Mellow Marseille

I was quite tired from my time in Spain, so I have taken 5 days to relax in France before I am off to Italy (Rome, Florence & Venice). My time here has been well spent.

After arriving at the wrong branch of my hostel in Marseille and having to metro over and walk way to far with 40 lbs on my back, I was able to relax. Vieux Port (Old Port) is one of the oldest ports in France. It was nice to be so close to the water (my hostel was 3 blocks away) and the beach (maybe a 15 minute walk).

I only had one full day here because I arrived at 7 the day before, so I just went to the beach for part of the day and then went up to the church there (Notre Dame) and took in the view. You can see the entire city from here, the mountains, the port and the Mediterranean. One is able to walk around the top to get a 360 view. This wins the award for one of the best views I have seen. His comes of course after walking for about 30 minutes walking up the steepest hill in life. There is not much to do in Marseille, but its a nice smaller city with a tram, metro, lots of shops, outdoor seating and buildings you can tell are hundreds of years old. I really enjoyed it.

One of my favorite things about Marseille, is they have this public art display of globes, a lot of cities have other things (like cow, fish etc) in the us that people paint and put in public squares. I think the best one was a globe where each country was painted with its flag. Since there are over 50 countries in Africa, that side was particularly impressive.

The niceties of Nice

Now, I am in Nice.I must say, I like Nice (pronounced like niece). Its on the Cote D’azur which is basically Frances’ Riviera and it is wonderful. Its basically beach, after beach, after beach on the Mediterranean. The water here is a wonderful shade of aqua on the shore and beautiful royal blue out to sea. There is no sand, its all rocks (no pebbles but rocks) so is hard to walk on and get used to, but at least no sand to get into every area of your belongings. No sand castles here kiddies!!!

There are many public spaces, and fountains, my hostel is about 5 minutes from the beach, there are many many outside cafe’s, crepe places and much to much ice cream and gelato to be had. I would say, seafood, salad and pizza dominate the menus. One of he main attractions is a fruit and flower market that is open daily. You can buy all type of soaps and seasonings as well. Another is “The Chateau” which is a park on a hill behind the beach, which just happens to have a waterfall at the top and more excellent views of the city. If you want to nice vacation – vacation in Europe I would recommend here, there are about 7 day trips you can take to nearby, villages, beaches, islands and many water-sports to be played. I went on a short cruise down the shore and pretty close to the border of Italy. I almost went scuba diving, but decided you shouldn’t do deep water sports if you cant swim. Nice is also the playground of the rich, so the ports are full of private yachts.

Its quite the lively spot at night as well. I just missed a jazz festival. The first night I got there, there was a concert going on that I got to sit outside of and listen to. The beach is still lively after 10 – probably more people walking on the board walk then in the day. In the big square here, I saw a Micheal Jackson wanna be dancing like a fool and then I saw the strangest thing. You know those doll, which dance and play songs (usually dog or something). Well there was a black one it was a male( supposed to be a rapper). His hat which was turned to the side read “black music” he had on a gold chain and baggy clothes and was playing “yeah” but Usher. Too too much.

Yesterday, I went to Monaco which is about 30 minutes from here by bus, that was nice as well. More big yachts, palaces, casinos, villas on the hills etc. Generally though, I have been taking it easy because my legs and feet are rather tired. Today is a do nothing day and later when it gets cooler, I will go finish the book “the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” which is fabulous by the way. I am not into murder mystery, but I am dying to read the next one… I could use it on my 9 hour train ride to Rome, my next stop.

Randomness

Back at the hostel, I’ve met more Aussies of course, and people from Sweden, Germany, Canada and Turkey. Best thing about this hostel is free breakfast with about 8 cereal and 12 computers and the great air conditioner. Its rather hot here.

And speaking of hot, by hair is getting longer and is on the back of my neck (also hot). I have way too much hair on my head and its been quite annoying in this summer weather.

Below are some pics of random french sweets. So sweet in fact, there was a gang of bees buzzing around them.

French people are much nicer then I remember them being in Paris when I went a few years ago.

Not so much here, but in Spain, there was an overwhelming abundance of African street merchants selling glasses, bags etc, which reminded me of the merchants in Peru. The when the police are near you are likely to see 4-6 African men (I think some are from Senegal) fleeing with their merchandise in a large piece of cloth that was once the display base for their sales. Being hassled is annoying but it got me to thinking what must be like to have to sell things on the street and what’s the story behind it. This I wrote in Cusco, but it can still apply in places I have been here.

Desperation

No gracias

No gracias

No gracias

Its become my middle name

I get haggled to buy junk from street merchants constantly

Its driving me insane

No I dont want it -

Dont need your crap

No hats, bags or sunglasses

No massages

No tours, paintings, postcards or alpaca sweaters

Move out of my way, get out of my face

and off my back

No gracias

No gracias

No gracias

Its all I hear all day

At least one of these wealthy westerners needs to buy something from me today

I cant leave here with no money in my hands

I need to make as many sales as I can

There is not time to be meek

that only results in hunger rocking my babies to sleep

The only option is to sell these goods or this week nobody in my house eats.