Day 46, Sunday 29/4:

Off to Marseille today to stay with Patsy and Philip’s friends, Mari-Mad and Louis. We left Noli after an excellent breakfast and observing the local fisherman haul their boats onto the beach and selling their catch fresh to the passers by. We rejoined the autoroute and headed along the coast towards the Principality of Monaco. Once we weaved our way into Monte Carlo, the search was on for a car park – not an easy task! Eventually we spied one next to the esplanade and Patsy again had to put her driving skills to the test to fit the car into the constricted space. We had a coffee at a nearby café and then ate our lunch, admiring the artificial, highly built up (and somewhat ugly, in my opinion) coast. On to Marseille we headed, where all of our navigational skills were put to the test. Our car’s GPS, Ken, made a major error. We were sent off through a tunnel for several kilometers in the opposite direction to that in which we needed to head. After an hour’s navigational aberration, we arrived at Mari-Mad and Louis’ 15^th floor apartment. Mari-Mad informed us that Marseille is to become Europe’s ‘Culture Capital’ next year and, as such, half of the city is under repair/construction. Once settled in, we set out to have our aperitif at Batterie de Malmousque, a point between the two bays that make up Marseille’s foreshore. To get there we walked through a very hidden little fishing port, a microcosm of what would have been a much more common sight along the coast in past times. 

I also showed Mari-Mad and Lois what geocaching is. We drove home through the docks and Louis drove up and onto the Parc du Pharo to show us the surrounding view. We then returned home for a most excellent meal.