So the day after Eze I spent one more night in Nice, then got up early the next morning to take the train - my ferry departed that evening from Marseille (a city I know and looove), but I decided to stop off for the day in Antibes instead - one of the better known seaside towns on the Côte d'Azur, located between Nice and Cannes. (If you start west from Montpellier, you'll find Marseille-Cannes-Antibes-Nice-Monaco-Italy, as a general guideline). I didn't have much desire to go to Cannes, and judging from what I saw of the town during an hour-long layover after departing Antibes, I chose wisely! The day was stunningly bright, warm, and I spent most of the day lounging on the shore of the rocky beaches like a bum,
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| Hi. I'm a bum. |
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| Yeah, I could chill here awhile. |
then wandering around the promenade des arts in the shadow of the Fort Carré, which dates back to the 16th century and is a nice stern backdrop against the relaxed feel of the town.
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| Feelin' small. |
I also checked out the old town, which definitely has its own unique feel. I've done my fair share of traveling through Mediterranean France by now, and I definitely enjoy discovering how each ville/village I visit has its own unique flavor to it, even within such close proximity. Antibes didn't disappoint!
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| Peeking out over the city walls. Keeping a weather eye out. |
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| A lazy weekday afternoon. Nobody's in much of a hurry to go anywhere; neither am I |
But alas, Marisa had a ferry to catch, so it was back on the TER (train express régional) - the cheapest train transport in France, as a heads up - to piggyback to Cannes, then Marseille. A little bit of train knowhow also saved me ten euro - fooled you again, SNCF, thinking you can take more money from me!
Moving on. Once in Marseille, showed up for my boat at 6 pm, an hour before debarkation at 7, as recommended. Bought myself some dinner at a grocery store beforehand and picnicked on deck in spite of the wind, watching the sky go dark.
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| Mm, nice view while enjoying my canned cassoulet with a plastic spoon. |
After that I settled in for some light studying, Shutter Island playing in French on the ship's cinema (really hard to understand at times - yow, all the psychological stuff), and a humorously terrible night's sleep. I paid for a fauteil confort en salon, which is essentially a poorly reclining lounge chair in a room scattered with them spread out. I don`t sleep well sitting up, so yours truly started the trend of sleeping on the floor for the 10-hour ferry ride (others soon followed suit after much humorous shuffling). The boat was relatively empty due to it being the off season, so there was plenty of space. Didn't sleep too well, but at least I could curl up around my backpack and feel like a hobo for a night. Come to think of it, I felt like that a lot during this trip...but it was more amusing than anything. Plus, I took my one slight splurge of the trip and booked myself a pension de la famille (bed and breakfast) for my time in Ajaccio (biggest city in Corsica! And still quite small), where my ferry landed bright and early at 7 am the next day, wondering what on earth to do with myself at this godforsaken hour, still rubbing my eyes and munching on some fruit for breakfast until I could make my way to the nearest boulangerie/patisserie.
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| On the plus, I was greeted with a double rainbow that morning :) |
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| My bed! Ooohh yes. |
So, after some light wandering and munching on pastries, I found my leisurely way to the pension at around 9. The Pension de la Famille Morelli, run by Mme. Tina Morelli herself for the past 50 years or so, is truly a local institution - and also very reasonably priced for a place that is completely without youth hostels. Run out of her home smack dab in the middle of town, you're brought in as a welcome guest. I took the option of having my meals - breakfast and dinner - there, and had some most delicious Corsican food and the even more warm Corsican hospitality. The Pension also functions as a small restaurant, frequented by a cast of regulars as colorful and fun as Mme Morelli herself - who is like your sassy, but loving grandma who wants to know all about you and make sure everything's going alright while you're here. She enjoyed my bizarre mixed heritage (Armenian on my father's side, Canadian with Slovak roots on my mother's, but living in the U.S. and now in France blahblah...) and affectionally called me "la petite" as we all enjoyed our family-style dinners together. It was so nice having this to come home to every day, and even though I showed up a little before schedule (9 am, again) the room was ready and she welcomed me to plop down on the bed for a 40-minute nap before starting my first day in Ajaccio...
...which I'll recount to you soon. Until next time!
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