Seedy baps on the Zen Carriage

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I'm writing from Hotel Vertigo in Marseille - you'll be relieved to hear that so far all has gone to plan.

Here's a summary in brief of the things you really need to know about (I know you've all got things to be getting on with...)

The Eurostar - nothing much to report here, other than it's getting more stressy than it used to be. The check in queue took much longer and people on the train were all a bit frantic: "but this is seat 16 and my ticket says 42!" someone exclaimed unsure of how to proceed. People stuffing their gigantic wheely cases in places they don't fit and for a few minutes it all felt very anguished. I was pretty calm with my scaled down backpack and ultra-portable Makala ukulele neatly stowed in the rack above my seat.

Le Gare De Lyon - a squalid hole de shite. I didn't have enough time to warrant putting my bag in a locker and gadding about, but it was just a bit too long to stay in close proximity to the old Gare. It was so busy I piled into the first cafe I found which was indoors yet had incumbant pigeons and sparrows who were all too happy to share in the food. I asked for something vegetarian and ended up with a plate of slimey chips and a plate of brownish salad. Well at least the birds were happy.

Zen Carriage on TGV - well I had got a bit over excited about the whole 1st class zen carriage on the TGV thing, all it was was a quiet carriage. I had sort of expected besandled monks wafting around but none of that not even a whiff of sandal. It was just quiet. Which was lovely and I did snooze a fair bit. I was disappointed that when we hit top speed I wasn't flung back in my seat and my face wobbling around with the G-force... It just felt quite cozy.

Seedy Baps - a Menace on the Zen Carriage - I had prepared a couple of cheese baps using some of Marks and Spencers' finest seedy baps. I even had a seedy bap for breakfast. This was my first mistake. For it wasn't until I was trying out the state-of-the-art zen toilet (one of those ones with automatic doors that makes you feel rather prone on the throne as you can't really tell if it is locked, a nice sturdy bolt would do just fine thanks) when I caught myself grinning in the mirror (because I'd confused the machine that washes, soaps and dries your hands and it had all gone backwards which made me laugh) and to my horror I saw two poppy seeds wedged in my teeth for all to see. Then I remembered how the passport controll man had laughed at me when I smiled sweetly and the sparrows and pigeons in the cafe had looked at with me with mocking disdain... Well the only good that came out of the situation was that it was my first emergency use of my Swiss Army Knife toothpick. How I love that Swiss Army Knife (thinks back to the fateful moment with Lucy Pickles when we went into a Swiss Army Knife shop in Seville...). So that was solved. However the seeds had not finished with me. After lunch (which mainly consisted of seedy baps) I got up to leave the train and a cascade of seeds scattered from my person onto the floor - the noise was such in the quietitude of the Zen carriage that everyone looked over to see what on earth was going on. I just kept walking not looking back at the havoc I had wreaked and in my mind I thought of the small monk who would inevitably find the seeds and be filled with joy as he lovingly picked each one up and took it to his little zen garden where they would grow into glorious sesames, poppies and sunflowers.

Marseille - I arrived and as always went to find a freebie street map. I'm doing this trip guide-bookless as they are heavy and I don't really take any of it in anyway. So I found a map then went out of the exit and behold there was just a fabulous sunny view of Marseille - the station is on a hill. It's a great station - not like that horrible Gare de Lyon. I immediately felt really happy to be here. Then, even better, I'd cunningly booked a hotel just a few minutes walk down hill from the station. So all worked out well.

A Conversation - I've just been down to the Marina and it's great - it's a proper gritty old city and really buzzing, doesn't feel at all touristy, although there are definitely some floating around. In the streets around my hotel I only saw old men sitting around - not a woman in sight, a little unsettling at first, but actually there was a very nice atmosphere. I was sitting by the water looking out towards the sea and this fisherman started saying (in French) "are you lost?" because I was looking at a map. He was taking the piss saying "in that direction it's the sea and behind you its the city". Anyway I sort of explained I was just planning my route. When I said I was English he said he'd been to Aberdeen and that it was cold. So that was my conversation for the day.

Well that's all for now - I need to get a drink. I hope you'll stick with me, it takes a while to get into this blog-writing lark...

Tomorrow afternoon I'm off to Genoa.

Cxxx

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Comments

[arch]

Well...
...turned out nice again! Takes a while to get into this blog following lark... x a

[Alli]

Yan
Clare - are you meeting up with Yan? He's near Marseille.

[Mub]

bonjour!
we love your blog, feel as if we are on holiday too! seedy teeth are surely not as bad as spinachy ones, so take heart. buon viaggio in Italia! lots of love from Mub xxxxxxxxx