Marseille

The past couple weekends, I was able to venture beyond Nantes and visit some of the other cities France has to offer. The first weekend in May, a couple friends (Kathryn and Meghan) and I headed southeast to check out Marseille on the Mediterranean coast. We had a couple travel days left on the Eurail pass we purchased for our Spain trip way back when, so our little weekend excursion didn't break the bank. Marseille turned out to be a really bustling, interesting city, albeit quite dirty and littered. However, maneuvering around piles of dog poop and old newspapers was a small price to pay for the beautiful view of the ocean and fun cultural experiences we had. The three of us checked out an extensive flea market/rummage sale set up en plein air, with lots of French books, paintings, and antique knick-knacks. Meghan and I just looked around (and were particularly amused by a box of old, previously written on postcards), but Kathryn actually bought a pretty rosary for her grandmother.

After making our way through the flea market, we (naturally) stopped at a boulangerie for pain au chocolat and a bakery for café crème and chocolat chaud. So very French of us. The lady at the boulangerie was very nice and engaged us in an interesting conversation about dating, marriage, and childbearing. Apparently she finds that people are waiting too long to get married because they're more concerned about having money than being in love. We just wanted to get our pastries and run, but she seemed intent on convincing us to have children as soon as possible. Strange. Aside from being awkwardly forward life couns, the boulangerie lady offered us our first experience hearing a strong southern French accent. I can only assume she had a Marseillais accent, but she spoke French much differently than I'd ever heard before. If I didn't listen intently to her words, it almost sounded like she was speaking Spanish or Italian. I guess that makes sense, considering the city's relative proximity to those two countries. Anyway, after we escaped that conversation, we took our pastries and coffee/hot chocolates and enjoyed them outside the church St. Vincent-de-Paul. It was such a gorgeous day to relax outside with a couple friends in the south of France.

Vieux Port

Other highlights of the weekend include spending 10 minutes unsuccessfully attempting to unlock our hotel room door before the receptionist came to help us, goofing around Vieux Port, and stumbling upon a group of French boys playing instruments in the street while wearing dresses. Perhaps my favorite part of the weekend was our quest to find Notre Dame de la Garde, a breathtaking basilica on Marseille's highest natural point. It ended up being quite the arduous climb, especially in flip flops, but we made it to the top the the hill and found the church a little less than an hour before it closed for the day. I can't decide which was more beautiful: the view looking down on the whole city and the Mediterrean sea (including Château d'If of The Count of the Monte Cristo fame), or the unique and intricate mosaic decorated interior of Notre Dame de la Garde. In either case, I'm so glad we ventured up that hill!

View from the hill

Notre Dame de la Garde: Interior 

Notre Dame de la Garde: Exterior

To top off an already near-perfect weekend, the three of us spent the morning and early afternoon the next day (Sunday) before our train picnicking and tanning on the beach. The weather was perfect and the background noise was delightful: ocean tide lapping up on the shore, French families chatting excitedly together, and an intense 'volleyball' game where the players were only allowed to use their heads or feet to get the ball over the net.

Enjoying a delicious brioche & jam sandwich on the beach

As if I'm not spoiled enough, the next weekend I took another trip--this time to Paris--to spend a few days with my friend Shelvy from high school. So stay tuned for an update about that (and more!).