Mercure Lancon De Provence 3m 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

... I stammer back
"Meguez?! How do you know Merguez?! Where did you first eat Merguez?"
"Canada"
He's shocked to hear that we've heard of Merguez in Canada. "Maybe the Algerian community is making it there" he guesses.

The places is packed, with a fun atmosphere. There's only the one man behind the counter, though once in a while a customer will go back to help themselves to a pop or more ketchup. There's plenty of banter, though most of it I don't ...

... 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 ...

... looked quite poor, as did a lot of Marseille, and was very dirty, the bad weather not helping the atmosphere. We did get to see one pretty spectacular place, the Notre Dame on top of the hill overlooking the port. We took the tourist train up there (can tick that one off our list), and saw the richer areas of the town on the way up. The views were fantastic and the cathedral amazing, with a crypt below. All very colourful and lots of artwork based around the port and ...

... rain finally stopped after nearly a week so we were able to enjoy some out of Scooby time!

Saturday 7 Nov
Forecasted for rain today but it held off until late afternoon which gave me time to replace the washer in the gear box and for Kim to go for a run, which she was hankering for as she had been getting a little cabin fever of late due to the rain and lack of exercise/time outside!

... br>Walking around Marseille killed the rest of the day and I took in all the African and Middle Eastern culture. I just look at it as a warm up to later in my trip when I visit some of those places for real. We stumbles upon the original part of Marseille which is called the Panier. It is built up on a hill and has winding narrow alleys and some buildings that look to be several hundred years old. It's interesting to me how original Marseilles has evolved over time ...

... meal was braised gigot (mutton), homemade French fries, green beans in tomato and garlic, and raw garlic slices passed around repeatedly, finished off with a traditional gateau du roi--cake of the king--Provencale style--a sweet brioche with candied fruits and large sugar crystals. It was interesting seeing a middle-class home on a winding, narrow street, far from the re-gentrified core of the city which is centered around the old port. Dinner was delicious. Our ...

... was amazing walking around, looking out over the water, the city, forts, and surrounding mountians. We were there for quite a while. Lots of people were there but there is heaps of space to walk around. It was almost like they had tourists in mind when they built it (of course, they didn't but it is really easy to get around without being overcrowded).

... I had decided to go to Marseille as it is big and I'd be able to get parts easily for Charlotte. It unfortunately meant missing all of Italy, Monaco, Nice and Cannes. Next time gadget. Next time. So a little after 11am, some 20h hours after we left Africa, I rolled off the ramp in Marseille, France. The customs and immigration were remarkably quick. Ridiculously quick some might say. They comprised the customs/immigration ...

... hostel here was a 15 minute bus journey out of town, so rather than risking it being fully booked we decided to check into a cheap hotel which actually worked out the same price as the hostel but man is it ghetto. the door is broken because it looks like someone has tried to kick it down, the wallpaper is hanging off the wall ...