I almost didn't write this email, just so that Richard would be stuck waiting four hours at the Cracker Barrel...I mean it serves him right, anyone that would go to such a laaaammmmeee place deserves what he gets. But then I thought, why not make this a plea for our paypal account...Which is open and waiting for donations to fund the many trips to internet cafes it will take to please you all, b/c we can only order so many 1Euro hamburgers at McDonalds, before we start growing second heads (and our travel insurance doesn't cover that). And I just want to warn you all...we are in Europe, Western Europe, which is essentially a nicer version of New York...when we get to India, and South East Asia, communication will be further apart, and Andrew says Sandy better keep extra Bayer around for the anticipated heart attacks that Richard will have. Also...no we will not be taking pictures of Romanians, for money or otherwise :( -- both for political persecution reasons, but also because alas...my camera is broken. Gasp, horror, yes, all those things came to mind. I don't know what is wrong with it, but it looks like its splitsville for now. That is until, my dear sweet, Cracker Barrell going favorite in-laws send us, their beloved son and most recently added daughter in law, a care package (details to follow). SO fortunately for those who were worn out by the numerous photos that dotted our blog, you will have a brief reprieve.
ok -- now for the descriptions. Marseille is exactly as you would expect it to be if you read reviews. A grimy populated city, with beautiful view. We got to our hotel (thanks to Valerie, we had a room waiting). The proprieters were very nice and allowed us to view our room ON THE FIFTH FLOOR, prior to paying the 28 Euros. We trekked up the five flights, with our bags...how excited do you think we would have been to turn around and find another place...exactly. We were happy with the room, it was old, and had peeling wall paper, and holes in the walls. Which the next door inhabitant informed us, led straight into her room. After filling the holes with our chewing gum, and plastic bags, we ate sandwiches we had made that morning, watched french idol, and fell asleep. The next morning, we decided we would stay an additional day. There was no shower in our room, but there was a sink, which we made good use of. Next it was to the tourism office where we located a map of the city and began exploring on foot. There was a really nice harbor and a McDonald's, and eventually we found our way to the Musee d Histoire de Marseille...which we got a discounted faire of 1Euro each...we overpaid. It wasn't a very interesting museum for us, apart from the remains of a midieval ship which Andrew liked. After this, we went back to our room for a nap, and some Russian tennis on the French network--the Kremlin Cup if you will. Afterwards we sought out a grocery store, some two miles from our house, and some beer. We found the beer--Fischer and nutella. It was a wonderful dinner. We had a bottle of wine from Paris, but no wine opener. Andrew proved he was kind of simple objects by opening the wine bottle with a key...Rather MacGuyverish. He was very proud of himself, I tried to take a picture but...see above... Well after two days in Marseille, we checked out of the hotel the next morning, but left our bags, and went to explore the Notre Dame de la garda. Now, Marseille is in actuality ok. It has a lot of construction, a lot of noise, a LOT of dog excrement, but it has some lovely views, and nice churches. The walk to the Notre Dame was all up hill (I think it's one of the two highest points in the city), the walk was a little tough, but absolutely amazing. It was a beautiful church. Don't bother looking at pictures of it, they don't do it justice, and the views of the city were simply fantastic. We played a few games of cards, bought a post card (for ourselves...Dallas, don't get your hopes up), and heded down to collect our bags, An hour later, we were on our way to Aix en Provence...which is a great escape from the New York-esk Marseille. The hostel we have is 25 minutes walk from the city centre, but the people here are fantastic, next to Valerie and Benoit, our favorites. They stop when you are in a cross walk, the bus drivers don't let you get off at the wrong stop (in fact I got off and the driver waited until I got back on), and we are pretty sure they have pizza's for two euros each...Andrew's excited, let me tell you. Oh and did I mention we have a shower and a toilet in our room...it's really heavenly. No internet though, so we will be emailing with less regularity. Anyway, that's my post for now....tell me how cracker barrel is :)
