What to say about Marseille

I arrived here not too on Friday but then connecting to the right connections once I arrived got me walking after dark in a strange city. From the train station, the directions said take the bus. Nobody knew where that bus stop was. The friendly policeman I finally asked knew the right person to ask. It was a guy from the transit office. I had to take the subway to get to the bus stop and then walk through the strange city. In every city in Europe I've had the pleasure of using above ground public transit in, there is either a visual or audio display announcing the stops, even the ones that the drivers don't stop at because no one on the bus has signalled to stop and no one is waiting at the stop. As long as the bus in on schedule, they won't stop unless one of those conditions has been met. Well, my bus stop was about ten or so stops down the line so I didn't pay too much attention until I realized that the visual indicator wasn't working so I had no idea where we were or when my stop was coming up so I asked the pleasant lady next to me A)did she speak English and B) "prochein arret? {next stop?}. She did not and she wasn't sure. I indicated on the display where I wanted to get out and she pointed to herself and nodded. That was her stop as well. When we got off the bus she asked me if I was going to the youth hostel (my bad french and the backpack are dead giveaways) and then she gave me directions for my walk to the hostel! So it appears the South of France is going for that warm and friendly vibe that I have so far mostly associated with Iberia. Gotta love that!

During the walk to the hostel (and it was only a matter of 2 or 3 blocks), I stopped at a little grocery store to get some dinner stuff. I had picked up a little bit of stuff at the street market in Sete as I passed thru it on the way to the train station that morning that I was gonna have for lunch on the train but never was hungry enough. Wouldn't you know it, this is one of the few hostels that has a kitchen WITH a kitchen staff that is still serving evening meals this time of year. They refer to them as snacks but its a full meal with veggies, dessert and everything. At check in the girl pointed to the menu. I looked at and asked her if it was real food. She said it was so I'm gonna dine in tonight. I gotta wait awhile, tho, cuz they eat late over here.

So while I wait let me share this observation with you? What is the world population these days? 6 or 7 billion or something right? So with all of those billions and billions of people, how come of the handful that I have met during my trek four of them have the same name (sort of). In Edinburgh, one of my hostel roomies was a 78 year old Mexican lady named Rafaela. In Barrtitz, I chatted with a youngster at a bus stop named Rafael. In Barcelona the desk clerk was named Rafael and in Sete, the desk clerk was Rafaela. The spellings are mine but no names have been changed. And I seem to recall that a lot of the desk clerks at the hostels have been named a variation of Ann(a).

Dinner is still not yet serving so I'll catch up on today's activities. I slept in and almost missed breakfast but I got in just under the wire. I hadn't yet visited the TI, so I checked with the desk and got a free city map and a good day's route to begin exploring Marseille. I headed to the street market first because it only runs for a half day. I scored a few shirts to replace a few bits of my current wardrobe. Then lunched at a Marseille KFC like place and then down to the waterfront. Found the TI there and picked up another map and suggested walking tour of the old city to add to my itinerary. I started that walk but came across the city chu chu tour bus and hopped on that instead. The tour wasn't as informative (or maybe I just didn't pay attention) as other trips like that have been but it did get me to the top of the hill where the Notre Dame de la Garde is and that was one of the day's objectives and unlike most of the driving tours, this one stopped long enough at this basilica to allow for a bit of exploring and photo ops. I'm still amazed by all the churches, cathedrals, basilicas and chapels that are found over here. The artistry and crafsmanship, time, effort and energy that went into the design, construction and decor is incredible. Buildings can be put together so much faster these days but look at what's lost. *sigh*

At the end of the tour, I decided to save the old city visit for the next day and started the walk back to the hostel. I had been given a suggested walk/bus/walk route as a return trip and followed that. I walked along the docks, past the two forts that guarded the harbor entrance since way back and then along the sea wall. Marseille kind of has beaches but they are like the beaches of Barcelona. That is to say, they are fake, manmade, artificial, not naturally occurring. And sadly, not very pretty. Maybe they only do some kind of beach cleanup when folks are out there using the beaches cuz they were pretty scuzzy lookin'.
And that was the day.