Adios Espana... Bonjour France

On my last night in Spain, some roommates and I ventured around the town of Barcelona in search of a party. We ended up having our own and enjoyed the conversation with each other. Note: Germans got the word "amazing" from us and some overuse it excessively.

As I waited for my train to France to board, I met some fun people. First, a group of Americans. One asked me for my blog because she was so impressed of my journey. This is when I realized... this is not a normal trip. I also met some peers who were also using the Eurail pass. It made me feel better knowing I was not the only one with a magic ticket.

My train had a 2 hour layover in Montpelier so I decided to tour the city. I came across a festival where Montpellier's twi showcased what they had to offer. Louisville was one of them; I went to their booth and the photos of the South really made me start to miss home. Fes, Morocco had a booth where you could have your name  written in Arabic.

I got "Kristin is on vacation" written:

I regret starting  my trip in Spain. It makes France seem so abysmal. The French do not like speaking  in English and judge people for not knowing their language. The Americans that vacation here think this is the best place on Earth and that everything is better here just because it's French.

Today I visited Château d'If which is an old fortress on an island near the Vieux Port in Marseille. If you've ever read The Count of Monte Cristo you would know this is the island in which the main character, Edmond Dantes, is imprisoned.

The fortress:

The view of Marseille from the top:

From this view, you can see the Notre Dame de la Garde on the highest point in the city. It has been known for people to end a pilgrimage here by crawling up the steps to the top. In the past few years, an elevator has been installed to make the cathedral easier to access. However, since I'm on my own sort of pilgrimage I decided to climb all the way up - praying the entire way. 

Notre Dame de la Garde:

The food in France is so expensive and not really all that great. There's a reason why America is full of Italian and Spanish restaurants but has very few French ones. Hopefully in Nice there will be a market near by so I can cook dinner (this will be cheaper and tastier than a lot of the places I ate at here in Marseille).

Until Nice tomorrow,

Kristin