I'm sunburnt from the excess of sun I got at the south of France this weekend. I got enough vitamin D to get me through the cold Parisian winter that will surely get here too soon. Saturday morning we were off on a 3 hour train ride to Marseille. Once we got there we took the metro to the Vieux Port, as soon as we walked out of the metro station we were greeted with bright blue skies and the gleaming of the clear water right in front of us.
We took a bus to the to our AirBnb which was a chic little apartment with two rooms and a big terrace overlooking the ocean. We changed and headed over to the beach which was just a 5 minute walk away. We laid out in the sun, taking turns cooling off in the water. It felt great to be away from the loud city for a change. Laying in the afternoon sun made me miss my hometown. My sisters and mom would usually lay out in our backyard or one of the towns beaches to soak up the sun. The whole summer we would compete with each other to see who would get the darkest. I love Paris, but the Seine doesn't make up for the beach bum within me.
We stayed till closing time which was around 8pm. The sun was still shining bright and the day wasn't over. We headed back to our AirBnb, showered and got ready for the night while sipping of cold beers and Rosé. Around 9:30ish I looked out the window and realized the sun was setting. I am a big sucker for sunsets and unfortunately our terrace didn't face the sunset so I asked the girls if they wanted to go out the front to look at it. They agreed and we walked down the street where we were high enough to over look the city and the ocean which was melting away in the sunset. It was gorgeous. We all stood there in silence taking it in. But then of course we had a photoshoot (COMING SOON). Couldn't miss out on a good photo op.
After we frolicked in the streets for a bit pretending to be models, we went back in to finish getting ready. By the time we left our place we were starving and it was late. We walked to the port by us. Our path there was filled with little streets filled with plants and flowers that had closed up and fallen asleep for the night. Little lamps and string lights lit and romanticized our journey down to the port. Once we got there, we were more in love. There were people everywhere sitting by the water drinking their wine and enjoying the night breeze. We, on the other hand, were late to the little restaurants near by and had to keep going to find a place to eat.
We walked around for 30 minutes until we got the center of town. By now most food places were closed and the bars and clubs were opening up. I was running on two hours of sleep and not in the mood to party. I just wanted to eat anything at that point. We ended up at a Kabab place and devoured everything that was put in front of us. When we were done we just wanted to head to bed. We were dressed up but the walk across town was good enough for us. We took an uber back and changed into our pajamas. We sat out at the terrace, drinking more Rosé and chatting away the night.
The next morning we cooked ourself a cute little breakfast with eggs and sausage. We packed our bags and was out the door by 10am. We walked around for a bit. We didn't realize at the moment, but Marseille is the second biggest city after Paris in France. There was a lot to see and so little time. We ended up at Vieux Port again. We bought some bread, cheese spread and pepperoni at the closest market. We hopped on a boat and went to a neighboring port called L'estaque. It had an beautiful but over crowded beach. The beach we went to before was a little better. The ocean had huge rocks randomly at the bottom of the soft sand where you would hear people yelp after they would stub their toes on it.
Nonetheless it was a great getaway with a boat ride that gave us great scenery. After two hours we left. We tried catching the bus but it was so overcrowded we decided to walk. It was probably a mile walk that went by quickly. When we got back, our plan was to explore the city a little bit more. The sun had robbed us of our energy so we tried to restore it with some ice cream. We continued walking into the narrow streets of Le Panier, Marseille's quarter. The golden glow of the afternoon sunset lit the streets. The narrow streets were filled with plants and flowers giving it a fairy tale feel.
We stopped in a little square that was filled with restaurants and outdoor seating, and oh boy, did we feast. We order pizzas, beers and Cafe Gourmand (an espresso with a selection of mini desserts). We were suppose to go and explore more but our butts were glued to those chairs. We stayed and talked till the moon was out. On our walk home we passed multiple talented street art. It was incredible to see all the different types and how the old streets of Marseille accepted the new. Once we got home we packed and drank our last bottle of Rosé. We had an early train to catch back to the bustling streets of Paris. Marseille was a treat, a weekend getaway I need to unscramble my mind and restore the peace within me. I would recommend it to anyone who decides to venture off in France and is tired of the same rut in Paris.
