Tide Hiker Adventures: DAY 27: MARSEILLES BY FAST TRAIN

Tuesday May 2, 2023

We only have 4 days before we start heading back home and do not want to "waste" any time. Deidre went over the local maps and concluded that we had pretty well "done the lot". We had avoided Marseilles as it was "just another big city" and, in our minds, it seemed to have a bit of a suspect reputation.

But we had recently been to the Nimes railway station (to visit Starbucks!) and had seen the Marseilles TGV roar out. So why not drive to Nimes, get a coffee and go to Marseilles for an overnight. The off peak round trip fare was only $100 for both of us and I found a hotel for bout the same right near the port.

I am a bit of a nervous traveler so we arrived in plenty of time for our 3:35PM train, so we had a coffee and sandwich. An hour before departure time the board showed a 30 minute delay. 30 minutes later another 30 minute delay. This happened 4 times in total until the train was actually cancelled.

I went off and joined the line at the ticket office. I happened to come across a couple from Charlotte, NC with the same problem. The bottom line was that there had been a fire, and there would not be any train to Marseilles that night. I did not want to drive - By now I was a bit tired of driving in France. But the Charlotte couple had some sort of commitment and were desperate, and trying to hire a cab to make the trip! So Deidre and I did the right thing and loaded them into our car and headed to Marseilles. (Plus we had prepaid for the hotel!)

The drive was 50% freeway so it was OK until we found ourselves in a long traffic jam in the Marseilles approaches. Added an hour. By then we had had enough of our new friends (Deidre and I seem to be on the same wavelength) and dropped them off at their hotel and said our aurevoirs.

Our hotel was a bit basic, but clean and one block from the giant public marina. Deidre was a bit buggered so chose a rest, I headed off to see what I could see. The private boat marina was just amazing. I have never seen so many boats in one place in my life, The whole place just looked amazing. The harbor must have been about 1,000m long and 200m wide, with two old forts other side of the entrance.

As usual it was another perfect sunny day, and by now a perfect evening so I headed back to collect Deidre for our dinner.

The whole bay was lined with open air bars and basements, and I had taken the time to pick a nice that would increase our chances of a good meal.

I ordered 1/2 bottle of wine and some sort of baked fish. Deidre ordered a salad.

If dad had caught this fish he would have tossed it back. Maybe it was 8" or 9" long? It still had its head and fins and skin on (it had been roughly scaled) and I swear it was looking at me the whole time. The skin refused to peal. It was absolutely full of bones. I must have managed a match box full of flesh before I gave up. It cost about E30. The wine was OK.