Marseille Day

Avast ye landlubbers!

I've just gotten back from a wild cruise around the coastline surrounding the Vieux Port of Marseille. The winds are high today - perhaps a French mistral has landed in the city - but the shortest boat trip was still running, and since the Musee de la Mode (Fashion Museum, something both Max and I had been looking forward to) is apparently closed until June 20th, we decided to get out on the water instead. Our boat was also host to a group of fabulous French women, all middle aged and all completely hilarious. We were all loving les vagues (the waves) and the whistling wind that made us feel as if we were battling the high seas (even though we were still in a slightly protected bay off the actual sea). Everyone on the ship would oooh and ahh each time we slammed over a particularly huge roller, making the trip like some kind of carnival ride.

As we chugged out of the Port I sighted a cathedral that I really must visit tomorrow (can't remember the name at this moment, but it's striped like the basilica in Sienna), then moved on to a series of small islands containing various fortifications, including the Chateau d'If (made famous by Dumas' book Count of Monte Cristo, apparently the best-selling novel in the world). We also passed by a craggy, towering cliff of an island that had a group of crosses on the top. One of the fabulous French ladies was kind enough to clarify the guide's information about the place - apparently the Nazis used the island as a munitions store during WWII and erected the crosses because it was illegal to bomb cemetaries.

After returning to solid land we went to the Maxiplus, the grocery store chain we also visited in Nice, and grabbed some microwavable dinners for tonight (sadly this hostel doesn't have a stove), then made our way 'home', as the humidity and bright sun had left us feeling a little out of it. Now we're back at the hostel and have our hearts set on a relaxing night before tomorrow's long voyage to Barcelona (thankfully our train doesn't go until 15:00, so we can take our time getting ready to go tomorrow).

I'm going to go rehydrate myself now - the sun really was intense today.