Viva La France

Heading into the land of baguettes, delicious pastries, and gourmet food, France does not often disappoint any traveller. Viva la France! Our first long weekend on the continent had been planned for several months now as I found a great deal on flights and Airbnb! It also helped that we both knew we wanted to get out of the English weather and into some warmth and sun.

[divider class="" ]How:

During one of my days being bored in the US, I scrolled on my Twitter feed and came across a cheap flights deal to mainland Europe leaving from Luton on EasyJet. When I saw Marseille , I knew I had to look. Mary “Oh Ye of Little Faith” Frances did not believe that this destination was suitable for our overall goal. She did a quick google search and immediately fell for the scenic views! In the flight plan, we could not return via Marseille so I searched for another close airport. I found one in Nice, France, and that was a quick two hour train away. I was getting excited!!!

Total Cost (per person):

Flight: £99

Airbnb: $40

Train: $21

Memories: Priceless

[divider class="" ]How: Car/Fly/Train

Sadly, this probably my least successful trip planning wise. In order to fit with our long weekend, we flew to Marseille and returned via Nice. Initially, my plan would have gone smoothly except for (maybe typical?) French tardiness. Our flight to Marseille was at 7am, which meant we had to be at the airport at 5am… meaning we left MK around 430am… not pleasant…  While it was not a total waste, it just made for a very tired couple on a foggy day in France. Sadly, it seemed like the perfect nap day!

Returning to MK was a whole other nightmare. First, after ending our soak in the sun snack, we went to the train station to learn it had been delayed over an hour. This meant my thin cushion of getting to the Nice airport was cut in half. Not the end of the world. Next, I got a text from EasyJet telling us the flight had been delayed. As expected, it is never a good sign when it was 6 hours before the flight. We then watched on the train as the delay extended until 1:15am. The "bad" thing about the EasyJet app was they made it seem like we had to still arrive at the airport during the proper times, otherwise we will not be let through security to the gate. This was rather unfortunate because it made us rush to the airport despite our delay… Over the course of the train and waiting at the airport, we were openly rooting for a 3+ hour delay so we would get compensated! Thankfully, Europe has a law where the airline has to pay for any cancellations or delays longer than 3 hours that is their fault. (Fast forward to the next Friday when the $500 payment came through!!)

[divider class="" ]Activities:

Surprisingly, I did not perform that much research into the activities. I knew the general basics, but outside quick google searches, I did not have a wish list. We heard from a friend that a little seaside beach town of Cassis was extremely beautiful and worth the trip so we knew we would spend (any) sunny day there. Without a doubt, the main reason for this trip was to soak in the sunshine and ocean air so I was perfectly content to avoid iffy museums or bad attractions. Plus, after the quite hectic month we have had, it was time for RnR.

Borely: We stayed in this beach suburb of Borely and we could definitely tell that in the summertime, this would have the perfect spot to hangout. It was full of restaurants, bars, and tiki huts. There were plenty of beaches as well as cool spots to surf, paddleboard, and practice your kiting. Unsurprisinly, we spent a lot of time here walking along the beach eating our fresh baked goods!

Old Port: Obviously, this is the main attraction of Marseille due to its long history of being a seaside town. It is well worth the extended visit! On Friday, we went there first and it was foggy so we mainly just ate and walked around the surrounding areas. On Sunday, it was perfectly sunny and we enjoyed every second of it. We took many pictures (for other reasons as well!) and had a snack in the sun!

Beach Walk: For those who like walking, there is a wonderful “short” walk along the coast from the Old Port to Borely and on a good day, it produces spectacular views! We walked about 6 miles before catching the bus and we got many good pictures![divider class="" ]Food:

[divider class="" ]Food:

[quote author="Julia Child" source="" ]“People who love to eat are always the best people."[/quote]

It is France so this would not be a proper blog post without any reference to the wonderful food!

Friday: We mainly just hit up the local bakery and ate okay seafood. We were both fast asleep before we got a chance to eat a good dinner.

Saturday: I dragged MF to the bakery first thing and loaded up on my baguette and chocolate pastry! It was..heavenly... For lunch, in Cassis, we went to La Plage Bleue (#4 on TripAdvisor) and I got seafood because well we were right next to the sea! For dinner, part celebration part good food, we went to a (cash only) hole in the wall and had probably a top 10 meal! It was melt in your mouth steak with wonderful bread, sweet potato, potato, and greens.

Sunday: No bakery as it was closed so we went to this really boutique brunch place in a Chateau. Casual. We arrived before the kitchen opened so sat down for drinks. We then thought it would be fine to just stay there and eat. No no no. This caused a big ruckus for the staff and we almost left. I was just too hungry at that point.. The waitress then stuffed us in the back corner and we had to leave by 12.45. No big deal. So we decided to be cheap and order 1 three course meal. It was incredibly awkward any time they came to deliver the food. Boy were we glad to leave…. For dinner / snack, we sat in the old port and enjoyed some frites and the sun! (I am not including the 11pm airport food…)

[divider class="" ]Viva la France Overall:

I think this picture describes it all…

[highlight style="color" ]I came for the baguettes and pastries, and left with a oui (yes)![/highlight]

[divider class="" ]The UnChartered 13:

[slider ids="521,523,524,525,526,527,528,529,530,531,532,533,534" fullwidth="no" captions="no" ]