Marseille, Day 1. The Port

22nd. Marseille 1

Up ridiculously early to pack and get the apartment ready for inspection and the return of our deposit. The apartment owner got to us at 10.30, we passed inspection, and made our way to the train station for our trip to Marseille. The TGV service was excellent, and remarkably low-priced. We spent an enjoyable while in the refreshment coach en route, and paid our farewells to our train and one of its companions before making our way to our hotel.

It was good to get to a new place at a reasonable time of day, but we were pretty knackered and needed a nap before getting out and about in Marseille. First impressions weren't all that good (beginning with the metro, which was nowhere near as good as in Lyon and only had a minimum of escalators, which meant we had to constantly lug our cases up and down steps), but we did find lots of restaurants and a bar or too (had our first pastis before our meal). The meal itself wasn't great, and we only had one drink afterwards.

The metro service ends at 11.00, and the trams stop at 12.00, so we got a tram back to the hotel and settled down to watch a movie in our rather up-market superior suite. (We'd feel inclined, however, to report Novotel under the trade descriptions act. Their description of "the fine view of Marseille" didn't exactly match the reality.)

Blip reject: Evening sun at Marseille Old Port