64km of 2753km so far…

Sunrise by the camping

I woke up earlier than normal as the night before I had collapsed straight after my dinner. Today’s day was all about Marseille. I didn’t want to spend the night there, just to have a quick look, so I am glad I wasn’t that far away. Even though, it took me three hours to get into the city, because of the hills that I had to go up and all the highways I had to avoid.

A nice but louder way of traveling

I knew Marseille is a big port but only when I first saw it after exiting a small tunnel, I truly appreciated its scale. In order to get to the center, I had to go through its massive port, under highways and loads of construction sites. It was a little hard and didn’t really enjoy cycling there. At the center it was extremely busy, with loads of tourists and had a massive traffic jam. I kind of wanted to leave straight away, but in the end I did stay for a few hours, to eat some lunch and wonder around a little bit.

First view of Marseille

Looks like a human made beach

One of the street in the city

The old port

A market

As I was about to leave, I noticed my front brand new tire was flat, even if it claims to be bulletproof. I repaired it quickly and started cycling again to the south. On the way out of the city, I stopped briefly to see one of Le Corbusier‘s building that is build there. I am sure there should be an apartment open to visitors, but it was getting late in the day to look for it.

Le Corbusier Meuble Court

and the famous Modulor

Marseille from the near by hill as I was leaving

Right after I exited the city, I started climbing the nearby hill to pass to the other side. My destination was Cassis, for which I heard it is a nice fishermen village with a camping. I found it, put my tent and after my dinner I went for a walk in its center and its nice port.

For all those that think that cycle touring is dangerous, hard and way too much effort, I met two German girls in the center that are on their bikes for the last month, cycling all around France, going up and down the mountains and sleeping in the wild. Rosy and Antonia are 19 and 20 years old and they still have another three weeks to go. I wish I had started touring at that age.