So, we had a relatively expensive hotel reserved outside of Marseille because it was all we could find online. Well, we took the train from the airport into the city center, had no idea where we were and decided we'd go find internet to see if we could figure out how to get there. We ended up wandering down to the city and found a shady hotel near the train station. We figured "why not?" and found out they had some rooms for only 35 euro per night. Soo... I cancelled our other reservation and we've been staying in the old part of town. It's mostly north african immigrants and moroccan and tunisian restaurants in the area... which makes me miss morocco a little less. (Just a little though - I love that country!)
Well, we spent the afternoon being good tourists and wandering around to see all of the landmarks like St. Victor's Abbey (there happened to be a funeral so we couldn't actually go in.), the cathedral, the old port, etc. We also stopped to try the baked specialty of Marseille at a bakery that is like 220 years old. They are called Navettes and kind of taste like a really hard lemon cookie. Ehh.. it was an experience anyway.
We decided to get some food but everything was pretty expensive around the old port so we settled on a little venezia pizzeria. It ended up being a good choice as we spent the evening chatting with the owner about everything from the joys of traveling to the social problems in France. He didn't want us to leave yet, so he gave us a bottle of Limoncello to start drinking... Never mind that we had already shared a bottle of Vin de Provence. We were also talking with his friend Kamel who apparently owned a bakery in the suburbs and told us that if we came back the next day, he would bring us a special dessert. Why not, right? Well, we wandered the city by night for a little bit to check out all of the monuments all lit up and then went to crash at the hotel.
In the morning, we decided to take a bus early out to the Calanques and the bay of Cassis. Unfortunately, our hotel owner recommended we not go that direction since a woman had just been kidnapped while she was hiking there and it wouldn't be safe for 2 girls to go alone. Instead, we went to the Calanques in the south of Marseille. They are these crazy rock formations from when glaciers were cutting through the area. Anyway, when trying to get there, we got on the wrong bus about 4 times, but eventually made it there. Basically we ended up hiking through the mountain-like things. It was ok, but not fabulous... until we got to the top of one of the big ones and found the sea. It was an amazing view of the Mediterranean, little islands off the coast, and the little fishing village where the bus dropped us off. I kept telling Megan how surreal it was - like something out of a movie.
Finally, we hiked back down and decided to take the bus to one of the beaches... I forgot they had topless beaches in France. Whoops. Anyways, we napped there for a while and got horribly sunburnt, and then went home. It went much smoother on the way back. :)
We decided to go back to the city, and ended up trying to grab dinner at the pizzeria again. We were greeted with bises and warm welcomes. Kamel wasn't there yet, but I ended up chatting with a guy who works for the oil industry in Algeria and owns a hotel... so after talking for a while, he told us he would get us a tour guide and a place to stay if we just come to visit. Really, the people are so generous! Kamel never came and we decided to leave, but Christian (the Italian owner) told us he might be by later. Megan and I went to go grab some ice cream for dessert and came back. Kamel still hadn't been by, so Christian insisted we call him... so I had to explain over the phone to this person I had just met the day before that it was okay that he had too much work and couldn't make it out for dinner... as if we'd been friends for like 10 years. Well, Christian felt bad, so he gave us.. more Limoncello. Finally, we took a couple of pictures, exchanged email addresses, and went home to our shady hotel.
Well, we spent the afternoon being good tourists and wandering around to see all of the landmarks like St. Victor's Abbey (there happened to be a funeral so we couldn't actually go in.), the cathedral, the old port, etc. We also stopped to try the baked specialty of Marseille at a bakery that is like 220 years old. They are called Navettes and kind of taste like a really hard lemon cookie. Ehh.. it was an experience anyway.
We decided to get some food but everything was pretty expensive around the old port so we settled on a little venezia pizzeria. It ended up being a good choice as we spent the evening chatting with the owner about everything from the joys of traveling to the social problems in France. He didn't want us to leave yet, so he gave us a bottle of Limoncello to start drinking... Never mind that we had already shared a bottle of Vin de Provence. We were also talking with his friend Kamel who apparently owned a bakery in the suburbs and told us that if we came back the next day, he would bring us a special dessert. Why not, right? Well, we wandered the city by night for a little bit to check out all of the monuments all lit up and then went to crash at the hotel.
In the morning, we decided to take a bus early out to the Calanques and the bay of Cassis. Unfortunately, our hotel owner recommended we not go that direction since a woman had just been kidnapped while she was hiking there and it wouldn't be safe for 2 girls to go alone. Instead, we went to the Calanques in the south of Marseille. They are these crazy rock formations from when glaciers were cutting through the area. Anyway, when trying to get there, we got on the wrong bus about 4 times, but eventually made it there. Basically we ended up hiking through the mountain-like things. It was ok, but not fabulous... until we got to the top of one of the big ones and found the sea. It was an amazing view of the Mediterranean, little islands off the coast, and the little fishing village where the bus dropped us off. I kept telling Megan how surreal it was - like something out of a movie.
Finally, we hiked back down and decided to take the bus to one of the beaches... I forgot they had topless beaches in France. Whoops. Anyways, we napped there for a while and got horribly sunburnt, and then went home. It went much smoother on the way back. :)
We decided to go back to the city, and ended up trying to grab dinner at the pizzeria again. We were greeted with bises and warm welcomes. Kamel wasn't there yet, but I ended up chatting with a guy who works for the oil industry in Algeria and owns a hotel... so after talking for a while, he told us he would get us a tour guide and a place to stay if we just come to visit. Really, the people are so generous! Kamel never came and we decided to leave, but Christian (the Italian owner) told us he might be by later. Megan and I went to go grab some ice cream for dessert and came back. Kamel still hadn't been by, so Christian insisted we call him... so I had to explain over the phone to this person I had just met the day before that it was okay that he had too much work and couldn't make it out for dinner... as if we'd been friends for like 10 years. Well, Christian felt bad, so he gave us.. more Limoncello. Finally, we took a couple of pictures, exchanged email addresses, and went home to our shady hotel.
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