Adventure #2: Marseille
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| Weird band in Marseille |
Mark and I were trying to figure out what to do for our 2nd anniversary, other than a steak dinner at home. We debated about going to Lyon for the weekend, but after buying a new TV screen for our apartment (much needed), we settled on spending a day in Marseille. For 10 euros/person roundtrip, we were able to take the bus from Aix to Marseille. Since we had gone out with Mark's coworkers the night before, we had a bit of a late start, but still got to Marseille by 2pm. During our walk through the center of town from the bus station to the old port, we saw quite a few interesting sites. And I'm not talking about the beautiful architecture. We saw two protests and a really weird band. The larger of the two protests was about Tunisia - they didn't want the former President to stay in Paris, and the smaller one had to do with the government - probably protesting the extension of the retirement age to 62. On a happier front was the really weird band. I think it must have been students, but they were wearing incredibly odd clothing and playing tubas, trombones and trumpets. One guy even had a Batman belt. I didn't get a good look at what was written on their collection box, but since there were 10 or 12 of them, I figured they were students raising money for their school band.
We could not have asked for better weather. It was sunny and about 15 C (mid-60's F). Mark and I found a table outside at one of the restaurants along the port. We had tickets for a tour ride at 4:00, so we decided to just order a drink while we waited. In one of my previous blogs I wrote about "customer service" in France (or lack thereof). Well, this was another classic example. Mark and I had been sitting at our table for about 10 minutes before the waitress finally addressed us. She then asked if we were eating, and when I told her we were only drinking she replied that it would be 5 minutes because she wanted to have a cigarette first. Hmmm... We ended up spending more time waiting at the table then actually drinking our beer because by the time we got them we had to go meet for our tour. At least we don't have to worry about tips!
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| View from Notre-Dame de la Garde |
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| Notre-Dame de la Garde |
After our drinks we took a little train tour through part of Marseille. The tour started in le Vieux Port and passed by several forts, la Corniche and Notre-Dame de la Garde. One of the forts was Chateau d'If, the famous prison from Alexander Dumas' novel "The Count of Monte Cristo". Yes, it was a prison, but it was really neat to actually see the place that inspired part of the book. One day Mark and I plan to take a ferry tour out to see the chateau. Notre-Dame de la Garde was exquisite. The golden statue at the top is 12 1/2 meters tall and weighs about 20,000 pounds! This was Mark's first visit to a European church, so needless to say he was quite impressed with the interior of the basilica. In addition, the view from Notre-Dame de la Garde at 531 feet altitude was breathtaking. We could see all of Marseille, the various ports and the Mediterranean.
Following our tour we decided to walk through the town for a while. We stopped at a few pubs for a drink and almost stopped at an Irish pub called O'Malley's (Apparently this should be a tradition - going to Irish pubs in every town we visit). Sadly, O'Malley's was packed for a rugby game and we couldn't find a place to sit. We did get to watch the end of another rugby match at a different bar. It wasn't as exciting as the first match I saw, but anything is better than soccer.
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| La Prefecture |
During our ramble we walked down one of the main pedestrian shopping streets, which I believe was called Rue Saint-Ferreol. At the end of the street was a gorgeous building called La Prefecture. At the time, Mark and I had no clue what the building actually was, but Brian informed me later that it's an administration building. La Prefecture is probably where we will have to go to renew our visas next year.
Adventure #3: Cassis
Brian and Joan came to visit us this past weekend! They came in Friday night, we had dinner at our apartment (4-cheese stuffed shells and homemade meatballs) and then headed out to O'Sullivan's. It was pretty crowded so we only stayed for one drink before venturing out to some new bars Mark and I wanted to try. It was a long night, followed by drinking games back at our apartment. Needless to say, we had a rough start on Saturday. Well, at least Mark did. Since Brian and Joan drove their car to Aix (a small car that still could not fit in our garage!), we drove down to Cassis for the afternoon.
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| Cassis |
Yet again we had a beautiful day. Slightly chilly, but warm in the sun. Cassis is normally known as a beach town, and I believe it is very popular in the summer... especially with the boat tours to the Calanques (these beautiful inset waterways where people anchor their boats and spend the day in the turquoise water - a definite adventure for the future). We found a table in the sun and enjoyed a nice lunch. Brian's friend Nicole, from Nice, her son and her "manny" joined us as well. Lunch was accompanied by some tantalizing rose wine from a vineyard 5 minutes away. Oh was it good! We tried to visit the vineyard after leaving town, but got there right as it was closing. Then Brian wanted to drive us along the Route de Crête, a road that goes along the cliffs of the Med with breathtaking views, but it was also closed due to too much snow along the road. We were still able to find a path that led us to the top of a cliff overlooking Cassis to the west and Ciotat to the east.
After our site-seeing, we visited Brian's friends Lionel and Tiffany (he and Lionel had worked at Club Med together back in the day). Lionel is French, and Tiffany Canadian. They have a young son named Seven who is absolutely adorable. What a fun couple! We were only going to stay for a drink or two, but instead ended up staying for six hours. We ordered pizza, tried some more fabulous wine and enjoyed great conversation. I hope to see them again soon.
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| Lunch in Aix |
Brian and Joan's visit ended on Sunday with lunch at a restaurant along Le Cours Mirabeau. We were all decked out in our Bears gear and tried to stay in the sun during our meal (as you can tell, we mostly eat outside at restaurants - even in the winter). Mark and I gave them a quick tour of the center of town and visited Saint-Jean-de-Malte, one of the churches in Aix, before they headed back to Perpignan. I look forward to visiting them soon... possibly for a rugby match!
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