FRANCE Summer 2010: Day 6 – Rozier to Marseilles (and the Milau Viaduct). September 17, 2010

Rozier to Marseilles — Bon Soir – It’s close to midnight here in Marseilles.

Started out in Rozier (me doing some work that I owed to the office; Mike taking a hike —more like a stroll?) along the Rive Tarn with Richard and Elizabeth for about an hour or so. Frankly, I didn’t mind working for a few hours in the very pleasant lobby/bar area of the Grand Hotel de la Muse in Le Rozier — overlooking the river Tarn and with great views of the gorge.

We parted ways with Mike’s brother around 1 pm — They headed back to Cairanne on the “motorway” and we headed to Avignon and on to Marseilles.. (We’ve now been in France for a grand total of 74 hours and by morning, we’ll be gone — It’s really a very short trip. Good thing we’ve been to France many times before, or I’d be very depressed about leaving so quickly.)

Mike and I decided to take a detour to drive over the spectacular Viaduct du Milau — the tallest bridge in the world and only about 5 years old. The approach is pretty amazing (and for us totally inconvenient, as we needed to drive about 20 minutes or maybe more, just to approach the bridge — climbing and climbing. It was great to see the bridge up close, but I have to say that I don’t exactly understand the purpose of this connector.. seems to take you from “nowhere” to “nowhere”.. although the region appears to think it’s a great economic stimulator. Perhaps Obama should take note. (Like the viaduct, WPA projects were often gems of construction.)

Anyway, we headed from the bridge to Avignon (somehow deciding to bypass Milau which is the big leather center of France — where one can buy amazing gloves and other good stuff… We thought about stopping off, but had a sense prices were probably pretty high and I have a habit of losing gloves.) We arrived in Avignon at about 3 pm (with Mike and I sharing the driving, as I think we are both in a no man’s land time zone and lacking any body clock).

The center of Avignon, within and around the medieval city walls, was abuzz with activity… weddings (several for Roma couples) — apparently wedding photos get taken in the square — dancing, music, skateboarders, break dancers, jugglers, tourists, diners, and several stages set up for performances which seemed to go on every hour on the hour. We got some crepes on the square and strolled for a few hours and then headed to Marseille.

Once in Marseilles, we dashed off to the famous Boulabaisse restaurant (L’Epuisette).. It was difficult to find — It’s literally sitting on top of the sea.. Getting there is totally off the grid.. Got lost a few times, but we made it! The final road just dead ends at the Mediterranean and is just about wide enough for a mini-cooper.  We had the famous boulliabaisse which was good, but pricey.. and a bit boring.

They do it very different from any boulliabaisse I’ve had in the past.

First you get the broth.. with croutons and an assortment of condiments (an aioli, a mustard, some shredded cheese)… You eat the broth with the garnished croutons… And then they bring a huge plate of about 6 different fish which they then pour more broth on… And off you go. We were the only Americans in the place, indeed the only non-French. So it was fish, fish, and more fish.

Leaving the restaurant was an experience — Mike had to find a way to turn the car around.. He thought he had a plan, which sort of worked. He found an area where with only about 15 times of going back and forth and turning mere inches (and avoiding falling into the Mediterranean in the dark — actually he found a place to turn that was between two building so he only had to worry about falling into the sea after the turning part… ) he would be facing the other direction. One little problem – there was a little 12″ concrete “wall” and on the final turn as he straightened the car out we heard that awful sound of car hitting something hard and solid.

Yup… he scraped the little wall. Car damage unknown since it was too dark to see but when we got back to the hotel we could see it a bit and feel the dent(s). Mmmmm… a big bang ending to 3 days in France.

So, I’m signing off now — we leave in the morning for London to see Mike’s niece, Emma. Should be fun. She’s 25.

Maybe a note from London if there’s time. We’re staying in East London– quite a ways from the London most see. The area is supposedly “up and coming” but I’ve stayed there several times before and it won’t be “up” for about another decade! But it’s a “real” neighborhood with a lot of diversity, good small ethnic restaurants, and close to Mike’s niece.

Actually, we’re also staying here because when I was in London in May I stayed at a new hotel that came highly recommended (a renovated town hall converted into a hotel) and the service was so terrible (and design decisions rather poor) that I complained in a letter upon my return. The management apologized and offered me two free nights to show that the hotel could do a better job. Frankly, I’m not expecting much but it’s free and we were only staying for two nights, so it seemed like a deal (especially given London prices which make New York and San Francisco look like real steals).

Ciao.

Fern