France: Marseille & Cassis

From Bordeaux we made our way further south to the little port town of Marseille. This town gets a bad rap among the French and I can sort of understand why. The town itself is not taken care of by its residents and I've heard rumors of major crime happening there.  That being said, if the port was not under major construction, I still think it would be really nice! They have an incredible cathedral that stands atop of hill overlooking the city and it is gorgeous when it is all lit up at night!

We spent our first day there taking a boat ride over to see the Chateau D'if which is the prison that the Count of Monte Cristo was based off of. If you were in prison there, well, at least you have one incredible view!

it was just a littttle windy..

We spent the rest of the day laying out on one the little islands with a nice view of the city. This is where I made the mistake of turning down the sunscreen thinking my skin still could handle the sun like it did when I was exposed to it everyday in California. WRONG! I turned into a l-o-b-s-t-e-r and am still paying the price for that.

The next day we went over to the lovely fishing village of Cassis. What a beautiful gem this place is! I remember seeing it on the train when Mike and I went to Nice and thought "WOW, that coast looks gorgeous!" and I was right! I would definitely recommend this as a place to see. We took a boat ride into the "calanques" or "creeks" and it reminded me of a way more beautiful idea of Havasu. People just hanging out on their boats, in the water, jumping off the rocks (eek!). We didn't have too much time so we grab some lunch and a glass of white wine - a specialty of the Cassis region! It was crisp and delicious and I really didn't want to leave!

We almost didn't leave, but not on purpose. We got on the wrong bus! After a few blocks I asked the driver to make sure the bus took us back to Marseille and he said NO! Oh man, just picture me and my mom straight RUNNING down this hill to try to catch the RIGHT bus. Literally, wanted to throw up the lunch and wine we just had. Thankfully, the bus was behind schedule and we made it just in time. I wouldn't mind not doing that ever again. Phew.