Marseille Vacation
In the morning on Sunday, February 16th, we each packed a backpack and set off for the train station. It was a beautiful 6 hour train ride across southern France. I managed to play a card game with the older kids. It’s hard communicating with them. I felt frustrated I couldn’t say what I wanted to say and only understood bits and pieces. The kids know some English which is helpful but sometimes their accent is so strong I still can’t understand! Olivier gave me an article to read from the daily newspaper about differences in mealtimes between Americans and French. It was interesting and actually very accurate. For example, Americans associate the word “cake” with “guilt” and French associate it with “birthday.” The French enjoy their food. Anyway, reading the article reassured me that I’m only used to reading and writing French.
Marseille is magnificent. Our vacation home is small for 7 people but they are all so low maintenance that it’s no problem. We set off to roam the city. I could already see a slight difference in the way they dressed compared to Bordeaux and in the architecture. Marseille is more colorful and tropical and Bordeaux is more classy and sophisticated. We ate at a Tunisian restaurant that night and it was fun eating new food and getting to know the family more.
Vacation home in Marseille
la grande roue/the ferris wheel
The next morning my heart sank a little thinking about struggling through another day in French. At first it was music to my ears but then it became work that I felt like I should be doing better at after studying it in school. We started off each morning with baguettes and Nutella, butter, or jam and tea or coffee. We set off for a full day of museums as everything else was closed on Monday. We went to Subway for lunch which was so fun because it was their first time there! It was also my first time really having to practice my French. Aude told the Subway employee that I was American before I ordered. We talked a little and after hearing it was only my second day there he was surprised and said “Oh mais votre francais, c’est magnifique!” (Oh but your French, it’s magnificent!) This made me happy because I feel like Americans are stereotyped against, and I feel like people can tell right away that I’m not French. [This is also because I naturally smile when I make eye contact with a stranger but the French need a reason to smile and instead remain deadpan. It feels unfriendly to me but I just have to get used to it.] On the other hand, the Subway employee told Aude that he appreciated that I smiled because most Americans do not! This gave me a boost in morale. The family liked Subway, but the kids have really been wanting “McDo” (pronounced mack-dough) aka McDonald’s : )
We stopped to eat navettes, cookies named after the little ships (pictured: Armand & Hortense)
View of the port
Olivier, Hortense, Aude, Armand, Clemence, Mayeul
Marseille at night
We walked along streets with open markets that were buzzing with people. Some people just had blankets with used electronics, shoes, etc. that they were selling. We bought fruit and dates, and the market vendor was really friendly and sociable with Hortense. That was nice to see since the crowds were mostly men and well, they are not the kind of streets you’d want to walk in alone at night! We were very cautious of pickpocketers too. My host family also remarked that the streets are a lot more polluted than in Bordeaux. There is a lot of poverty and we passed by a lot of beggars. Some street performers were very entertaining, with one man under an African animal costume “baah-ing” like a sheep.
For dinner that night we had pizza and French beer. I was really happy to see that French people like beer with their pizza too! We all agreed Domino’s was better though : ) After that we picked out oriental desserts and ate those at home with tea before heading to bed. We were really tired from walking all day!
oriental pastries
The next morning I was ready to go out and explore again. We went over English terms for fruit in an open market, and many words are the same only pronounced differently. When people heard me speaking English they looked at me like I was an exotic animal in a zoo exhibit! I would have much rather blended in and pretended that I was French, but it’s a learning experience for my host family too. We went to the natural museum and then hung out until lunch. I had organic fruit snacks for the kids which they thought was funny because “gummies” are for dessert, not snacktime. My family liked that they were organic and natural though. Later Olivier noticed the wrapper said “Made in France” which is odd because they’re only available in the U.S. and the French never eat fruit snacks!
For lunch we went to a kebab place, which is different than our shish kebab on a skewer. In Europe, a kebab means sliced meat and vegetables in a pita, like a wrap! The restaurant had a tv on playing music videos that were popular in the U.S. I’ve noticed most songs playing in stores are in fact from the U.S. and not France.
After lunch we visited the Notre Dame de la Garde. The views were incredible and I was in awe of the scenery and the church! Then we went to the Abbey of St. Victor and saw really old sarcophagi. Museums have been good practice for my French reading and listening comprehension. A lot of museums didn’t always have English translations. Today I could tell I’m absorbing new words and phrases and I’m able to communicate despite my broken French. It’s been fun for the family and I to find similarities and differences between the U.S. and France, although right now I mostly only notice similarities! Dinner was pasta and salad at home with fruits and dates for dessert. The wine is great, and this one was from Nimes in Provence. They tried out more English words, and Hortense really liked saying “blood” in a scary voice over and over. It was so cute. We watched some of the news and the Olympics too. Armand asked if I was rooting for USA or France and I said both! They liked that answer.
Notre Dame de la Garde
Interior of Notre Dame de la Garde
I love the views from Notre Dame de la Garde!
“This wall bears the marks of the battle for the Liberation of Marseille 15-25 August 1944″
On Wednesday we went to more museums which were really interesting due to the rich history. We also made our first trip to McDo. The only major difference was in the color scheme. Instead of the yellow, white, and red design it’s green to make them seem more environmentally-friendly. They also have the “menu” or “formule” as it’s called in other establishments, which is a set meal at a good value. This included a sandwich, fries, drink, and ice cream. The actual menu is called “la carte” which is where we get “a la carte” from. After that we took a long walk along the beautiful Mediterranean shore.
Mediterranean
Taking a beautiful walk in Marseille
On Thursday we went back to McDo for lunch since it’s easier with such a big familly on vacation. Afterward we got coffees and read while we waited for our boat ride to Chateau d’If. The coffees are so small but strong in France. You order a coffee, and get an espresso shot! With sugar cubes, of course. I read the newspaper and noticed the Saint of the Day was described right alongside the daily crossword and above the weather and horoscopes. It was an example of how Catholicism is ingrained in their culture (although largely secularized today) but I was interested to see it firsthand since I had read in my etiquette book that the Saint of the Day is announced right alongside the weather.
Chateau d’If was magnificent! It was my first real castle that I got to explore. It was interesting to learn the history of the castle, some of it real and some of it fiction. They had the rooms and prison cells labeled, which was cool to be able to go into the cells and see it from a prisoner’s perspective. They also had a tv playing showing the Count of Monte Cristo above the hole that was dug for the movie. Before Alexander Dumas’ book came out, most people didn’t now about Chateau d’If. In the castle’s beginning, it was considered rushed and an eyesore! I really enjoyed it though.
Chateau d’If
At the top of Chateau d’If
View from a prisoner’s window
tv above hole between the cells of Edmond Dantes and Abbe Faria in the Count of Monte Cristo
beautiful view of Marseille from the castle (Notre Dame de la Garde on the right)
Friday was our last day to walk around Marseille. We also went to an art exhibit displaying Picasso and the like. Hortense was bored and asked me how to say in English pretty much every word she could think of! On Saturday we had one last laugh at the campaign posters that were displayed across our vacation home. Each day we went out to see fresh campaign ads posted, and each night we walked back to see them torn down with graffiti in their place. (There was a lot of graffiti in Marseille, and we even saw people graffiti-ing in broad daylight.) We walked to the train station and Armand and I agreed that we really liked Marseille, but were ready to go back to Bordeaux. I’m looking forward to getting settled in!
Au revoir, Marseille!
la gare/the train station in Marseille
