Marseille, France - a jewel in the rough

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Welcome All,

So after the hustle and bustle of Paris...a lot of tourists...Louvre...Eiffel Tower...Museum D'Orsay and ahh yes Crepes, Pain du Chocolate and Vin, we decided to go to Barcelona.

Little did we know that the CNL train (overnight train) would cost €138 for two to go Barcelona and we would have to be in separate cars...yeah Spain doesn´t let men and women be in the same sleeping car...imagine that.

So to avoid paying a riduculous amount of money on a trip across the country we chose Toulouse,which was completly booked. FYI, travlin out of Paris on Friday (Vendredi) is not the ideal day to leave, because everyone is leaving. So we got the last two seats to Marseille. If you guys and gals didn´t know beacuse we didn´t, Marseille is the third largest city in France behind Paris. One of our tour books doesn´t even mention it and Lonely Planet calls the city "dirty and gritty...". So as you could imagine with the limited knowledge we did have about the city we reluctant to stay there. One hostel review even said that the hostel he stayed at was "Hell on Earth...where the man overbooks and offers ladies a free stay but letting themsleep with him"...yeah gross.

On our train ride the end of a 3 hour ride ACROSS FRANCE (very fast) a gentleman sitting across from us sneezed and I said in English "God Bless You" (weird phrase to say in another country), however he started giving us the low down on His City (Marseille) in perfect english. He recommended places to eat, places to go, places to avoid, and ahh yes jewels in the rough...beaches.

We got off the train without a reservation,no city map (tourist office closed 15 min before our train arrived and we couldn´t find it), and no idea how to get around. Luckily, the Lonely Planet book covered a couple of options to stay and we chose Le Cigale des Fourme (yeah I don´t know what it means either),but it was cheap and it had directions on how to find it. So after gettin on a Metro and gettin laughed at by the Bus Driver for trying to buy a buss pass, which you can only do in the closed tourist office. We arrived at our bus stop with no idea where we were. That is where the Lonely Planet guide ended...we had no idea where our street was,so we walkedaround for a good 15min up and down the same street until we went down a dark alley where a motorcylcle was runnin and I guy said (in very fast french) "are you lost...Les Cigale des Fourme?", which we responded with a blank look of confusion. After some "communicating" we were on the right track.

We found the address and the door was open with the lights off and there was no sign...sooooo we went in and we heard people up the 30" wide staircase (yeah, i´m not jokin). Patience and I both thought we were in the movie Hostal and it was only a matter of time until the chainsaw started going. After a very quiet "bonjour" and a turn around the stairs, we entered into a living room filled with people, which thankfully turned out to be "reception". We went Jean who welcomly said "are you Scott", which I´m glad I was because he was a big guy and I don´t know what he would of done if I wasn´t Scott. A short time later we were directed off to our room, but not before taking off our backpacks because as he said "you won´t be able to get to your room that way...take your bags off and carry". After climbing a 18" wide spiral staircase and a "ladder" we arrived on the roof of the buildijng where we were shown our "kitchen", which was outside and our "shower", which was on the roof outside without cover. Patience was in shock and I was laughin my ass off...mostly in disbelief. We got to our room which was beautiful, it was a simple room with a WC and a very low ceiling (even Patience hit her head...you can imagine how many times I hit mine) and with everything else that was questionable with the place, the view was spectacular. We were high enough to see a lot of Marseille, including the surrounding landscape, roof tops and distant view of Basilque du Notre Dame de la Gaurd (Church of our Lady the Gaurd).

After getting settled we set off to find food which we passed three or four times on the street previously. We arrived to a discomforting situation where the pizza chef had just been robbed and was frazzled to say the least. It took awhile to get an order, but it was delicious...best pizza we have ever had...no joke. They cook the pizza in this old school fire baked oven, which Patience loved because the entire wall in the restaurant was warm.

The next morning, after outside scrambled eggs, we had no idea what to do or how to find it, but the "friendly" receptionist gave us directions to a place called "Les Celanques" (write this place down...it is amazing...look at flickr). We went on 30-40 min hike through a Mediterranean canyon through switch back trails, mountains, and wild spices (rosemary and thyme) to a breath-taking view. Words cannot describe this place...the white mountains as a backdrop to lush green vegetation and bright blue skies and even bluer Mediterranean seas was magnificent. We hiked down to a small "beach", which was identified with graffiti on a rock as a "Nudiste" beach. Thankfully no one participated...we know we were reluctant. The beach was a small patch of gravel that allowed brave souls to jump into crisp blue water...cold and yet refreshing. After a siesta and relaxation we hiked out.

The next day we saw the Basilque du Notre Dame, the centre of the city known as Vieux Port and the other beach, which is A LOT eaiser to get to. Two beautiful days in a row...75-80 degree weather in October...life is beautiful. We also ate the best pìzza we ever had...again (that´s right it got better) this time in the Vieux port overlooking the Church on the hill and the port in the Foreground. Awesome.

Tune in for more Blog entries...Next stop Barcelona which is where we are currently. All Hail to Gaudi.

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