Europe/UK 2023

 Down near the Port for coffee and croissants for breakfast and a wander.  Don’t think you could ever get tired of the view of the Cathedral!                      And one more pic of the Port.                    Love the wrought iron balconies!     Magnificent sycamore trees line streets and boulevards. One last look at the market, slightly intimidating in some ways and absolutely fascinating at the same time! Uber to train station for 1.41pm to Avignon … fingers crossed we don’t experience delays like we did on Tuesday! 🤞 Arrived in Avignon on time and taxi to apartment and met by our welcoming host Franck. Gorgeous apartment with great facilities. Off out to explore! 

 First impressions can be deceiving … oh so true!! Walked out onto La Canebiere from the hotel this morning and what a difference to last night!! Marseille is a hive of humanity … a melting pot of cultures with a large North African influence. Love the place! It is edgy, hip, grubby and dodgy in places, but has a massive vibe!  Walked to the port and found the tourist train to the Marseille Cathedral.               Stunning views of the coast on the way.     And a walking and cycling path around the coastline.    The Cathedral was built in the 13th century. Nearly there!                      Magnificent views of Marseille   And Le Stadē Velodrome towards the mountain, which will be hosting Rugby World Cup games.  After returning to the port, we walked to La Paniere, a ‘creative arty’ area of Marseille. Loved the street art! Stopped for a bite to eat in La Paniere then made our way back to the hotel and came across street market, it was a ‘hive of activity’. Made our way up to Cours Jar

 Left Beaulieu yesterday (Tuesday) and Ubered into Nice, and dropped off at the old town. Our driver was a real hoot and gave us French lessons all the way into Nice … merci beaucoup!!  Beaulieu apartment in the background (on hill) … you can appreciate why I referred to the climb back each day!                  Nice - lots of cool narrow laneways. Then time for coffee. Coffees vary in price, depending largely on location, anywhere from €2 - €4.  Really liked Nice and especially the old town. Next time we would spend a few nights here exploring properly.  Then we decided to use our legs and walk to Nice Ville Station for our train to Marseille at 1.25pm. Once at the station Olivia left us as she was flying back to London at 6.30pm. That is when the fun started! First we were delayed by 30 min then extended to 60 min. Finally got on train a bit after 2pm then sat stationary for 2 hours!! There was an incident on another line and we waited for delayed trains to arrive. We finally pulled