Kyriad Marseille

Really beautiful train ride along the coast (which in a way it is a shame that the railway is right on the beach) Marseille is a bigger city and not so quaint but the port area is nice. Flew out of Marseille to Lisbon. I know not quite geographically logicall

... fight, as I make my way to Cours Julien, the main pedestrian/ night life area.

I push through the crowded streets, and find a well lit area to sit and watch. Cours Julien is split down the middle by a modest smattering of green space, fountains, and children's playgrounds. Its already late, but a few children still play on the swings and slides. However, the playgrounds are mostly dominated by groping teenagers.

On either side, crowded restaurants, cafes and ...

... Danni! But at more than half the price of the train, we weren’t complaining...and we definitely weren’t when we got a look at Wilko’s thighs! So we arrived early to give us a chance to look around Toulon. We headed straight for the port for breakfast; croissants, bread, butter, jam, orange juice and hot chocolate, and then had a scout around the market before deciding to go out on one of the tourist boats (to make a change from the little trains ...

Late start today but I managed a quick refreshing dip in the river before we set off. I said to Kim give me 5 minutes she reckoned I would only need 2! She was right. Easy drive to Lac du Ste-Croix which is a huge blue lake. We found a fantastic park overlooking the lake, alongside several ...

... made some friends had we the time and resources to put together costumes... I decided we were dressed up as Canadians, which I thought would have worked great until Tom pointed out that Canadians would probably speak more French. But we weren't really left out, there were only a handful of people dressed up. Overall; here is the tally of costumes in Aix on halloween: 2 girls in witch hats (with one stocking each), 5 ...

... simply because you are foreign, do not tolerate it. Take your arm, extend it, and push him back behind you or off to the side. If he attempts to break the line again (and he will), repeat as necessary along with loud English. Eventually he will see you are not a pushover tourist.

(2) If you approach a service desk and the clerk ignores you, wait about 60 seconds. He or she might be busy (highly doubtful but possible). If ...

... tuuten was nu ook niet echt op zen plaats. Na een hoop gesukkel dan toch uit dat labyrint geraakt en kozen we een andere parking uit. parking 'hotel de ville'. Ben maakte de opmerking dat het waarschijnlijk de parking van een hotel is, maar gelukkig had ik eens gelezen dat hotel de ville stadhuis is;). We konden onze auto er kwijt en we gingen elk gewapend met thsirt, korte broek, zonnebril en kodak op pad. Er was net een pannatornooi ...

... called Fine Roche. The bonus of it was when we arrived they just happened to have an Alfa Romeo test drive tour for passersby. While the boys enjoyed a sporty spin across the countryside, the girls took seat on the patio and enjoyed the view as well as some delightful home made ice-cream. Sweet Serendipity! Later we ventured past all the vineyards and into the interior to the gorges of Verdon where the elevation is slightly higher ...

... a harbour, with a huge ancient fortress on a hill above the city guarding the harbour entrance. We climbed up to the fort, with great views over the forest of masts in the harbour and steepled city, then grabbed some groceries (pate and baguettes, of course!) ad headed back to the hostel to pack and plan our next step before hitting the road again tomorrow morning. All our best from France, Dan and Gabes

... as my two scoops fell from my cone as soon as we left the shop and then they said there was no time to get another. i have a little tan, well for me anyway and am now hiding from the sun's rays so that i don't burn. I'm in an internet cafe in marseille that is so far from the hostel that it isn't on the map of the city. it took me almost an hour to get here, apparently it's one of the only ones. it suprises me that a town so reliant on the tourist trade is so ...