On the Continent

One month of traveling over, and time for a new direction. I took the Eurostar into Paris for a couple nights. I have been to Paris before so I decided to just spend one day seeing sights I may have missed the last time. 

I arrived a bit late in the evening so the first night I just walked down the street and picked a small restaurant for dinner. They quickly forgave my poor attempt at French and were very welcoming to me. 

The next day I set out exploring. I started by Notre Dame. Still completely closed off as they work on repairing it after the fire damage or five years ago. One one hand it’s great to see such an amazing old building being preserved- but the billions donated for a church when there is so much starvation in the world is stupid. 

And I digress, but what is fascinating is that there has been a project in France going for years, building a castle using only tool and materials available in the Middle Ages. And those craftspeople have become such experts at their trades they have been called in as the only people that really know how to craft and shape the enormous wooden beams of the cathedral. 

I also walked down the Seine, I walked over the Ponte drs Arts which is famous for the stupid (modern) tradition of attracting a lock and declaring your love before throwing the key into the river. So much damage was done due to the weight of all the locks that the bridge rails had to be completely replaced. 

And people are still attaching locks anywhere they can. Even random fences up and down the Seine.  And I started noticing locks in other cities too. 

After walking around the Louvre, down the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, I went and did the tour of the Catacombs. The story behind them is just crazy. The limestone was all dug out of the bedrock, and then in the 18th century when over crowding was an issue some one had the brilliant idea to move some of the over crowded cemeteries. Over 6 million Parisians now rest below the streets. Their bones all collected together in ways to make patterns it to pile them more neatly. 

I was tired after a long day so I had an early night in. The next morning I had to catch the train to Marseille. 

I stayed at a fabulous little hostel near the Old Port in Marseille. As I was a bit worn out I decided on having a lazy day. It was clear and bright so I took the bus down the coast to a beach and spent the morning relaxing with my book.  I went in the water a couple times- till I noticed the jellyfish encroaching on the beach!!

In the evening I had a nice dinner along the harbour which was now filled with leisure boats, and took a sunset cruise. He took us out through the harbour to the islands just off the coast where we anchored for the sunset. I was one of few that chose to go for swim- it was cool but perfectly swimmable!!

The sunset was lovely and we had a light buffet and some wine before cruising back to harbour with the glittering lights to brighten up the coast. 

The next day dawned fairly drizzly. I did a Petite Train tour of the city that enclosed going up to the basilica of Notre Dame de Gare on the hill overlooking town. The train struggled a bit on the slick roads (“I think I can I think I can!”) and the driver ordered us out. About half the train jumped out and had to walk a short distance until the road flattened again. I was not impressed!!

But I was impressed with the church, it was very lovely with a spectacular view of the city and the Mediterranean. I was also able to take the train back down again. 

Dinner was again by the harbour- I ate a lot of mussels in Marseille. They were delicious before going back to the hostel where I made some friends in the bar that night. It was great to sit out and chat with people about their travels before it was time to move along!