Menacing marvellous Marseille.

Old Port. 

Marseille, is a complex town. The sight of lots of man sitting over their early evening coffee despite the cold, not a woman with them, felt slightly menacing, but then I recalled the Chinese sort of take out place, round the corner from where I stayed my first time. The upside of Marseille is these cheapish places for the locals to eat in.  9 Euros later, my tummy full of food, I headed further towards the port and the tourist areas, before checking in at my hostel.  This place is just off the old town and very convenient, and has a quirky appeal, but at 26 euros a night is not exactly cheap.   Breakfast however is provided and I was very happy the next morning to see the sunshine, despite the bad weather forecast, so decided on a very quick breakfast before heading to catch the 8,20 boat to the Frioul islands, catching sight of the Chateau DIf, the inspiration for the Count of Monte Cristo en route.  Fioul had come across online as a sort of French Galapagos with its birds and inlets.  I think that would be a mega exaggeration but it was pleasant enough to stagger about it as the sun rose and then treat myself to an ice-cream before heading back to catch my train to Arles. 

By Thursday I was back and to my delight found the Algerian restaurant I had found on my first visit so this time 8 euros down I headed back to the hostel. But rounding the street into a port, I was captivated along with most of Marseille by the sight of the Hermione.  The following morning I had planned to visit a museum except that it was shut,  so I just had to go back to my favourite cafe in the port, sit in the sun and watch the fish market and people hovering around the Tall Ship. One of the women in my dormitory offered me the chance to look around,b ut not till the following day, but she was able to explain that the ship was a reproduction of the one that took La Fayette to support the Americans against the Brits. Now just a crew of 88 manage her, but when the guns were in the operation over 200 sailors would have been crammed into her. 

Around the port many of the soap shops seem to have moved but near the Abbey I found an intriguing museum with lots of clay figures, which are local to the area, called Santons and before heading back to the UK I was happy to once again disappear into the more ethnic shopping area and head for the enticing spice shop.