marseille

France is on holiday so last week I took a train with two girls who teach English here south in search of some warmer temps. We didn't find much warmer temps, but we did find water, mountains and some good wine!

Our destination was Marseille and after we arrived we headed straight for the old port. I was hoping the weather day one would set precedent for the rest of the week, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Other than the surrounding mountains, this place reminded me a lot of Larmor-Plage; all the shops were shut down for the noon hour, the air felt fresh and smelled a bit like fish, and most of the sounds on the hidden streets were of water and seagulls.

The area is well known for it's soap; lavender specifically. I didn't buy any but we popped into a few shops to check it out. The shops smelled clean, that's for sure! Soap on a rope, bouquets, you name it... they had it all!

We were really wanting to travel outside the city and hike the Les Calanques, just a hilly area with coves and great views of the sea. On day two, we thought the rain would hold off so we bought tickets to for the metro to catch the bus and headed out. By the time we went two metro stops and got out of the underground to catch the bus, a cold front came through and it was raining so we decided to put it off for another day. Coastal weather, you can't predict it!

Instead we ate the sandwiches we made for the hike in a park and then walked to the highest hill in the city to see Basilica Notre-Dame of the Garde. Atop it all, you could see the city of Marseille and on a clear day, I'm sure even further.