Day 33 - Return to Marseille from Paris

Au Revoir, Anna

After a very comfortable night's sleep at Anna's I made sure I woke up early and had everything packed so there'd be no hassels when she had to leave for work at 8:30. I had a bit of a panic - had I put the documents for the car hire in the glove compartment? I hoped so, because they weren't anywhere else. But I went down to the car to check that was the case. I finished my coffee and then we were off.

Anna has one of those cute compact two-seater cars and I followed her out of the car park back onto the busy streets of Paris. I'd worked out that the EuropCar drop off point was really close and and easy to find and so it proved. By 9 am the car was parked and the keys handed in. I was free of driving again but, on the down side, now have to carry all my bags with me.

Walking (and being cycled) across Paris

I decided it would be good exercise to walk to the station Gare de Lyon, rather than get the metro as it meant I'd see some of the Parisien sites too. I had time, after all - about three and a half hours. I stopped for breakfast - a ham and cheese omelette - and then walked through La Place de la Concorde to the river Seine which didn't look as high as I'd thought it would be. Then, it was a left turn and simply a case of following the river until you get close to the station.

EuropCar drop off

Right at the end of the street there is Sacre Coeur

To be honest, after about an hour's slow walking, I decided to have a sit down and as there was one of the cycle-taxis waiting and offering to take me I agreed. I got him to take me half way, after which I would carry on walking.

Magdeleine Church is Massive

The cyclist had an East European accent. I asked him "Are you Polish?" He seemed to take offfence and asked "Where are you from?" I told him and then asked again. "Bulgaria" came the reply. I think he was surprised when I then said "Zdravai!" and "Blogodaria" when he agreed to take me half way. We chatted about Plovdiv and the best place to go on the Black Sea coast and if French women were generally more attractive than Bulgarians.

I think my Bulgarian cycle-taxi driver is being friendly

Anyway, refreshed after my sit down and now just twenty minutes away from the station, I had time to find the nearest craft beer place which, perfectly for me, was just opposite the station. I had a small Punk IPA and then went into the station.

Lyon Express Bar by the station has some nice beers

All aboard!

I don't know how many passengers are on this train but it is big one. Each carriage has two levels and there are about 15 carriages. So, maybe 300? The departures board showed the train was due to leave on time at 12:37 but not the platform. This finally appeared at 12:30 and everyone squeezed through the entrance onto the platform and boarded. Amazingly the train left almost on time, probably about 12:45.

I was sat with a Canadian/American family. Mother and two grown ups - a son and a daughter. We had an interesting conversation about Brexit and Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin and how the world seems to be getting scary. She had just bought the latest edition of The Economist which had a typically dramatic front page denoting "Anarchy in the UK". Talking of music her son's favourite band "Tame Impala" come from Perth and were apparently playing in Lyon tonight. He looked a bit peeved that his mom was taking him on a cultural exploration of Europe.

The Latest British Cock Up

In three and a half hours the very fast train arrived in Marseille and I called my AirBnB host, Sandra to let her know I'd arrived. It is nice being back in Marseille. This is actually my third visit now, and I already feel like I know the place. I got a metro to the same station where the stadium is (and I'll be on Thursday night for the France v Germany semi final!) and then a bus to go the rest of the way. 

285 km / hour is fast

I chose this accommodation on location, location, location - not too far from the city centre - 35 mins by public transport. Not too far from the stadium - half an hour's walk. And right by the beach and the Mediterranean. After four weeks of hectic driving I'm here to relax, watch two games in four nights and maybe do a bit of cycling and snorkeling in the heat.

As soon as I arrived, I went down to the beach for a dip. Gorgeous! And then after a bit of a walk around to dry off, I bought the best bag of apricots ever and had a glass of beer before going back for a shower and got changed.

The view from my bedroom window

Sandra, my host is very intelligent, and is studying law. She's going to start working for the EU chamber of commerce here in Marseille and so, naturally, the subject of Brexit reared its ugly head yet again. Once again I had to try to justify the English and Welsh decision to leave. Once again, it was cringe worthy and embarrassing.

After a night blogging, and enjoying an excellent litre of beer (there's another thing those "bullying" EU people didn't do - enforce the British to abandon their long outdated imperial measures) I picked up in Lille, I headed out for a "petite" pizza which was so big I had to take a quarter of it back "pour manger plus tard".

Superb Belgian Beer from Lille

Ok. So a relatively quiet day today. 

Aljice
Marseille