Pictures HERE.
10:00pm: at the B&B in Marseille after a hectic day to say the least. I apologize in advance for typos in this post because I am hastily writing. I will get to that. We set off from Menerbes around 8 and actually had a pretty stress-free drive to Marseille, France’s 2nd biggest city.
We could not find a gas station close to the Hertz office so we will end up paying extra for the gas, but neither of us had the energy to go drive to a gas station that may or may not have even taken our card. We then took a taxi to the B&B which was not far but somehow cost 20 euros. No matter. Our lovely B&B Owner Christophe was waiting for us. We checked in and left our luggage and set out.
We explored the area by the port and bought tickets for a boat ride tomorrow morning to the Calanques, fjord-like formations off the coast. We wandered through the Rick Steves walking tour. We could not find the African spice market and later realized maybe it was because of Ramadan. We went up to the Panier district, which is the older and apparently hipper part of town. I bought a little handmade statue that is typical of the area and something I had wanted to get. We had lunch at La Panier Gourmand in one of the squares - they served sandwiches on panisse, which is fried chickpea fritters, and it was delicious.
After lunch we came back to the B&B for a rest and then around 3 set out for the main sight in Marseille, the Notre Dame church. We took bus 60 from the water and it swept us rather uphill in about 15 minutes. The church is actually pretty small but quite beautiful, with amazing views. We took the bus back down but to the other side of the port and wandered a bit, had a drink, etc.
Around 6:30pm we sat on a bench to kill a little time before dinner and I do not know why but I engaged my data on my international phone and checked my email. That is when I saw our flight back on Sunday had been canceled due to a national air strike. We were rebooked for Monday, which was basically unacceptable to us both. Having lost all appetite, we rushed back to the B&B to call Iberia. The only other option was to fly out tomorrow.
So we will lose our last day and the boat tickets we had bought, which were not cheap and which we were really excited about. I also called Christophe, who came over and let us pay, gave us a little souvenir of soap, a ticket for a free night if we ever return, and booked us a taxi for tomorrow. It was about 8pm by this point and we still needed dinner so we went back to the port and went to Le Souk, where we had intended to go anyway. It is a Moroccan restaurant and had been recomended in a few places. I had chicken tagine and Matt the couscous. We had a view over the port and of the high up church and it was generally lovely. And with that, the trip is unfortunately and abruptly cut a bit short.
Saved the most walking for last I guess: 26,063 steps and 10.37 miles.
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