You Have Got To Be Kidding Me

We were all psyched to get out of Marseille and head to Barcelona, so we grabbed breakfast and got to the train station two hours early. You know, just to make sure we got out of Marseille. Apparently the world was against us and had other plans.

The bus tickets we got in Tours said the bus would be at platform one or two, but the screen at the station said platform four. Of course we trusted the station screen that refreshes itself when the information is incorrect. As we're waiting at our platform talking about how awful it would be if our bus didn't show, a bus that said Marseille to Barcelona goes by.

Yes. It turned out that that was our bus, and the bus later that night was already full. We had to buy tickets for the next day because the French train workers were on strike so most of the trains weren't running, at least not direct services. And it would cost about $500 each to fly out. Anyway, we ended up staying at our hostel another night.



This totally reminded me of the Seinfeld episode when Jerry and Elaine go to Florida, and Jerry explains there three remaining days down to like 30 seconds or something between all the time they would spend eating, sleeping, showering, etc.

A Not So Good City Called Marseille

I don't really know how to describe my disappointment in the city that is Marseille. I was expecting it to be this fantastic city: I mean it is the French Riviera, after all. 

So, we walked to our hostel and then decided to get food, and it was later, probably like 11. Anyway, we see a freakin' fetish hooker getting picked up. As we later found out, this was par for the course that is the dilapidated city that is Marseille. Unfortunately, a lot of our down time was spent in the hostel either playing cards or talking or just lounging around.

We went to a beach our first full day, which was fine. I mean the water was beautiful, but the beach was pebbles instead of sand. The unfortunate thing was just how unsafe the city itself feels. We were walking down the street, and Mona whipped out the map to make sure we were going in the right direction. Lindsey and I both literally looked at each other and told Mona to put away the map before we got killed in the middle of the street in broad daylight. The men across the street looked like they were about to jump us in the street. Anyway, on our second full day, we went to Cassis, a small city on the coast.

Cassis turned out to be everything I think of when I think about Mediterranean cities. It had a bunch of outdoor cafes, tiled roofs, bright blue sea, and a sandy beach. We weren't able to stay long, so we wandered down by the beach and walked in the icy-cold water before searching for lunch. 

We found an outdoor cafe for lunch, and the food was pretty good. I had seafood pizza, and the three of us split a bottle of vine from a local vineyard. It's true; seafood in a coastal city is absolutely amazing.