Marseille is a huge city (2nd largest in France), with a very high immigrant population. It is a port city on the Mediterranean. My first view upon entering Marseille was a homeless camp underneath an overpass. Their were tents set up and mountains of trash everywhere, not exactly the beauty one expects from France. We hated to say it, but we all felt a little bit like we were visiting a third-world country. We spent half of our time at the beach, which would have been nice had it not been for the "Mistral," what they call the wind that brings in the cold water and kicks little rocks and debris at you while you try to bask in the sun. After a brief stay and picnic at the beach, we headed back to the Vieux Port (old port) part of town, which was busy with tourists and vendors selling just about anything the tourist would buy. We weren't sure what to do with our time, so we split into groups of those who wanted to eat and those who didn't. I picnicked at the beach so I went with the non-eaters, and we decided to check out the old part of town. We got sidetracked my H&M and Starbucks on our way. I bought a skirt and a dress, both for 10 euro, and then we headed off in search of this old neighborhood. We finally found it and it really wasn't all it was chocked up to be. Just old apartments, an old looking church, a museum that we didn't visit, and a LOT of dog poop. The French generally don't clean up their poo, and in Marseille it was particularly bad, you have to watch with every step. We finally left Marseille just after 5:30..well that's when we got on the bus. We then proceeded to drive around the city for over an hour trying to apparently get somewhere else, not sure where. The bus was too big for the narrow streets, we ended up backing into a pole and breaking off a huge piece of the bumper, and then we just gave up and headed out of town.
Beach in Marseille
Old part of town (complete with the characteristic graffiti of France)
Le Vieux Port
Now that I've drawn a good picture of Marseille for you, you can be assured that since Aix was the complete opposite, it was an absolutely beautiful, tranquil, and clean city. Aix is much smaller than Marseille, and is a very expensive high class city. The Monoprix (grocery/convenience store) was even glamorous looking. There was a little artisan market going on in the middle of the main street where hats, paintings, and other beautiful things were sold. We ate at a nice restaurant (that had a bathroom-the main reason for our choice.) and the service was excellent and the people friendly. We wandered around town while the sun set for a while and then, very content, boarded the bus for home at around 10pm.
Fancy Monoprix (imagine a Meijer looking like this)
Pretty little fountain in the middle the main street
We finally arrived in Grenoble at around 2 am. The bus made many stops as to avoid forcing the students to take taxis, which are expensive, and the buses and trans stop before 2am. thankfully, the driver was kind enough to take me right to my bus stop because apparently I don't live in the best area for walking alone at night. So I got home by 2:30, but some others didn't arrive home till 3:30 because they had to use more creative ways of making it home safely. Overall, it was an interesting day filled with contrast and new impressions of France. I can say, one day when I have a lot of money and can return to France, I will make a point to stay a few days in Aix, but I will definitely skip over Marseille!
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