Photo: La Ciotat Bouches Du Rhone

The pleasant town of La Ciotat seen from la Route des Cretes in Bouches du Rhone, Provence in France, Europe.

After you have travelled the winding Route des Cretes from Cassis, a stop at the pleasant little town of La Ciotat in Bouches Du Rhone, Provence is probably a welcome relief. Until 1989 La Ciotat was a busy ship-building town - where huge oil and gas tankers were built. Today, although the rusty old cranes are still a reminder of days past, yacht repairs, maintenance and moorage is what the visitor will see along the waterfront.La Ciotat is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhone area of Provence, France and was quite well-known in the 15th century. In the Occitan/Provencale and Catalan dialect it was called 'La Ciutat' which means 'the city'.This pleasant little town of La Ciotat can boast two 'claim to fame' events - in 1910 a gentleman by the name of Jules Le Noir invented the game of Petanque, a form of bowling which today is played by millions. At the Chateau Lumiere in La Ciotat in September ... continue below the picture...

... 1895 Auguste and Louis Lumiere premiered the world's first motion picture -'L'Arrivee d'un Train en Garde de La Ciotat' - basically, a steam train moving forward in a series of two-minute reels. Nowadays, La Ciotat in Bouches Du Rhone in Provence, France presents an annual film festival every June.Town of La Ciotat seen from the Route des Cretes, Les Calanques, Bouches du Rhone, Provence, France, Europe.