Jun 9, 2013 - france

Hi everyone having a great time yesterday we went to monte carlo lots of ferraris everywhere very expensive today we are in marseille france, tomorrow we head to barcelona, the cruise ship we are on is small but enjoying no more seasickness we are eating shitloads of food getting fatter hope all is well at home all good hear love robin and rod

Mar 24, 2013 - Chez Fernandel!

C’est parti, en fait je suis parti et du même coup arrivé… à Marseille. J’y étais passé en 1975, je crois, donc de ça 38 ans, avec mon père. Avec ce temps, en surface tout a changé mais le fond est toujours le même (comme moi). Marseille c’est un port, la mer, le soleil, (15 degré à mon arrivé le 20 mars), le pastis, la bouillabaisse, la pétanque, le fameux savon de Marseille, le Château d’If et Le Comte de Monte-Cristo d’Alexandre Dumas, Fernandel, Pagnol et notre Clairette Oddera ...Ce sont (les Marseillais) d’abord des gens, qui comme un...

Jul 12, 2012 - Marseille, France and Genoa, Italy

The thing about a cruise is that you don't know enough. For example today we were supposed to be back on board by 3:30. Leave for Portofino and arrive there by 6:00PM and be able to take a tender into town until 10PM. But they cancelled Portofino and extended the time in Genoa. I didn't know this so stayed on board from about 1PM. Could have been sightseeing in Genoa. Also it is hard to see and soak up a town in just a few hours. I much prefer to stay a while and do more slowly over a number of days. I feel like I really know Rome, Pescara...

Jul 3, 2012 - Paris to the south of France.

Bonjour! So yesterday we took a late train from Paris to marseille. We arrived in marseille around 11pm, with no Internet to look up hostels. And all other hotels in the area were over 150€. So we decided to walk the city at night with our giant packs. We walked from the train station to veux port, an ancient port where the night life was insane. I felt like I was in Rio Brazil. Latin music playing, parties on boats cruising by,and kids driving scooters and atv's on the street. It was quite an experience. From the train station you could...

Jun 7, 2012 - France - Marseille

28th May 2012 (Bed 37) It was a long but pleasant 6 hour drive to Marseille taking into account all our breaks. We drove straight into the town centre where we were immediately confronted with major construction works and renovations being done everywhere. After travelling in circles (the poor GPS just didn’t know where to go due to the many road closures) we found a parking area and headed straight for the Tourist Information Office. We gathered heaps of brochures on things to see and then retreated for a well earned cold drink. We took a...

May 14, 2012 - Marseille

Back to the train station this morning to locate my train to Marseille. I took the high-speed TGV, which took me from Paris to Marseille in just 3 hours and 20 minutes. It was very quiet and comfortable. I chose a ‘no cell phones’ car, so that probably helped. France sped past my window, all countryside after leaving Paris. It was mostly flat fields at the beginning, but more hills and mountains in the distance as we got further south. Marseille was warm and sunny, and I found my hotel without any trouble and was able to check in early. I...

May 12, 2012 - Marseille, France

24th April 2012: Tuesday, train trip from Interlaken West, to Ost, back to West (Oops!) then on to Marseille via some more fantastic Swiss scenery.  Snow capped mountains, aqua green coloured rivers and streams, green farmlands etc. Lots of adjectives to describe the countryside but currently I am lost for words.    We change trains at Bern (the capital) and then Geneve before settling in for our trip to Marseille.  The weather is overcast and raining for most of the trip but arrive in Marseille to clear skies but windy. The Met is easy to...

Sep 25, 2011 - Sugiton Calanque

The day after our return from Paris, we all slept in. Tom was the first to wake up at 10:15! After a lazy morning and early afternoon we decided to go explore a hiking trail that leads out of Marseille. The trail starts on the campus of Aix-Marseille Université Luminy south of Marseille. It doesn't look like much of a trail as you head away from campus - we were heading into a dry pine forest, up a gentle slope. It continued this way for about 45 minutes and gradually there were taller cliffs rising nearby, but the real surprise came when...

Sep 12, 2011 - Marseille, France

Monday, September 12 - Marseille, France (Geraldine’s home) After a hurried breakfast in our suite, we were off on a tour of the city of Marseille. Having been founded by Greeks in the 6th century BC, it is 2,600 years old, in fact it is the oldest city in France and the largest port in the Mediterranean. Over the centuries, it has developed a strong and pithy character, depicted notable in the works of Marcel Pagnol. Today it’s colorful Provencal identity is heavily spice with the exotic influence of the large immigrant population, mostly...

Sep 7, 2011 - The Journey to Marseille

Here is any entry from Kate's perspective for a change of pace. While we are here I will be spending some time studying at the Centre de Recherche en Cancerologie de Marseille. Marseille is about 25 km from Aix, so should be a reasonable commute by American standards. Since Tom and the girls want the car for daytrips (and I don't want to drive in Marseille), I am taking bus and metro lines to get from here to the lab. The most challenging part about this is not the journey itself, but getting information about what types of passes I can get...

Jul 31, 2011 - Marseille & Cassis

So we set out to attend the Greek Orthodox church in marseilles. Marseilles is a big town, 800K people, three times the size of Pittsburgh. We have visited large places before, London, Dublin, Paris, but it is one thing to approach a large city on foot or by metro. It is quite another to enter in a car, the hardest possible way to travel in EU is by car. First, there is really not enough room on the streets for the car. Next, there is never anywhere to park the car once you arrive at your destination. Also, there is the matter that that...

Jul 29, 2011 - Thursday 28th- Marseilles

Thursday 28th Had a really nice breakfast in the Hotel and headed down to the main marina again. Decided to go on one of the tourist trains around the city to see the highlights this town has to offer. It took us up some crazy narrow streets and winding back and forth up about 600m to where there is a big church on top of the hill overlooking the whole town. The views are amazing from up here and look so nice compared to being down there in amongst it all. From here you can’t see any of the graffiti or rubbish or run down empty buildings,...