We were woken by some overly cheerful music over the loudspeaker at 6am - Tobias proclaimed "noisy boat" - followed by some instructions in french that we didn't understand. We knew we shouldn't get in until 7am so were pretty sure we weren't being kicked out just yet and got about getting up. By quarter to 7 we were ready to go and it seemed like that was when the garages were opened because we joined the stream of people down to find our bikes unscathed after the journey. 

We were accidentally the first people off and had no idea where to go. Ports are so confusing. You loop forward and backwards and google maps tells you to just get on that road 15m to your right, but over a 3m wire fence. We just hopped on in our jandals, but after half an hour of confusing roundabouts we stopped to put our shoes on and take it a bit more seriously. We finally found a way out of the confusion up a steep hill with a very steep pinch at the end and from there, despite a few detours for roadworks, the city got more and more rideable and we finally made it to the train station for a coffee and another croissant.

The train ride was simple - we went from the beginning in Marseille to the end in Aix-en-Provence. I've been looking forward to France for trains because the rules are a lot more simple. In TER trains they have places for bikes and these are free. It was straightforward and we didn't have to take off our bags. And the lifts worked at both stations so no stair carrying required.
The ride was about 45 minutes. A few different people suggested taking the train rather than biking out of Marseille just to avoid the chaos. We did look at staying a few days to explore, but accommodation was a bit out of our price range. Once in Aix-en-Provence we made our way to Parc Jourdan and spent a few hours in the shade and playing in the playground while we waited for our Airbnb host to be ready. Sebastian rents his house in the weekends while he stays with his girlfriend, it is nice to stay with a personable host. He has a cellar for the bikes so we didn't even have to carry them upstairs.

We were able to check in early after lunch so Tobias could do his nap there, though he was very tired and when we woke him up after a few hours he was not very keen on being awake. We lured him outside with the prospect of watermelon and he cheered up a bit, then we found a French playgroup (we think, it is called  La Maison Verte). What we understand is that kids under 4 can play if their parents are there. There are also some staff and some coffee and water and they were all lovely and we managed to communicate where we are from and what we are doing. Tobias enjoyed the different toys.

We have the day off tomorrow and it's set to be hot again. It seems breezy here at least, though I think we will be less pleased about this once we start biking into the wind.

Heart

0

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

Heart

0

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply