" In New York you have watches, but in Marseille I have time..lots of time", said Sam, the owner of the hostel. He was right, I am at the point where I hate looking at my iPhone to check the time, I don't fancy the idea of having to be at a certain place at a specific time. The last few weeks, I've been ignorning the clock all together, unless of course I have a bus/train or whatever to catch. It's been a blast so far...but will probably be a rude awakening when I get home in a couple a weeks..but who's counting.
The 10 hour bus ride from Barcelona to Marseille was not as horrible as I thought it would be. I ended up sitting next to a guy from Paris and chatted with him in French for some time. At last, I can freely speak French with people, and he said my French wasn't all that bad! FYI, at the border, if you are going from Spain to France they check for drugs, but if you go from France to Spain, then they check your passports..lol. The bus stopped for half an hour in some remote French town for lunch. I sat with this attractive guy from Spain..and of course, he was Morrocan..and he only spoke Spanish and Arabic and I spoke French and English. That was probably the funniest conversation I've had in a long time. From what I could piece together..he worked in Barcelona and was going to Avignon for holiday for a couple of days. He asked me to sit next to him on the bus, but alas, all the seats were full..some things are just not meant to be.
As soon as I reached Marseille, I felt instant happiness and pure joy. This is because I can now finally cross this city off my "Before I Die" list. I read Marcel Pagnol's book Marius in one of my French Lit classes in undergrad and vowed to visit Marseilles' Vieux Port one day. To sum up the book, boy meets girl, girl likes the boy, boy gets girl pregnant, but then he decides to leave because he yearns for the sea and wants to travel. Simple story line but a great read. The Vieux Port looks more spectacular than I had imagined from reading the book. The port is so accessible -you can stick your feet right into the water, or just jump in- no barriers and has a certain old world charm due to the stone streets and old forts. Marseille, the oldest city in France was founded by the Greeks in 600 BC and is a major port city. There are two large historic forts at the entrance of the port and also Chateau D'If, and island off the coast. Chateau D'If is similar to Alcatraz was built in the 1500s by King Francois I in order to secure the port and was also home to several famous prisoners. Alexander Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo was set on this island. Btw, the prison cells on this island are much more creepier than the ones in Alcatraz. And to add to my nerdiness of stalking the hometowns of French writers, Edmond Rostand who wrote the famous play, Cyrano de Bergerac was born in Marseille. I managed to find the street that is named after him and apparently he grew up in one of the houses on the street..and no I could not find the house.
The second day, which happened to be Bastille Day in France 7-14, I took a boat cruise to see Les Calanques, giant, white, limestone fiords that line of the coast off of Marseille. They were carved out during one of the Glacial Periods and look spectacular against the bright blue sea. Sorry to say to Fiordland in New Zealand, but les Calanques just kicked your ass. We sailed through each Calanque, and nestled inside are houses, tiny beaches, and sunbathers on the rocks. It's official, this will be my new home one day. Financially, if I can't make that happen, I can always live in one of the holes in the rocks =). The base of the Statue of Liberty was made with rocks from the city of Cassis, about an hour away from Marseille via boat. On the boat, I met David and his mother, who were from Bordeaux and were in Marseille for the day. I was on Cloud 9 speaking to him in French for hours..asking all my crazy questions like what do the French think about Obama, what do they think about Sarkozy, what's life like here..etc. They invited me to dinner at the Vieux Port and I happily joined them. It was a perfect night to sit out on the port and watch the fireworks for Bastille Day (so I wasn't so sad to miss the 4th of July anymore), which I had heard were simply fabulous in Marseille. The fireworks started from 1 fort and for the grand finale, there were maybe 10 or 15 all at the same time along the port..just amazing.
After the fireworks, I called my new French Algerian friend (surprise surprise? I think not lol) that I had met earlier in the day, we said we'd try to meet after dinner. However, there were tons and tons of people at the Vieux Port, I couldn't understand what he was saying since he only speaks French and Arabic and its a bit hard to understand folks on the phone, and I ran out of money on my cell. I looked for him for half an hour and then decided to leave since people were kind of rowdy and it was late. Again, I thought..this is not meant to be. However, we ended up finding each other the next night and hung out at the port. This was a real test for me to have to only communicate in French, but I was ready for the challenge. We walked along the entrance of the forts, talked about life in Marseille, why its so amazing, travelling.. He even got me to climb onto the limestone rocks that line the entrance of the port. Something I would probably have never done, but hey when in Marseille. It took a good 15 minutes and I swear I thought I was going to slip on the rocks and crack open my skull numerous times, but as he said "Je sais ces roches, pas de problème" (I know these rocks, theres no problem). The dangers of climbing the rocks now seem far miniscule compared to the experience of sitting on the rocks, having the cold water splash on your feet as your watch the sunset at the entrance to the Vieux Port of Marseille..incredible.
To sum it up - all the reasons that Marseille should be on the top of your vacation list!!
Les Calanques, Le Vieux Port, 2013 Culture Capital of Europe, The Ocean, The Beach, Chateau D'If, amazing French pastries, Rock Climbing, Diving, Sailing....
I'm truly sad to leave Marseille, but I may be back later in the week as I must stop there in order to reach the small village of Lourmarin, for another pilgrimmage that you will soon hear about.
I'm off to Côte D'Azur - aka the French Riviera- now. Toodles!
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