I nearly got run over by a scooter today. It was totally my fault. What was I thinking walking on the sidewalk? Everyone knows that’s not for pedestrians. It is only for dog poop.
I was busy today. I tried to cram as much Marseille in as possible. A bit of a problem is that next year Marseille and Provence will be the cultural centre of France, so they are trying to spruce up the place. That is the official story. But I don’t believe it. Because every time I come to Europe, the entire place seems to be under construction. It happened five years ago, and it is happening again. Obviously they are just putting up a big Potemkin village for my benefit.
I set off with an all pastry breakfast and went down to the port. There I caught a ferry to Chateau d’If. Now, this is a historical location with, probably, many interesting facts. However, the tour operators knew the target audience, and it was 80% about the Count of Monte Cristo. They even had an exhibit of any place in the world named Monte Cristo. (There are three in the U.S. alone.)
Then back to the mainland. The ferry didn’t go directly there; it is also the service to the Frioul islands, a small archipelago next to the Chateau. I suspect Russian mobsters live there, but only because on the way back I was sitting next to two pretty Russian girls.
From the ride, I saw a cathedral high on a hill. That looked like something to climb. So, I looked for it. I didn’t know exactly where it was, so I just found a hill and kept going up until I ran out of hill. And there it was, Notre-Dame de la Garde. Beautiful place, although I think I came up the back entrance.
They do not allow you to climb the tower.
From the balconies you can see all of Marseille. And it had, not one, but two Table d’Orientation! Although one was blocked by a small child standing on it.
After spending far too long up there, taking the same pictures again and again, I left, going down the main entrance. I stopped off at the park Pierre Puget. It had a very nice waterfall system. It started at the top of the hill and you could follow the stream down the paths, through several waterfalls, all the way to the bottom. Presumably where it got pumped back to the top.
I then did a quick tour of the old city. One lesson I needed to learn was how to find streets. Frequently, the map would show a street and I couldn’t find it. But that is because my eyes do not see stairways as streets. If I learned that earlier, I could have had a much easier time walking around.
A late dinner (because you can’t have one at a reasonable time) of some fish, and then back to base for packing. My flight home leaves tomorrow morning, so I should get up early to catch it.
2012-9-12 23:47