La Touloubre La Barben

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

... explore Marseille for an evening.

Marseille is France's most African city. Certainly just wandering the streets the influence is visible, with kebab joints scattered everywhere. Having survived the day on a croque monsieur and two Snickers bars, I'm ready to dig into some dirty street food. I spot one kebab place doing a brisk business, and I manage to wedge myself and my over sized pack in.

"Bon Soir!" the main behind the counter barks at me
"Merguez et ...

... well deserved wash. It took some scrubbing to get 5 weeks worth of dirt off him but he sparkled once we were done :)
Another longish drive got us to Arles where the plan was to stay for 2 nights as it was home to van Gogh and lots of Roman ruins. We got a good park on the Rhone River just outside the city walls but the city itself made us feel a little uneasy and something was not quite right. The place was ...

... I don’t mean against) about the future of Europe and ideas of European citizenship, especially in the current uncertain international climate.

Enough of that political rant – Uni has been going relatively well, keeping me busy with assessments most weeks, Russian and History last week, and another Russian one this week. My marks are OK, and I’m not worrying too much about it, just doing the best I can...be bothered to do, although did very well ...

Plan was to stay in Avignon but when we arrived we decided it was too big for us and after driving around the outide of the ramparts of the old city walls - very cool and the main thing we wanted to see - we made our way onwards to Fontaine de Vaucluse which is 20kms past Avignon. We arrived just before dark and found an Aire de Service at the edge of town where settled in for 2 days. The town ...

... in devil ears, 1 batman, 1 Spiderman, a copule dudes in masks, 2 girls with just some random fake blood on their face, 3 poorly represented Village people, and a guy who we think was Peter Pan, but he had cardboard fairy wings so we're not sure. All in all, Halloween ended up being a pretty fun night, but we certainly missed being home for this day! Now we are off to the Rhone Valley for some great wine... in a CAR! Stay tuned.

... 8230;

First of all, we had a deadline. Something neither of us are accustomed to dealing with right now. Ferry departs Marseille at 7pm. Brian was concerned about covering the 100 km distance and finding the port in time. So, up extra early and on the road withour even eating breakfast! After all of the worry and fussing, and snaps of the whip to go ‘faster’, we arrived at the port at ...

... and Rhone. Built in 90 AD it’s hard to imagine all the events that have taken place in this building. Walking around and around, I tried to imagine it filled with 20 000 screaming fans as gladiators ripped apart animals, but it was hard. From Medieval times to the 1830’s, it was bricked up and used as a fortified city. 212 housed and 2 churches made their home ...

... we took a drive up to Miramas-Le-Vieux. This was a charming old town, and a particular favourite for Olivier of Nathalie, not just because of the beautiful views but also the amazing ice cream (anyone noticing a theme here?). The town was open to cars for residents only, so we parked at the bottom and walked up assuring ourselves that we were getting the exercise we needed to reward ourselves with an ice cream at the top. Upon reaching the top, the town was beautiful. After admiring the ...

... address was Jo's temporary one, the apartment of an unknown who had needed someone to look after his dog while he was away for a few days. Out of this arrangement Jo had scored somewhere to live for a few days and some cash, and just for walking the very lively Argoste twice a day. We benefitted in the form of a floor. Our search for employment was done in the traditional Marseille way, by work of mouth. One helpful spot was an Irish sandwich bar ...