I got into Marseille, France yesterday at about 5 pm. The bus ride was boring, but good. I had enough room and except for the smell of the chemicals of the bathroom that was right behind me, the ride was good. I like when that happens.

What to say about this city? I can start by saying that I like it. It seems to be a lot smaller than Barcelona, there are less people, and for the most part I don’t think that I can complain at all. My hotel was only about 5 minutes walk from the bus station, that’s another good thing. The city is very picturesque too. My hotel is on the side of a hill, so going to the water is a downhill walk, and the walk is on the main tourist road. It kind of surprised me on the amount of Arabs here. There is a souk here, although smaller, it is just like one that you would expect to see in Dubai, Amman, or Casablanca. It’s also even more expensive here than Barcelona (and Barcelona was more expensive than Sevilla). I keep trying to understand why it’s so expensive? Is the added cost for items due to taxes or is it because it’s a tourist spot? Barcelona is a tourist location, and it’s cheaper than here. When I think about it, the further East I go, the more expensive it becomes. Maybe it is a latitude tax, or would that be longitude? ☺

Last night I walked around a little, took some photos, but I didn’t really stray too far from the main road that I mentioned above. I got back to the hotel about 9 and was too tired to go out again.

This morning I headed out to see a church that was on top of a hill overlooking the city. The church is really pretty and you can see it from everywhere in the city, or should I say everywhere I’ve gone in the city. Like always I never consider taking a bus or finding any other mode of travel other than walking so I took the long walk to the summit in stride. It took me at least an hour to get there, and when I arrived I was soaked in sweat. It was a little bit embarrassing being around the other tourists with a drenched shirt, but what can you do? They should be the ones that are embarrassed for driving up to the top. The view was really beautiful and I took lots of photos of the vista. The rest of the day was making my way back to the hotel, stopping at a park to eat some fruit that I bought. I did make it to the water, but didn’t get in. It’s not a beach, in fact I haven’t seen a beach, but there were rocks that a person could swim from. I saw lots of people fishing or just sitting and watching the boats go by.

It’s early afternoon right now, so I’ll be heading out again in about an hour or so. Maybe I’ll get some more photos.