Villa Massalia Concorde Marseille

... in a bit of culture. Before it closed, we made sure we went along to the Cezanne/Picasso exhibition, originals and all. The pieces were amazing up close, and we were able to recall some French cultural studies lectures...even though, of course, Picasso wasn't actually French, but we could recognise his influences! Definitely worth noting that the only reason we knew where the exhibition was taking place, was because we'd previously been on the little tourist train ...

... 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.

... I lived here- that’s the epiphany of any trip for me- Skyping my wife every day and eating instant noodles. The big grocery chains charge more than a € for a pack, but you can score in the Vietnamese shops for a quarter that. So I buy an electric water kettle for inn-room coffee and noodles. It’ll pay for itself in the long run. Ever the creative one, I experiment putting Nutella in my coffee, figure ...

... helped pioneer modern western art. I found it so interesting that I really didn't miss not seeing the originals. The museum also had marble sculptures. Most of them were busts of important men or Greek or Roman figures, but the two I enjoyed most were one of a shepherd who was distressed by the loss of his bees and a marble relief of a modestly dressed woman nursing a chubby baby by Charpentier (I think that's the spelling). One was funny and the other was beautiful ...

The ride back to Barcelona goes without a hitch, so there's nothing to do but wait for my overnight bus to Marseilles. Fortunately the bus station is lively and entertaining, especially with the new little Chinese dancing dolls that are all the rage in certain quarters. What will those clever little Chinese think up next? Six months ago those fling-'em jelly-blob dolls were all the rage, but I don’t see those now. It’s nice to see that ‘ ...

... dustum. Ilk buldugum yer Hotel Hassan, tabelasi var, kapi duvar.

Ikinci buldugum yerin birak icine girmeyi, kapisinin onunden gecmeye korkarsin. Resepsiyonda suratima bakmayan bir herif, iceriye surekli arap kilikli birileri girip cikiyor (zaten kapi yok, sokakla resepsiyon arasi oyle bir bosluk) Adama "Yarin aksama oda var mi?" diye sordum, "Onu yarin sor" dedi ??!! Neyse, hic degilse ingilizce konusabilen biri. "Fiyat ne olur ...

... very old, but still an active community with a church and school. On our way back to the ship we drove up to the Cathedral in Marseille. It is high on a hill overlooking the harbor. The view was stunning, but it was quite an adventure trying to find our way up there. The streets, built for horses and wagons, are not as wide as our two lane roads. Then there is the fact that ...

What can 60 euro get you? At our school in here France it will get you a great weekend. So a bus ride down south, a place to stay, a couple of meals and an awesome party, with an unlimited drinking supply. What a killer weekend. It was Thanksgiving weekend back home in Canada, and apparently we were having some crazy weather there. It was like 30 degrees where I was, but I think my view was a little bit nicer. It was down at the Mediterranean Sea and it was gorgeous. The first ...

Marseille, France The Coast of Marseille! Our first chance to glimpse the blue, blue Mediterranean Sea and my first chance to dip my foot in it! BRR! It was chilly!! We only had one night to explore, so we took a bus down to the beachfront area. It looked very much like South Beach, lots of restaurants fronting the busy street and lots of tanned French people! We had dinner, something called a "faux filet" and then walked back to the hotel...busy day tomorrow...onward to Nice!

Well, this was our first destination on our Eurorail pass. After spending the previous night in the Paris train station...it wouldn't be too much to say I was a bit salty. Well, we finally got to Marseille around 7pm, which wasn't really a good thing. We read (Dean, Reed, and I ) in our travel guides, that Marseille is a very shady city, with a high crime rate. I felt very uncomfortable that first night, and had no intention of ...