Vacation : Marseille (Part 2)

Well we woke up to rain, gray skies, cold air, and a brutal wind...story of our vacation. By now we had learned not to let it get us down so we woke up early (it was actually Vince who woke us up so we knew it'd be a productive day...) and headed down to the port to check out the times for the boat tours. We wanted to take one tour to the two islands just off the coast - one named Isle d'If is where the fictional story of "The Count of Monte Cristo" is said to have taken place - and another tour along the coastline to the east to look at the "Calanques" or bluffs/cliffs which is a 3 hour tour. The boats were not going to Isle d'If because of the weather but we signed up for a 1:30 Clanques tour and had about 2 1/2 hours to kil before then.

We decided to take a bus to the top of the highest hill in Marseille to the city's defining sight - La Basilique de Notre Dame de la Garde...or the Notre Dame Basilica. We were happy to take the bus because the climb takes awhile and is pretty steep and it was hard enough to stay standing on the bus while it took steep curvy roads to the top. There was the most spectacular view at the top that overlooked the entire city in every direction and out into the Mediterranean Sea. Of course it was still gray but the rain held off until we went inside the basilica and stopped when we left. The inside of the basilica was also gorgeous...it's completely covered with small shiny tiles and there are model boats hanging from the ceiling that were made by the survivors of shipwrecks. Outside there are traces of bullet holes where the was a battle in WWII. When we had finished visiting the basilica we took the bus back down and sat in a park for a bit until it was time to get on the ship.

When we got the port where the boat left from there was a crew member taking tickets and he asked us if we were OK with some waves while making a small "wave" gesture with his hand. We said, "Of course!" and got on the boat. Vince and Kristi really wanted to sit on the top deck so they could take great pictures and I decided to follow. There were about 8 of us up top and the three of us were snapping pictures left and right - acting very much like the toursits were are! We took off and about 5 minutes into the trip the water started to splash a bit in our faces. We thought this was very fun and joked around about how exciting the trip was already. A few minutes later, large waves began to wash over the top deck and drench us, our clothes, and our belongings. We laughed and ducked for the first few waves but after a bit the boat began to sway violently and the crew informed us we needed to go below deck. It was near impossible at this point to walk on the boat with the deck being slippery from all the water and the severe thrashing about of the boat but the crew members helped us descend where we took seats in the middle front rows since the rest of the tourists had already taken the other seats. We quickly became acquainted with the passenger to our left who seemed to be hyperventalating. A crew member brought him water and we realized he didn't speak French so the crew man asked us to talk to him in English. We did some translation work and found out he believed he was about to die on this dangerous boat tour, that he was sea-sick, and that he spoke Portugese and some English. We assured the man he would not die - that we were very safe on the boat - and the crew member gave him a plastic vomit bag (which the rest of the passengers quickly took him up on too). The waves got bigger and bigger and they were crashing over the front of the boat. Every time we hit one the boat dropped dramatically and everyone had to hold on the their seat to keep from falling over. It wasn't long until the 2 pre-teen boys and their mother (dressed very nicely) sitting behind us to the right began vomitting. Of course this created a domino effect until about 60% of the passengers were getting sick. We saw a few Calanques from windows but it was difficult to see because of the high waves, the water on the windows, and the boat that never stopped moving. There were two small inlets that we cruised into that were very calm and beautiful. For those of us that could stand and walk (that was me and about 8 other people...Kristi and Vince stayed where they were) we were allowed to go to the back of the boat that was open and take pictures. There was a nice man who took my picture back there and you can see my hair is drenched but I'm still smiling!

It was in the second inlet that we were told via loudspeaker that since a majority of the group was throwing up (by now it was more like 75% and gradually increased until it was about 85-90% that were sick...Kristi was unfortunately counted in that statistic) we were going to turn around and head back to port where we would be fully reimbursed. Unfortunately, the return trip was even worse. The waves were larger and the drops we had coming off the waves were like a roller coaster. When we dropped off a wave all we could see was water - a group to sky wall of wave coming straight at us. People began screaming, praying, crying, shaking...grown women were holding eachother while sobbing. The Portugese man definitely thought this was the end but he kept asking us to tell the crew man to stop when we passed the Isle d'If for 1 minute so he could take a picture. People were asking if there were enough lifejackets to go around and if we should put them on. The crew members were constantly cleaning up vomit from the floor, passing out more plastic bags, and opening the doors for a few mintues to get some air in the small cabin. As the screaming continued Vince began to try to reassure everyone in English and broken French...needless to say, it didn't help much. At one point the boat tipped violently to the right and then the left and many people almost fell out of their seats, icluding me. I fell into the stroller of a baby that was placed in the aisle next to me. The baby was not injured and neither was I but she definitly started to cry shortly afterwards. Luckily, I have experienced a horrible sailing trip that was quite similar to this trip (but aout 20 times calmer) so I wasn't too frightened and I didn't get sea-sick at all. Also, I was able to catch some of these moments on tape although they don't do the experience justice - imagine what you see and about 100 times worse. Enjoy!

After the boat ride of death we went to the hostel to change and warm up (we were soaked) and relaxed for a bit. For dinner we went to a great Tunisian resaurant where I had a fried egg/cheese dish, couscous, chicken, veggies, broth, and tea. It was one of the best meals I've eaten since I got here - and really cheap! We were content after that but decided that ultimately it would be a good idea to return to Lyon early since the forecast for the following days called for rain in EVERY region of France. We got a morning train the next day and I spent a peaceful weekend with the French family.

Well, that's the end of the Toussaint vacation. A bit of bad luck but ultimately very enjoyable.

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