Marseille observations

Last week I spent 2 glorious days in Marseille, France.  (How I wish there was a sarcastic font.)  While it is in the "south of France" and near the Mediterranean, it was not my cup of tea.  If Marseille and I went to the same high school, we would not sit together during lunch in the cafeteria.  It was dirty, sketchy, stinky, and somewhat unsafe, I was told.  I was instructed to keep a close eye on my purse, as they have a lot of crime.  Granted, my hotel and the office I was at weren't in the nicest areas of the city, but still. 

• Taking a step back, I caught the train to Marseille at Paris' Gare de Lyon station.  I bought a quick breakfast at the station and a begger came up to me, begging in French.  I told him that I don't speak French, I'm sorry, and he responds with "money money money money money money."  Those multilingual beggars are crafty!
• I caught my cab to Gare de Lyon around 6am, and had to knock on the window of the cab to wake up the driver to get a ride.  What was his preferred method of caffeine?  Blasting Wham! the entire ride.  :)
• The train ride there was nice enough, and the land changed as we headed south.  It reminded me of the change when you drive from northern to southern California. 
• I'm convinced that Europe has better graffiti and graffiti artists.  They use a lot of color, have precise drawings, and are pretty enjoyable to look at.  Some of it is tacky and poor like we see in the states way too much, but I rather enjoy it otherwise.  I don't have a great picture of an example, as you tend to see it while riding in trains or taxis, but take my word on this one.

The view from my hotel dining area.  Lovely vacant lot with some graffiti.

• The office I worked at is in the same building as a soap opera set, so French soap stars are known to be sighted on the premises.  I didn't recognize anyone, what with the French soap connoisseur I am, but my coworker pointed an actor out in the lobby.  Tres exciting!  When we would leave at night, there would be a small crowd of people waiting outside.  Apparently they were seeking autographs.  I should have grabbed a pen and signed "Sara, CPA" and walked away.  :)  And our cab driver who took us there the first morning asked my French coworker (in French) if I was headed there for a casting.  Ha!

No, Alexander/Eric Northman wasn't there.  Only in my dreams.

• After work, we went to the nicer part of Marseille, along the harbor.  It was cute, and we ate at a little seafood restaurant.  Apparently Marseille is famous for their bouillabaisse (a fish soup with pieces of fish in it), so I thought I'd try it.  I have no problem with eating fish or other animals, but I do freeze up a little when they're still in their animal form.  Well, friends, guess what was waiting for me.

Uhh, NO THANK YOU.

• After dinner, we wandered the streets a little.  There was a soccer game that night, and apparently Marseille is a huge soccer town.  They won against an Italian team that night, and there were TONS of cops out on the streets, totally bored.  That is, until 1 wasted fan came out, skipped (yes, skipped) through a group of cops, singing in a happy and harmless mood.  According to my French coworkers, he was singing "Italians are gay!  Italians are gay!"  Well, one of the cops must have been partial to Italians, because he took off angrily after the guy and he ended up being cornered by about 8 cops.  Ahh, Marseille.  Way to combat crime.
• On our walk to work one morning, besides stepping over dog poop on the sidewalks, we had to step over a paper bag filled with poop that someone had already stepped on.  Keep it classy.
• After dinner, we got back to our hotel to find that the front desk counter had transformed into a bar, complete with bar stools and 2 beer taps.  So awesome!  I wish I'd gotten a pic...

Anyway, while the people we worked with in Marseille were really nice (and patient, given that they spoke little English and my Parisian coworker translated everything) and the weather was warm (50+ degrees, I'd estimate), I'm pretty sure I'd not ever like to go back.  Cannes, Nice, Monaco, YES.  Marseille, not so much.

I spent the weekend in Zurich visiting Jen and Jeff and am in Munich as I type this.  I'll get caught up and have more to share soon!