Marseille, France, Europe

Today was mostly just a travel day to get from Nice back to Marseille. I left the hostel at 9am and said bye to Anna and Louella. I really hope I run into the girls again sometimes, they were lovely. The bus ride was easy enough and got me back to Marseille around 2pm. I checked into my new hostel, Hotel Vertigo, which is an absolute dump. Luckily the people working there and staying there are nice, so that helps. I chose this place because it had decent ratings online and it’s right next to the train station, so it’ll be easy for me to get to the airport shuttle tomorrow morning.

I dropped my stuff off in my six bed dorm, and it looked like the other five beds were taken, but no one else was there. This place doesn’t even have lockers in the rooms, so I had to leave a bunch of my stuff in the safe at reception. I just can’t trust anyone anymore, and that’s a real shame. I left my stuff and headed out to check out Notre Dame de la Garde, since I missed it last time I was in Marseille.

It was a heck of a walk to get up there, but well worth it. The church itself was very impressive, but the view was even more amazing. You could see around the whole city, down onto the Old Port, out to the train station, and to the islands off the coast. It was really pretty, and a good place to rest for a while because it was really hot and I had just climbed a massive hill to get to the church.

I walked back down to the city, grabbed some provisions from the Monoprix supermarket, and headed back to the hostel. I got back here and met the five Irish guys that I’m sharing a room with. They all seem like really nice guys, and they are here on a lads holiday so I’m sure they will be absolutely hammered tonight. I’m sure they won’t disrupt my sleep at all, yeah right!

I didn’t feel completely safe in this area as it was, since I’m right next to the train station, but the guys told me a story that made me even more wary. They are all pretty big guys, actually they reminded me of Irish Jersey Shore guys. It looks like all they do is go to the gym and then get drunk. So they don’t look like easy prey, but two of them had been mugged at gunpoint last night, right in front of the hostel. Another guy in their group had been pickpocketed. So within three days, three out of five guys had their wallets stolen in this city. Not good for the reputation of Marseille. I’m just glad to be getting out of here in the morning. I have my flight tomorrow at 10:40am, so I’ll be getting to the airport around 8:30am. The earlier I can get out of here the better!