France, Days 1 - 2

We arrived safely at our destination in France: a Youth for Christ campsite called Les Chenes de Mamre, the Oaks of Mamre.  We had two cabins reserved for us.

Here's one of the cabins.

We arrived Monday night, ate dinner, and unpacked.  On Tuesday, we played games, read books, and went swimming at the campground's swimming pool.  

On Wednesday, we went on a day trip to Marseilles, a city on the shores of the Mediterranean.  I didn't know much about Marseilles - I feel like I say something along those lines for every place I go to - but one of the Ls told me that the book The Count of Montecristo is set in Marseilles, and the island prison that the main character is imprisoned in is a real prison that people can visit.  So we planned to go to the beach, swim in the Mediterranean, and then do some sightseeing.  

We set out at eight-thirty the next morning and drove to Marseilles.  As we neared it, the first thing I saw was a sliver of dark blue sea against the sky.  Then we started driving alongside the sea, and I had to mentally pinch myself to make sure I was really at the Mediterranean.  Marseilles, however, was not quite as beautiful as the Mediterranean.  I guess after Egusheim, Riquewihr, and Annecy, I'd come to expect all French towns to be quaint and pretty.  Marseilles was . . . not.  It was a docking place for ships, and most of it seemed to consist of warehouses, docks, crowded cement buildings, cranes and other heavy lifting equipment, and narrow backstreets.  It was quite a surprise to my idealistic vision of it.  Still, it was interesting to see and a good reminder that France is a real country, not a fairytale land.

We also had some trouble getting to the beach.  We got lost a couple times in the winding streets of Marseilles and when we arrived at the right parking lot, we learned from a French family that a 40-minute hike was required to reach the beach.  But we set off.  

The hike ended up being a lot longer and harder than we'd been told (think scrambling down rocks and boulders into a valley), but it went through some gorgeous landscape.

Eventually we made it to the beach.  A narrow strip of sand ran along a little inlet.  We spread our towels, ate lunch, and then got in the water.  After the hot sweaty hike, the cold water felt perfect.

We canceled the rest of the day's plans and just spent several hours at the beach.  Canceling plans was a little disappointing, but at the same time, a day at the Mediterranean beach is not something to sneeze at.