Are you tired? I’m beat!

The day started simply enough,  no alarm,  wahoo. Liesurely getting ready, out the door,  then…go!

First stop, Gare de Sant-Charles, to pick up tickets for the Eurorail to…wait for it…[need to use different voices when you read this] Nice! Nice… Yup, tomorrow, we go to Nice, a place by the seaside, c’est marvelous!

After the train station, we headed to our new favorite haunt, Vieux Pont and wandered around for a bit, looking for the square PSM had seen last night and wanted to check out and we did. Then on to a square we passed that had tables outside and in the sun, it’s chilly in the mornings. I know, I know, it’s not east coast cold here like you’ve got back home, but there’s a slight nip in the air.

Speaking of that…people are so conditioned for the warm weather that when it hits in the 60’s, the parkas come out! Mon dieu! We find a nice spot for a coffee and tea, apparently they were out of croissants, huh? How do you run out of croissants? This is France!

We were heading to the place where I got the crepe yesterday and stopped at an open artists market and went to town, I want to be the people we’re bringing gifts to!

After our shopping spree, on to the creperie for some brunch. Let me tell you, when I hit Europe, I said to hell with it, I don’t care about my gastronomic issues, I’m eating what I want and it’s been awful and wonderful, all at the same time. Let me explain…

Remember, I’m lactose intolerant…my crepe had egg, spinache, gruyere and chevre, goat cheese, for those of you not in the know. oh my, but it was good! Sigh…And big enough that it should take us to about 4pm, after our walking tour, perfect.

We were looking to kill some time, what better way than a fort! We walked back down the waterfront to Fort Saint-Jean, which was attached to the MuCEM, Museum for Civilization of Europe and the Medeterranian. http://www.mucem.org/en/mucem/one-museum-three-sites/fort-saint-jean

The fort was a military base that protected Marseille, it now represents a meeting point between the city and the museum, between history and its contemporary setting. This is truly an impressive structure, the artchitecture is stunning and the foot bridges and ramps are very art deco, I liked it!

The first exhibit we saw was Divine Migration. Showing how humanity has grown as well as the progression of religion, quite interesting.

By now, it was time to head to our walking tour, so away we went, back to the tourism office to meet our guide and fellow walkers. Our guide was Christelle, who is French and did the tour in both English, for the four of us who spoke English and French for the other 15 or so guests.

She was informative and delightful, but there were times that she spoke at length in French and then what we got what didn’t seem to be nearly all the details the French guests were getting. One of the cool things that happened was that I was able to udnerstand part of what she was saying in French, it was cool!

One of the places we stopped was at the Interncontinental Hotel, which is the very overpriced or at least very expensive hotel, that we stopped in last night for a drink. It turns out that it used to be a hotel! It eventually went into disrepair and in bad shape and about ten years ago, the city decided to shut it down and eventually, the Interncontinetal group puchased and renovated it, stunning!

We made a stop in a square that is more typical of Marseille, away from the crowds, quiet and charming.

We stopped in the Hospice de la Charite, which was built to house and lock up the poor and the homeless beggers, nice. Now it is used as a museum space, of course!

There were a few more points on the tour and we ended in a small square with tables,  drinks at one place, sweets at another,  oh well,  we would like them together please.

We went in search of the Marseille Cathedral, (Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille), kind of hard to miss though. And sitting right on the water.  Can I just say,  wow!

The city is quite walkable and you can get to the majorority of key sites easily. We came out of the cathedral to look across the way at the Fort Saint-Jean,  which we had not toured yet.

We went into several of the exhibitions housed in the newer structure, first had a bite of something mostly edible…museum cafeteria food.

Next, it was time to tour the fort itself,  what a view!  We really understood how the city would not be taken as long as the fort stood watch. And…you have Notre-Dame de la Garde across the water,  how could you lose!

Now, we went looking for the gates to the city, at the end of one street,  not sure where the gates were,  maybe taken out for renovation,  hmmm…we just didn’t see them, but…it did bring us back to the main intersection of Vieux Port and…the ferris wheel!

Along the lines of the giant ferris wheels popping up all over the country. Did I go? You betcha!  Did PSM? Not on your life! 

I must admit,  I had weak kneed moments up there, but it was worth it for the view.  It did remind me of when my mom took me on the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island when I was a kid.  I have distinct memories of hiding under the bench crying “mommy,  make it stop!” A few times around and it was over.

Now for some grub, bub! We went in search of a vegetarian place that I found on Happy Cow, have I told you about this app? Is fantastic!  It gives you vegetarian, vegan, veg-friendly, meaning you will have vegetarian options and stores, you can find almost any nationality.

It gives you location, description, directions, customer reviews, hours and $$. This place was the only one open and now a completely vegetarian restaurant.

It took a hike to get there, uphill, I think we found the less prosperous area of Marseille on the way. It was noisy and crowded and more graffiti, and not the good kind, and a lot more trash.

We finally found it!  Le Quarter des Createur, and it was! Eclectic, loud in spots, but fabulous! We went in to Le Cours en Vert and I had one of THE BEST veggie burgers EVER! The reviewer said it and the owner said it,  it was true! Yum!

While we were there, trick-or-treaters came in,  Halloween doesn’t seem to be on the same scale as the States, but it’s there.

And…there was a family with four small children and at some point,  the owner came out with two desserts with candles in it and we all sang joyeux anniversaire to a set of twins! Cool,  huh!

After dinner, something sweet, crumbles aux apple, I haven’t had apples in a while, like I said,  all bets were off on this trip!

Back to the hotel to pack and get ready for tomorrow. Can’t wait! And I can’t wait to tell you about it!

De beaux reves.

And…un très joyeux anniversaire à mon cher doux ami, à partir de marseille, beaucoup amour, KS!!

So…we didn’t get very far on the train…

We were on the train and neither of us heard the stop,  the announcements were not loud enough or clear enough and…in Portuguese, and…we’re both used to a conductor, or someone announcing the stops. Oh well…we ended up back in Lisbon for the night.

The room?  Well, it was inexpensive…we actually got upgraded because he had just sold the last room.  Our upgrade now could sleep four. Two,  sort of in the tiny four poster bed and two singles. Then there was the metal black out curtain and it went in from there,  but we had a private bathroom and it was clean.

We got up,  packed,  headed to the Avis counter at the airport, got a car and headed to España. Oh…I have missed a standard transmission! It’s a hybrid so when you put it in neutral and take your foot off the clutch, it appears to die and when you put your foot back on the clutch, it starts up again,  odd.

We are on the road,  it is a beautiful drive,  the Portuguese countryside is charming and we get to Sevilla in about 4/4.5 hours, stopping for potty breaks.

The rest stops in Portugal are really nice. Pastries, wine, cheeses, nice souvenirs,  pleasant.

We get to Sevilla and find our hotel down some narrow streets,  now I know why we don’t really need a car here.  We get settled in to our rim,  two double beds,  shared WC, meaning, it’s not in the room, a noisy A/C, on the top floor. 

When I say top floor,  I’m not kidding, you go to the second floor and then when you can’t find your room number, go up to the roof/terrace and around the corner and there you are! I do like the way they have decorated the walls and the building is built around a center “courtyard”, charming.

Let’s get a charge on the devices and ourselves for a few minutes,  regroup and headed out into Sevilla. I think it’s time for some grub, bub.

We walked around exploring, taking it in and looking for food.  The first veg friendly place we can’t find so we go onto the first place that is serving,  most places don’t start serving until 830 and it was only 730.

The place we went was ok,  it could have been what we ordered,  but there is always the next place. We ordered foods and drink and took it all in.

Sevilla is beautiful,  I understand why so many operas were based here! The place was alive with activity while we were walking,  kids playing,  people walking and talking, enjoying themselves,  even a movie being shot.

After a few drinks and tapas, we walked in search of me drink and food,  why not!  It’s Friday night in España!

So many people enjoying the night, so few spots to sit and drink and eat, but we found one! 

The area we found felt like the center of everything, but when we started walking again,  activity and energy in every nook and cranny!

We decided to take the car back tonight so we wouldn’t have to get up early and do it, hopped in a taxi and headed back to the hotel.  Highway robbery! I know there is an airport pick up charge, but 24.55? The entire trip was only 5 euros, but with the pick up charge,  ridiculous!

We got back near the hotel,  walked around a bit, climbed the tower to our room and talked about tomorrow.

Now we just need to say gracias instead of obrigado!  It’s a challenge!

Buenas noches!

No alarms…what? Ahhhh…we got up liesurely…I think 10am is respectable when you’ve been setting the alarm every day.

We got up, motivated and dropped our bags with the hotel, they were going to hold them for us until later, and headed out. Our first stop was the Church of St Catarina, which was around the corner from the hotel and we seemed to miss it every time we tried. The churches, and a lot of businesses close between 12/1230pm and 1530pm. Everyone needs a break, right? I’m glad we went, it was a beautiful church.

After the church, it was time for breakfast at a little place near the church where we enjoyed a snack, watched trees being planted and inhaled plumes of smoke.

[That’s EJS’ turtle she gave me to travel with,  you’ll see her again]

Question…does everyone in Europe come out of the womb smoking? C’mon people, I’m eating here! Rant over.

After brunch we headed to the tower, I think I told you about it yesterday, the Tower of the Clergio. I am so proud of PSM, who is not too fond of heights, he made it to the top! On the way up there were some exhibits and we were able to get a great view of the church from above.

At the top of the tower, 75m and 240 steps, the view was amazing. Even the graffiti made it up there. At this point, PSM stayed put and I continued to the next level up. Wow.

The view was fantastic and one of the cool things was that they had plaques showing the different landmarks and where they were as well as comparing the height of the tower to other monuments around the world, like the Eiffel Tower, The Sears Tower, The Empire State Building, very cool.

When we got down to the bottom we realized we had worked up an appetite so…Brick for lunch. Nice healthier sandwiches, all of their sandwiches are served on boards.

After lunch we picked up some part cards, I wonder who they’re going to, wink, wink. PSM also bought a very cool hat, makes him look like a hip cat, not sure if he’s ever taking it off!

And then across the street to a park on top of a parking garage, how ingenious! It was fabulous, with blankets under some of the trees and wine crates with cushions to sit in the grass. They also had tables and chairs. We camped out under a tree.

The view of the street from the park

Where else can you be at a bar in a park and get a beer and a pot of hot tea? Love it!

After a while we decided to hop on the trolley and take it…well, wherever it went! We got off, walked around, mailed my postcards and realized it was time for dinner before the train.

We headed back to the hotel and collected our bags and looked for food. We went back to one if the places we had gone before, PSM was going to treat himself to a franceschina one last time. He was happy.

We headed to the train and hung out until it was time to go and here we are, in the train to Spain!
I’ll talk to you tomorrow from Spain!

Adeus, Portugal! Espana, alla vamos!