Mercure Marseille Vieux Port

... poor university residences, the state subsidise the university restaurants and canteens. Friday, for example, I had couscous, carrots, runner beans and a beautiful piece of fish, followed by a piece of bread, a slice of tarte aux pommes and a small bunch of grapes, for 2,90€. Aixellent. Just need to balance the mentalities of trying to get a good grade, but at the same time knowing that this semester is only worth 3% of my whole degree, so it's time to relax before ...

... yesterday, Saturday, and it is cooler but still nice. The trip here was spectacular with many olive groves and big mountains. Today we went on a tour to Les Beax - another medieval town with a castle - poor Graham and on his birthday too. Then we went winetasting and to the premier olive oil producers in France. The Mistrql was blowing on the tour and it was very cold but warmer back here in the camp. Tomorrow we explore Aix on foot then we go to Avignon.

... as if they omit bathrooms strictly as a matter of space. So I’ve got the bell tower room, high above the street and across from the Gare St. Charles, watching people come and go at all hours. I don’t have TV, but I do have Tinariwen on my buzz-box.

This room could probably be dubbed the ‘suicide suite’ if it weren’t so small, given its high perch five stories over the street far ...

... to Aix-en-Provence.

Some random observations on the way to Aix: parking is much better in Avignon than I would have thought. There is not a whole lot of parking in the city walls, but free parking is available in large lots just outside the walls and even up against the wall. Men do hang out and play bacce ball, just like in the books and movies. There is a group that loiters about the tobacco shop that I have seen several times. Lucy’s preferred ...

... bus. I don’t see how everyone can fit. They can’t. When the bus finally rolls in an hour late, only a fraction of the crowd actually gets on. Fortunately I’m one of them. Now the only thing I’m worried about is getting a room in Marseilles on a Saturday without reservations. Buddha says, "Don’t worry," but then he says a lot of stuff. But if any place is possible to get last-minute cheap accommodations it’s ...

... Lust, das Meer auch mal auf einem etwas kleineren Gefährt zu erobern.

Das Hafentreiben ist auch hier ein Leben für sich. Auch wenn ich kein Freund von Fisch und vorallem Fischgeruch bin, ist es doch spannend zu sehen wie die Schiffe entladen werden und die Fische direkt hier im Hafen ausgenommen werden.

Zurück auf dem Schiff geht's dann leider schon wieder ans Packen. Aber Marseille war ein schöner Abschluss unsere Mittelmeerfahrt.

... french word for chicken, as I had chicken and he had beef. We grabbed a McFlurry each from the local McDonalds for dessert on the journey back to the hotel. By this stage, I had discovered that I had gotten quite sunburnt throughout the day... ouch. Matt wasn't too bad. Although he got as much sun exposure as I did. Look closely at the photos over each day and you'll see the sunburn process...

... we already knew, it's that they might be giving themselves a mop-job and whatever else over a sink by an open window while God and the whole world looks on. Better leave the kids home on that European vacation. In North America rooms this cheap would have long been overrun by junkies or closed by order of the local government. Junkies don't need showers either. That's the way it is in Vancouver, BC, Canada. You can ...

... verified as being a genuine ticket...which involved the people on the gates scratching the ticket (a la Instant Kiwi/lottery tickets) with a coin. Was taking ages. Then there was the security check - without any advance warning of what you could and couldn't take in with you - so I had to drink my Fanta Citron very quickly. And then there was the actual entrance gate, where, for some reason, most of the barcode-reading ...

... favourite spot to just hang out, listen to music and read. So we were seriously Anne Franking it and enjoying it immensely, I didnt get over my fear of heights immediately (as i went up the ladder like a grandma i would be whining to Maddy to "stop wobbling it, dont touch it until Im up there") and we had melted the ice with the cool new roomies in the traditional fashion, with beer. Jean-Louis and Cécile were cousins from Montpellier and ...