Montpellier, Marseille, Aix En Provence

So, I had a relaxing day in Roanne on Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning, Kate, Kim, and I headed off to start our little South of France adventure in Montpellier!

After two trains, we made it to Montpellier, where we met up with Elyssa, Kate’s friend, who we stayed with for two nights. She was so nice and she showed us some cool spots around the city! There are some really pretty buildings here in Montpellier and lots of palm trees! Also, the trams here are very bright and colorful!

Buildings at the place de la Comedie

One of the many trams!

That evening, we made fajitas for dinner and they were delicious! Then we played this game called: tri-ominos which was pretty fun :)! Just like dominos but with triangles lol.

On Thursday, we walked around and explored the city even more! I saw a lot of nice buildings and more palm trees. There was a cool arc in the city as well.

Arc in Montpellier

pretty buildings and palm trees

Church in background and cute little touristy train

We went inside this church, which was an art museum inside! It was pretty cool!

Museum inside a church

Next we had a delicious lunch at the columbus cafe! I introduced the others to this place, and its delicious bagels and muffins. Then, we continued to walk around and enjoy the town.

Elyssa, Kate, Kim, and I

Then we made our way across town to this really pretty medical school! It looked to me as if it was a mixture of a castle and church!

Fancy medical school

That night, we went out to eat at this italian restaurant in this area that reminded me a lot of downtown disney. I had a ham and mushroom pizza. It was really good, but so filling! I even had a caramel panna cotta for dessert which was really yummy! After the meal, we went out to have a drink and to dance! 

Friday morning, we left Montpellier for Marseilles! It was about a 2 hour train ride. Once we arrived at the train station, we started looking for our hostel. I was excited, because this was my first hostel experience ever! But, the only downside is that it seems to be on a bit of a sketchy street. There were just men 

We stopped to ask someone for directions to the street, and soon realized that it was practically right across from the train station! This hostel was called, Vertigo, and I highly recommend it if you ever go to Marseille! The hostel is like a 3-5 minute walk from the station, the workers are so nice, and the room/bathroom were nice and clean. The only thing was that the road it was on was a little bit sketchy. There were just tons of older men sitting outside and sometimes they would try to get your attention with strange comments… It wasn’t too bad though because there were three of us, but I definitely wouldn’t feel very comfortable walking through there on my own. Anyways, after dropping off our bags, we went out to explore the town! I found that that Marseille had nice buildings as well, but overall Montpellier nicer ones. Marseilles had a nice atmosphere though and there were tons of different kinds of people wandering the streets!

Marseille

After some walking, we found a nice restaurant at the vieux port (old port- which is probably the most famous place in Marseille) where we had some lunch. Marseille is known for all things sea food so we all had some gambas (which to me look like giant shrimp). 

Enjoying some Gambas!

Gambas!

Then, we walked around until we found a cute ice cream shop! We took our ice creams to go, and ate them by the vieux port. I had white chocolate and nutella ice cream! It was probably the best ice cream that i ever had in my entire life :)!

beautiful weather and delicious ice cream = perfect

Pretty Vieux Port

After our ice cream, we headed back to the hostel to regroup and decide on what to do next. We ended up asking one of the workers what we should see, and he gave us lots of ideas! I wish we stayed longer so that we could see everything, but we only had one night here before our next stop.

Outside of our little cabin- we had a room with three beds and our own bathroom

Map with pink highlighter marks of the guy at the hostel showing us what we should see! 

We decided to walk along and see some more of the city after our little break. We saw some nice streets, a huge cathedral, and then the MuCEM- which is a museum of Mediterranean cultures. The interior of the museum was really cool! It was a mix of different kinds of exhibits. There were videos, paintings, and old tools/trinkets from the past. The museum terrace was also really nice and it overlooked the sea!

Cool street in Marseille

Pretty Cathedral

view from MuCEM terrace

Overlooking the sea

Then, we continued walking and reached a little tower which gave us a nice view of the vieux port. There was also a nice view of the port in a spot near the tower.

Vieux Port

Later on, we had dinner back at the hostel, and then in the evening, we hang out in the bar and common area of the hostel. I really liked the atmosphere with all of the different people coming and going. Kate, Kim, and I (already quite an international bunch) were joined by the french worker, a russian guy, a belgian couple, and group of germans (who came in and out lol). We had a fun time together, and I even taught the french worker a bit of polish. I taught him how to say “I’m tired” as well as “hello” and a few other words. He was so interested in languages and he had a pretty good pronunciation. He noted all of these phrases and words on a piece of paper. Pretty soon after, a polish girl came in and asked him something. Once he found out that she was polish, he whipped out his paper and showed off what I had taught him, lol. She was pretty impressed with his pronunciation and he even pointed out to her that I was his teacher, haha. 

I just loved the atmosphere at this hostel so much and I didn’t really want to leave. If I am ever back in Marseille, I am going to try to stay there again!

Saturday morning, Kate and I took advantage of the 5 euro breakfast buffet. We had pain au chocolat, croissant, nutella, tea, and orange juice :). It was one of the best breakfasts that I ever had in France so far. Then we all said our good-byes to the nice hostel guys and headed off to catch the train to Aix en Provence!

We were thinking that at the train station, there would possibly be a place to leave our suitcases (like in a locker or something) but unfortunately there were not any at the central train station in town. We went to the Tourism office and asked around there as well, but no luck! So, if anyone needs a business idea, start up a baggage holding area for one day visitors, lol. I bet you would make a good amount of money because the lady at the tourism office said that people come through and ask if there is a place to leave baggage quite frequently.

Anyways, so we set off to explore the town! We saw nice buildings, fountains, streets, churches, shops, and cafes/restaurants. We also saw a fruit/veggie market, as well as a flower market!

Pretty Fountain in Aix

Pretty Aix

I really liked all of the outdoor cafe and restaurant areas! It was so nice to eat outside and have a drink outside. 

We all had a drink at a classy outdoor restaurant :)

Then, we walked around some more and had lunch outdoors at another nice restaurant. I had salad, steak, and fries. I don’t eat steak often, but I decided to give it a try. It was actually pretty nice, still a bit red inside, and I actually ate it (I used to eat just well done steaks, but now I am branching out).  

yummy lunch!

It was a little rough having our suitcases with us for the day, but we still managed to have a good time exploring the city :)

Next we did a little shopping. I got a postcard and some nougat (which is one of the things that is from this region) Then we visited another church, then we walked around some more. We saw more cool fountains which seem to be all around this town!

Sweets shop!

Later on, we had a drink in the afternoon at a nice outdoor area. Then, we had nutella crepes at another restaurant. We got to sit outside yet again and enjoy the nice weather and atmosphere of the city. Then we went to a specialty shop and got some calissons (almond shaped marzipan like candy) to try since they come from this city. 

There were so many people out and about! Aix is a very lively city! 

area where we had some crepes

Then we headed off to the train station, to catch a train to another train station in the city so that we could get the TGV. Little did we know, we needed to catch a bus not a train, so therefore, we had to find the bus station, and then the correct bus… It was a little stressful, but with the help of some random french people and bus worker, we figured out the right bus and ran for it! We luckily made it on the bus with a few minutes to spare! It was a close call, but we made it :). Then, the rest of the journey wasn’t very dramatic. We just took the TGV to Lyon, then another train to Roanne. We made it back saturday night!

I was so exhausted from the trip and I slept so well after all of those days of walking and exploring. We lucked out with the weather and I even got a slight tan from this trip :).

I had a great time with my roomies, and thanks to all of the nice people that made our trip so nice! Thanks to Elyssa for being a great host in Montpellier, and thanks to everyone at Vertigo in Marseille for the pleasant stay! :)

On Sunday, I went to mass and finally got in contact with the one polish family in Roanne. Hopefully I will be meeting up with them soon!

So I have one day off left, and then back to work on Tuesday!

Not ready for the vacation to end,

Magdalena