After Pamplona I went back to BCN for a day or two with Mariona’s family before heading out again on a bus to Marseille. I was apparently a few hundred meters away from the Tour de France stage 6 before leaving BCN, but it was rainy and I was resting, so I missed it. My bus was leaving early in the morning, so that night before Mariona took me out clubbing with a couple of her friends: Killian and Adrian. Our ride bailed out on us so we ended up biking to the beach before heading for the clubs, and then in typical BCN stlye we didn’t leave the club until 6am.
I got a little sleep on the bus to Marseille, but once again I should have gotten more (as if I have a choice) before arriving because I had my work cut out for me in Marseille. I didn’t have any hostel or hotel arranged before leaving, and it turns out that every single room in the city was booked. The combination of the impending Bastille day, French summer vacationers from Paris, and a film festival, proved to put quite a heavy load on the Hotels in Marseille.
After touring the city’s hotels looking for a place, I eventually decided on sleeping outside. It was quite warm out so it wasn’t really a bad option, I just needed to find a safe place to sleep. Fortunately I only had to manage a few hours rest in public before being saved by some friendly French citizens, with some help from couchsurfing.com. My host Rachida provided me with a comfy bed, that definitely outdid the ground by the beach, and she took me on a little tour of the city before we went out and got dinner at a little Israeli restaurant.
During the days I spent my time at the Vieux Port, and managed a hike up to Notre Dame de la Garde to get my fill of touristy sights. I also found time to finish a book that was left to me by Rosemary called “A Short History of Progress,” which basically gives a pretty convincing account for why the world is screwed (due to overpopulation and its effect on natural resources), and probably within my generation.
I had to trek back to the wifi at the train station at few times to set up plans for my next destination, and in the process I caved in and ate at a McDonalds. It’s hard to understand how McDonalds in Europe stays in business when the food quality is lower and the prices are higher.
Anyways, after a few days in Marseille, I was off to meet some distant Swedish relatives for a few days in Le Thoronet.
Wow Karl- excellent posts! I hope you are keeping some kind of travelers journal while you are on your adventure, because I can feel a Best Seller in the making. I mean, going from your entries I am expecting you to fall asleep while you are standing in the middle of a plaza from lack of sleep, and I think you should start calling ahead to places to avoid having to resort to park benches and couchsurfing.com, but still, it sounds great :). No, I’m only giving you a bad time- I am excited for you and think it sounds like you are having a wonderful, exciting time so far. I can’t wait to hear more!!! Enjoy the time with your relatives!
P.S. I thought that book was really good. Depressing, but good. And I’m sorry European McDonald’s isn’t up to par.
I am not keeping a travelers journal beyond what I’m posting on the site, but I think that’s alright. I’ve also been taking lots of video clips but I haven’t had time to edit them, so I think I might just make a montage of my trip later on (even though I already missed some good video opportunities)
I thought the book was good, too, but I hope he wasn’t trying to inspire change, because he only really inspired hopelessness!
I hope Alyssa gave you the hug I told her to. Thanks for commenting 🙂
Glad to hear you had such a good time with the family in France. Guess you are in Germany now. Where to next? Don’t know if you are making it up as you go or have an itinerary planned out. What an adventure! Take LOTS of photos and keep posting here so we can go with you.
Love from Mexico,
BaNana
I am sort of figuring it out still, but I have a rough set of places I will see and rough time schedules for all of it.
I will try to keep the blog updated, but about 5 days of lag behind real life is built in. 🙂