Apr
24
2009
Today I wentured out on my own to explore this fine city. Some people recommended taking a hop-on/hop-off bus or trolley tour, but instead I decided to grab an all-day transportation pass and a transportation map at the information booth inside the Vieux Port metro station. I jumped on the bus and did my own hop-on/hop-off tour of the southern shore from where I could see the Chateau d’If (made famous by Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo). Unfortunately, both days the wind was pretty high and the boat tours that normally take people to the island were not running.
After enjoying the seaside views I decided to track up to the Notre Dame de la Garde. It was pretty cool walking around the winding streets of the old town. Finally, I made it up there and the view of the city and everything around it was just amazing, well worth the hike. By then it was lunch time already and I caught a bus back to the Vieux Port area for a taste of Bouillabaisse, a traditional fish soup of local fishermen. It was not that great, but I am sure the restaurant choice was the main culprit here.
While having lunch, I got a call from Joe, a guy from California who was studying in Marseille. I talked to him on couchsurfing and he was willing to meet up and hang out so I jumped on the metro and then caught a bus to Lumigny in the heart of Calanques. We hiked all the way down to the sea (and it really was a hike for the most part) and enjoyed the salty breeze at a rocky beach before going back.
Afterwards, I retraced my steps to get back to my hostel, changed, and packed up to be ready to leave early next morning. In the evening I met up with Joe, Nat and Claire (from the night before) and another half a dozen of English-speaking couchsurfers at Bar du Marche. It was their semi-regular meet up and I just happened to be in town for that. We had a good time while downing Pastis (the drink of Provance) and getting to know each other.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Calanques, Couchsurfing, France, Marseille, Vieux Port
Apr
23
2009
Jonathan graciously dropped me off at Charles de Gaulle in the morning and I was on my way. Contrary to some of the reviews I have read on the net, I did not find CDG to be a confusing airport to get around. The only complaint I had is that they did not have any departure/arrival monitors anywhere in the gate area and since I had checked in the day before, I had to track someone down to ask where exactly my flight was leaving from. I was still very tired after spending almost entire 36 hours awake, eight of them tracking around Paris with my backpack, so as soon as we took off, I passed out.
I woke up just as we were descending off the coast of Marseille and the view was amazing. I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures of Calanques, Vieux port, and everything else. The airport was nice and spacious and the lady at the info desk was pretty helpfull getting me a bunch of brochures and telling me where to catch the bus to town. The bus cost 8 euros and took me to the central train station. My hostel was supposedly right next to it, but it still took me a good half hour to find it because of the confusing street layout… The Vertigo hostel itself was not bad with a couple (paid) computers and a nice kitchenette including a couple small fridges, dishes, pots, etc. Once I got into my six person room, I met my first roommate - an elderly woman from Oregon. She gave me some pointers on what to do and what to see and so off I went.
The weather was beautiful with a rare cloud overhead. I walked down to the visitor information place next to the Vieux port and grabbed some maps. I spent the rest of the time walking around the port, the fortress, and the old neighborhood before returning to the hostel. By that time everyone else was back. My other roommates were a guy from Colorado, an Italian guy that did not speak much English, another girl from US, and Lucy from Prague. Me and Lucy hit it off right away and decided to go to a grocery store to grab some stuff for dinner and breakfast next morning. Afterwards we met up with Nat and Claire from couchsurfing who took us to a bar on the north side of the Vieux port. We were sitting upstairs sipping beer while the breeze was blowing throw the window with the port and the Notre Dame de la Garde lit up in front of us. It was simply an amazing moment. Afterwards Nat and Claire dropped us off at the hostel and we had another round of Heineken before hitting the sack.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Calanques, Couchsurfing, France, Marseille, Marseille Provence, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Vieux Port
Apr
22
2009
I met up with Christopher at Charles de Gaulle and we took a train to get into the city. He is from Iowa and is spending a year studying in France so he took a day off and came to Paris to hang out with me. Our first stop was the famous Notre Dame de Paris. We took some pictures but could not get inside beacuse of my backpack. I also learned quickly that when someone asks you if you speak English, it is a good idea to pretend you do not. Otherwise they show you something scribbled in English basically begging for money. I thought it was kind of weird. At least learn a sentence, do not write it out for me…
Anyways, we walked along the Seine towards the Louvre. We took some pictures with the famous Pyramide de Louvre at the entrance but did not go inside since I only had a day to spend in Paris. From the Louvre, we walked through Jardin des Tuileries and had a quick lunch there. We kept on walking towards the Arc de Triomphe along the Avenue des Champs Elysees where I took the most expensive dump in my life (I think it was two and a half euros…) and also bought a SIM card for my phone at a Virgin store. The arc was ok, but nothing too special, there is a 8 euro charge to get on top so we decided to skip that since we were going to the Eiffel Tower next.
We took a quick ride on the metro and got in line to go up the Eiffel Tower. After waiting in line for half an hour they almost kicked me out since my backpack was pretty large but then let me through anyways. While we were waiting in line, we were watching cops on bikes trying to catch the African kids bugging all the tourists with cheap souveniers. Another half hour later we got on the elevator and went up all the way to the top of the tower. The view was very nice. I liked the old streets and the buildings, all of the same height everywhere with a few skyscrapers in the distance. We went around and took some pictures, then did another round at a lower floor and got back down. We rested for a little bit at Parc du Champs de Mars.
After that we decided to go walk around the streets of Paris, so we crossed Seine and walked toward the Maison de Balzac on Rue Raynouard. It was already closed for the day so we just kept on walking. It was interesting to see chestnut trees blossoming everywhere, it reminded me of Kiev in May time frame… We walked past Maison de Radio France and finally found a metro station. Christopher had to go to catch his train and I jumped on the metro to go meet up with Jonathan.
Jonathan messaged me on couchsurfing when I posted to the pilots group asking if anyone wanted to go to fly with me while I was in Europe. He offered to take me up and so I went out to Cergy Pontoise just outside of Paris to meet up with him. We flew in a Dimond Star out of Aerodrome de Pontoise Cormeilles. As soon as we took off, he offered me to take control and so I did. D40 has a stick instead of a traditional yoke, but it did not take long to get used to it. The plane was very resposive and simply a joy to fly. Outside the window we watched Paris light up at night and the Eiffel Tower lit up in the distance. Simply amazing!
By the time we put the plane away and got out of there, it was almost midnight and since I was in the mood to get some real French food, Jonathan took me to a restaurant close by the Arc de Triomphe. The food was not anything special, the wine was pretty good, but neither justified the price tage - 150 euros for two is probably the most expensive dinner I have ever had. It was followed by a night drive tour of Paris, but I started passing out in the car so we went back to Jonathan’s for the night.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Arc de Triomphe, Couchsurfing, Eiffel Tower, France, Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Seine River, The Louvre
