Roger Fry in 1925. Not a hint of Fauvist gaity in this image and the sombre atmosphere is perhaps added to by the black-hulled freighter tied up at the quay.
Countless other artists have stood hereabouts and their work offers a pictorial history of the waterfront from the early paintings of the Provençal School busy with sailing vessels and fishing boats all the way through to painters of the the present day capturing the vibrancy of the place, alive with crowds of visitors in the cafes and bars and the serried ranks of pleasure craft in the harbour.
Two paintings that typify that range are Le port et le Cap en majesté by Ponson, painted in 1867 (Banque C.I.C. Marseille) shown above and Cassis Port (Private Collection) by Peter Graham, a Scottish artist working today, shown to the left.
Continue along the harbourside until the Place du Grand Carnot is reached and at the far end take the steps up between the buildings to join Avenue de l’Amiral Ganteaume and turn left. Follow this curving road and you will eventually see the Camargo Foundation on the right. This impressive building was once the Panorama Hotel, a popular destination for visiting artists, and now home to the creative organisation that promotes literary and visual arts. Within the grounds of the complex there is a building called la Batterie and part of this structure was once a small cottage or cabanon which features in many paintings of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries including that by Paul Signac called Cap Canaille, Cassis, Opus 200 (13) painted in 1889 (Private collection). Interestingly it once probably provided accommodation for Napoleon Bonaparte when he was a young artillery officer on an inspection tour of military fortifications in 1794. If access to the complex is not possible then an excellent view of the cape, without the foreground detail, can be obtained from the beach of Bestouan just a short walk further on.
