Residhotel Le Grand Prado Marseille

... don't think the universities here really take the stance that treating students like adults is important, unhelpful when you bear in mind that most of the students stay at home during their time at uni, mainly choosing the one closest to where they live. Really not great for us third years who are studying along-side first years (oh we're so old...!). One thing I am very impressed with, on the other hand, is the canteens. To make up for the not-so-great universities, and ...

Bonjour avec Aix-en-Provence Cherie
Since the last news we have visited the Cote D'Azur spending time at Monte Carlo and Antibes. We stayed near Antibes at a place called Biot and at night you could hear the seals at nearby Marineland - very strange. It was still quite hot and stickey with more mozzies. Monte Carlo was wall to wall money with billions of dollars in boats and cars. Antibes was similar but it had a lovely old town as well.
We arrived ...

... I have to spend $8 for a sandwich and bad coffee- like Maxwell House espresso or something- to find out whether their WiFi’s up and running, then that won’t work. I’ve got about one more place to try, and then I’ll have no other option but funky cyber-cafes. Welcome to 1999. I like my room, though. The French have just about perfected the combo bed/bathroom, which allows them to save dirty face ...

... will probably get tossed with pasta one night. So far the highlight of this morning’s shopping trip was some amazing local grapes that are like little flavor bombs of violet juice in the mouth. We've never had anything like them.

When we got back and unpacked I realized that the basil sauce got left on the pasta counter. Grrrrr. The proprietress was distracted and I was juggling bags, camera and money and we both missed it. So back we went before heading ...

... can appreciate the pay-as-you-go economic factor, and admittedly many of the customers of the cheapest places here are Arabs who would simply prefer a traditional hammam, but it goes deeper than that. Every room has a bidet, so I guess that covers the important areas. Thus was born the French perfume industry. Of course it’s not that I MIND paying €3-5 for a shower, it’s just the hassle involved. It reminds me of the old Western ...

... since we will not see her again! Kidsloved her hugs good bye!!

Alex needed more yellow and green plmums and bot them on his own!!

Caught train to Marselles instead and rode open air buswith jaws dropped at this gorgouds historic town that is ten minutes away. Once ruled by the Greeks, then Romans, then French, the architecture and ...

Marseille itself did not hold much interest to me. It is the Provence countryside that I wanted to see. The bus trips off the ship just didn't seem to cover very much so we decided to rent a car and do our own tour. The port of Marseille, France is a tremendously large, sprawling commercial port. The cruise line could not tell me where we would be docked, so I could not arrange a ...

... minute walk form our hostel, so we checked that out and I got to put my feet in the Mediterranean for the first time! We had dinner at an amazing sea food restaurant and had the best muscles provencal and calamari steaks ever! Tuesday we decided to be adventurous and rented a car. Yes, I drove in Europe. The tiny European compact rental is not quite the same as driving my truck, but I ...

... everytime a 3 is rolled.... which is a LOT. There's also the 'question master' who if they ask you a question, and you answer instead of saying 'shutup', then you have to drink. Anyways, there are multiple dice combinations that you have to know and also the 'name game', which makes the game fun. Much eating, drinking, and sleeping ensued. Good times, great getaway from work! Oh, some getting dunked in the pool too. That water was cold!

We heard nothing but gross things about Marseilles Even without the two girls from Aix, the reviews we heard/read didn't make Marseilles out to be the nicest place. With that said, we didn't hate it. Yes it is extremely dirty, yes it is gross, and there isn't much to do, but it isn't as bad as everyone says. We were lucky to find a CHEAP hotel right outside of the train station for 28 Euros a night. What kinda room do you get for 28 Euros a ...