2 January 2023
We checked out and decided to treat ourselves to a breakfast out as we’d had a few poor meals recently. After a bit of walking we found a nice cafe and each had a croissant, hot drink and orange juice. Lisa was very confused by the two drink situation! The croissants were amazing, French made ones are just so much better than what we get at home.
We hadn’t planned anything for Marseille and when we started looking it turned out there were no walking tours running and the hop on hop off bus wasn’t running either (although we subsequently did see that running during the day which was very frustrating). As a result we had to entertain ourselves for the day. Thankfully we were near the old port area which has the major attractions of the city, so we were able to spend the day walking.
On our walk we saw the triumphant arch – it was better than Barcelona and probably related to an actual victory but we didn’t know which one. We also saw a chunk of old wall that had been retained, we guessed probably part of the original city wall.
Our first main attraction was the Norte Dame de la Grade cathedral perched on top of a massive hill. It was a bit of a hike to get there and a bit steep at times, sadly no escalators to help here! The view at the top was incredible and we got a great perspective on the city which was quite beautiful. The cathedral itself was very impressive and pretty. After a good look (and Lisa raising her usual bunch of nun questions), we headed back down the hill.
On the way up we had seen a square with lots of markets and we stopped there on the way down but there wasn’t anything open. We found a cafe where we could people watch while having our hot chocolates. The drinks themselves were pretty poor and while nice to watch people it wasn’t anywhere near as interesting as it had been the previous day in Barcelona. Lisa spotted that there was a Uniqlo in the area and so she stopped off for a quick spot of shopping (not sure how all of this is going to fit in her suitcase).
In looking for a walking tour I had found the site “GPS my city” and it had a self guided tour which we then followed. It was based around the old port and the old city. The walk was quite good and we got to see lots of old buildings and other sites. For each stop there was a bit of a text blurb which gave a bit of context to what we were looking at. Highlights included
- A couple of very nice churches. The final one by the sea in particular
- The town hall with a weird cow on stilts outside
- The intercontinental hotel which is in an old hospital.
We struggled to find a place for lunch as it was mostly expensive restaurants along the waterfront. Eventually we found a cheap looking cafe that did a couple of slices of pizza for a good price. After lunch we headed to the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations. This was in the old fort by the mouth of the harbour and also spilled over into a very fancy new modern building. The first exhibition was great, contrasting the effect of 17th century politics in the Mediterranean with the changes currently being seen in cities in the area. Lots of interesting things to see and read although not a lot of it was in English. Sadly, the rest of the exhibitions didn’t match this initial one. There wasn’t that much to see and a lot was based on art that didn’t seem relevant. Overall, it was disappointing after high expectations (Lisa had been telling me for months how great this museum would be and how much I would enjoy it, due to my love of a good museum). It was frustrating as other museums in the city looked good too but weren’t open on New Year’s day.
We then walked back to the hotel to pick up our bags and then walked to the train station. The train was very full and the ticket scanner at the gate was having issues so they let everyone through in a giant free-for-all. We had a snack on the train so that we could have a good meal in nice when we arrived.
The train to Nice was not good. It was an old regional train and there were way too many people on it. We managed to get on early and got a seat but one that was facing the wrong way and had no window to see out of. I did get a surprise when I looked up and there was a naked breast in my eye line. A lady was wearing a halter top and didn’t appear to have realised it had come up. I nudged Lisa and she got a good view before the lady fixed her outfit.
We arrived in Nice and it was a short walk to our hotel. We went for dinner to what I thought was a good area but we really struggled to find anything and as Lisa was quite hungry she got a bit cranky. We found a nice French restaurant and were seated before Lisa got a chance to read the menu – she declared “there was nothing here she could eat” and so we had to sneak our way out of the restaurant (unfortunately our table was at that back of the restaurant which made sneaking out difficult). In the end we decided we just needed something and ended up at a burger place that did exact copies of McDonald’s burgers. I had the Big Mac copy and Lisa had the cheeseburger. We then tried to find a supermarket but our poor luck continued and we couldn’t find anything.
Matt and Lisa's Adventures 
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