vie en France: Cassis/Marseille

For our last group excursion, Christophe and Katy took us on an overnight trip to Cassis/Marseille. First we stopped in Cassis to hike for a few (4) hours in the Calanques. Christophe told us it'd be three hours of walking; he didn't warn us that it would be "walking" up mountains and that we'd want to die a bit. But, regardless, in the end, the view was magnificent and we really worked for our dinner (paid for by the program) in Marseille that night.

After our tour of the calanques, we made our way to Marseille where we stayed in a hotel right next to the Opéra. After a frantic 30 minutes where we all showered (after the Calanques I felt gross-er (not a word, I know) than I've ever felt after a workout) and made our way to the Maison Blanche, courtesy of the program (well, and the money we paid them before we got here).

Saturday in Marseille was pretty tranquil for me and Care. We had breakfast at a café, got harassed by beggers, did some shopping, saw the Bonne Mère, ate a good lunch on a terrace because for once it was not raining and gorgeous, then just hung out a bit. I wasn't in a hurry to be super touristy as I come to Marseille kind of often with Michel et Rémy. It was nice though to walk around the Vieux Porte at night. It's so gorgeous to see all the boats and buildings lit up.

Me and the calanques in Cassis. You can't really tell in the photo, but I'm completely drenched in sweat. Climbing those cliffs, I really felt like I was going to die a bit. But the view was totally worth it.

At the top of the Calanques

We bien merited our dinner in Marseille that night at the Maison Blanche (White House) with the groupe. It was a super chic restaurant and we all got dressed up (in 30 minutes) and went out. I had an appetizer of grilled eggplant with ham and chèvre (goat cheese), a meat-kebab entré and tiramus for dessert.