Summer in the South of France
Trip Start
Jul 05, 2010
1
24
31
Trip End
Sep 02, 2010
Where I stayed
London Connection
Marseille, Provence, France
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Well, Marseille has been generally pretty great, with lots of good weather and good views and scenery! Unfortunately, it is also very very hot and as most of you know, I don't tolerate extreme heat very well. It has made it pretty unpleasant and I know Barcelona will be worse so I am actually pretty concerned about the next couple of days there.
The hostel here is half sketchy, half homey, which is an odd mix, but it's true! The whole palce is just a converted small apartment, so the two bedrooms are each stuffed with bunk beds, as is the former "living room", which is where I sleep. The bathroom is small and there is a tiny kitchen as well, and that's it! The whole place can't be more than 600 square feet! As soon as I got here, I met a few of my roommates and we have been kind of walking around together since.
The first day we went out to the Vieux Port in the evening for a few drinks and it was great to see the city at night. It is a very pretty city, with a slight edge of grittiness that makes it just a bit unsettling. But the company was good!
Yesterday we took the bus out to the beaches because it was so nice out. I made the huge mistake of not buying sunscreen when we stopped at a department store, so although I had a great time at the beach, when we got back to the hostel, I was definitely the worst off! It is actually one of the worst sunburns I have ever had! But, the beach was so so nice, with bright blue water, nice and cool and refreshing! I spent alot of time in the water! You had to watch for jellyfish though, I saw a few of them!
In the evening we went back to le Vieux Port, to a pub, where we met up with some other people who were already there. Then we found out that among the nine of us, each was from a different country, which I thought was very cool! All of us coming from our own corner of the world to share a night out together! We had Canada, France, Denmark, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, India, Switzerland and Australia! Then two Finnish girls joined us too! It was pretty funny!
Today it was, if possible, even hotter than yesterday, and my sunburn really exacerbated the situation, so we went out for a walk in the morning, and then came back and I spent most of the afternoon napping. I went out again to the Vieux Port this evening, where I bought a pair of shorts, since the zipper broke on one of mine.
Anyways, like I said, it is gorgeous, but unbearable here, and I am very concerned that I will be unable to tolderate Barcelona at all. As it is, I think I will be cutting my visit there from 3 nights to 2, just to make it more manageable. I can't wait to go back to mild, temperate Germany!
Take care!
Wayne
Comments
Too bad about your sunburn. I know it's been a few days, but if you get burnt again, try some aloe lotion. It always helps for me! Your travels sound so much fun! It would be neat to talk to a traveling Indian! Do you know where they were from?