So I lightened by bag a little by giving some clothes to charity and began my 10 hour bus journey to Marseille..thinking I'd scored a seat to myself, a man I'd politely spoken to before boarding decided to sit next to me..he was friendly but talked a lot :P
A few stops on the way and we arrived at about 10pm in Marseille..pretty hectic station, soldiers with rifles and fearsome (if a little malnourished) looking, muzzled dogs..trekked the streets and found my 'hostel', which turned out yet again (like milan) to be an overpriced bunch of rooms..but there was a friendly African who greeted me so that was something :P
The next day I walked down to the harbour which was pretty nice..found a Starbucks to abuse the wifi (it cost an extra 3e at the hostel :S)...i was lugging a bag of stuff I wanted to send home around with me and when I finally found a post office it ended up being too ridiculously expensive..so I lugged the bag and myself back to the hostel in the heat..so much dog shit around the streets lol..and beggers :( apparently they're gypsies from Romania..who use their children to beg..anyways, tried to book a bus or car for that evening but no luck so decided to nap and pay for another night..a nice guy from Copenhagen (who'd hitchhiked all the way to France) lent me his computer..he and the African hostel guy both tried to help me find a cheap way to barcelona but no luck..so instead I decided to go for a beer with the hitchhiking guy, a guy from Poland (who's actually doing his PhD in Melbourne and was doing research in Marseille) and two guys from Tasmania..we went back to the harbour, found an Irish pub and talked politics and world issues over a beer..lol they were good guys though :)
The next day I got up and bit the bullet and bought a bus ticket that I'd previously considered too expensive..so I did a crash course of tourism of Marseille, as I was too tired to do much the day before...I first went to the beach and had a quick dip (quick, as when alone you shouldn't leave your bag alone!) which was lovely..awesome views of the city's fort, which protected the port..then I decided to save money by walking to the Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica/cathedral (nearly killed me, it was soooo steep and hot!!), which was thankfully worth it..amazing views and beautiful architecture..an hours walking later I finally made it back to the hostel where I grabbed my bags and headed to the station..I didn't know where I was staying that night but the buses had always had wifi so I figured I'd sort it out on the eurolines bus..but alas, no friggen wifi.........
