France 1 - Flight and Martigues

June 2012

I have taken a few weeks to travel overseas for a special family reunion -  my younger sister and her boys will be visiting our parents in Portugal, and since I haven't seen them for 5 years, I thought it would be a great idea to visit while she is there. But first stop will be Marseille in France, where my daughter lives.

I flew out on Saturday 2nd from Perth via Singapore to Paris. On the Singapore to Paris leg of the trip, I flew on the gigantic and very comfortable Airbus 380. Unfortunately it departed Singapore with almost 1hour delay, which meant by the time it landed at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, I had already missed boarding time for my 7,20h connecting flight to Marseille! I still ran half way across the airport, but as I looked at a big flight monitor screen, I could see the gate had closed!
I had to go to an Air France counter and I was booked in the next flight, at 8,35h.

After going through luggage control, where I had to throw out my water bottle that I had filled up on the flight, I went to the lounge leading to the departure gates, hoping to be able to get some internet time so I could email my husband to let him know I had arrived, so he could sms our daughter and let her know I would be late.

At the beautiful Singapore airport, computers linked to free internet are plentiful, and you get 10 min. free time; but at Charles De Gaulle airport, at least in the area I was in, there was a single computer... and it was out of order!

beautiful green spaces at Changi Singapore airport

After asking a staff member I was directed to a wi-fi area, but I don`t have roaming in my mobile, and I had bought a "world sim" at the Perth airport, to be able to use it in Europe but it kept on giving me a technical error message! (Two days later is now working, so it might have needed a few days to be activated?)
I then tried the public phones using my travel money card, but I was missing a number from the mobile...
With no luck reaching anyone, I boarded the flight hoping my daughter would be there to meet me... and she was!!

After a little nap, but still looking tired I was ready to meet the French "in-laws" at dinner. Conversation was stilted between us as unfortunately my school French has long been forgotten, and their English was very rusty too!
My son in law speaks fluent English and I am amazed at my daughter's fluency in French, as when she came here 3 years ago, all she knew was the basic school French, so both of them were on translation duty.

My first taste of French macaroons at dinner

Monday 4th -  armed with a printout from google maps, I walked about 40 minutes from my daughter's place into the centre of the town of Martigues - the Venice of Provence - (about 38km from Marseille). After getting a map from the Tourist office, I walked around for almost 5 hours visiting 30 out of the 38 monuments or interesting sights shown on the brochure in the 3 quarters the town is divided in: Ferrières, L'Ile and Jonquières.
My favourite was L'Ile (the Island) whose first inhabitants date back to the 5th century B.C. and where we can find picturesque narrow streets filled with colourful narrow apartment buildings with window shutters and planter boxes. Each quarter has a marina filled with fishing and recreational boats; plenty of green spaces with lots of fragant lavender, a typical plant of this area.
Being a Monday, most of the small commerce was closed, with the exception of a few restaurants, which might justify the lack of people everywhere I went.

Bronze statues - fisherman and woman mending nets - in Ferrières quarter, by bridge to "the island" quarter

At the Jonquières quarter, boats were used as planters

La Madeleine church (baroque style) - under repairs

Pink facade, blue shutters, mullioned windows

More colourful house facades and window shutters

One of the prettiest sights on the Island quarter - Mirroir aux oiseaux - Quai Brescon

The back view of previous photo

A riot of colour by the riverside restaurant in "The island"

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

After such a long walk, I was ready to get the 3p.m. bus home (the tourist office also provided me with a bus timetable) and put my feet up!

The exercise was not finished though as I had agreed to accompany my daughter to her Monday night 45 minutes "Shebam" class (type of  Zumba). It was quite enjoyable and I managed to perform well, or at least I think I did well...

Then it was time for a late dinner and early sleep!

Of course this morning I woke up totally broke - sore legs, neck and back - for an exercise avoider like me I have certainly overdone it in one single day!

Hope you enjoy the photos of my walk around Martigues.