No hotel to
pay for as I was staying at Hotel de X, Monsieur X’s home, (he said there is
one hotel in Miramas but I couldn’t find it) I just had to pay my rent in wine
and beer. My ‘hotel’ was a beautiful house in a quiet road about 10mintues walk
away from the train station.
I flew from
London Stansted to Marseille with Ryanair for £80 (without luggage).
British Airways and Easyjet also offer direct flights from London
airports but they were either too expensive or terrible times as I had to catch
a coach from Boredville. It’s my third flight to Marseille with Ryanair and I
have never had a problem but I was still worried something would go wrong or an
extra charge would appear. However everything was OK and even thou my flight
left Stansted late, we arrived 10 minutes earlier than scheduled. Bravo
Ryanair!
I was met at arrivals
by Monsieur X, then a free short shuttle bus ride to the Vitrolles Marseille
Provence Airport Train Station, and a 20 minute train journey to Miramas, passing
the Étang de Berre lagoon, the pretty countryside and not so pretty Chemical Plant.
‘Now you’re in Provence’ he said as we walked out of Miramas train station. On the
left side of the train track there were two bars, a Vietnamese restaurant, and
a few shops (some always seemed to be closed) and of course a Boulangerie – it wouldn’t
be France without one.
After an
early night to recharge my travelled tired body, Salon-de-Provence was our next
day visit. 15 minutes train journey (the bus journey back took 30mintues) for
an afternoon in ‘Salon’ taking the free shuttle bus from the station to the
centre, then walking around the shops, and finishing the sunny afternoon off at
a bar next to the Fontaine Moussue
for a cool beer for 3€ and a guilt trip to whether I should sell the Duchess of
Cambridge Closer magazine on eBay while watching people eat massive ice creams
in the next bar. 
Thursday was
more planned out Arles and Nimes in a day, an early morning start to catch the
9.30am train to Arles. We would spend 3 hours in Arles before our next direct
train to Nimes and Monsieur X and the woman at the ticket office said there
wasn’t much to do there – they was wrong!
A walk along
the Rhone, though the ‘entrance’ to Arles and around the outside of the Arènes
d'Arles (Amphitheatre) and
through the ‘Jardin D Ete’ following other
tour groups along the way. It cost 6.50€
for entrance into the Roman Amphitheatre and the smaller Le théâtre antique d'Arles.
I think my photos give the theatre more justice than my description of
this amazing arena. I felt it was kept
in such a good condition for bullfights and concerts; it could have been build
a 100 years ago not 1000 years ago. Also unlike some English tourist
attractions it wasn’t ruined with Health and Safety signs. After we walked around
the narrow streets stopping off at free photo exhibition full of creepy face photographs
(the Arles photo festival was on from 2nd July – 23rd
September) and after a coffee and a Fanta (4€) at a bar near the Van Gough
Cafe, it was then a quick walk or maybe a slow jog to the train
station to make it in time for our Nimes train.
Arles Entrance Le théâtre antique d'Arles
Arènes d'Arles
Next stop Nimes to meet up with Monsieur X’s friend for lunch at Le Café De Olive on 22 Boulevard Victor Hugo, taking photos of the Amptheatre on the way without stopping to take in the view of the Eglise Sainte Perpétue (we was late). It was time to take in the atmosphere, rest our over walked feet, drink and eat a tasty plat de jour of mashed potato and beef with chocolate mousse for dessert (12€). A few hours later Monsieur X’s friend showed us the Les Jardins de la Fontaine. If Boredville City Centre had a park like this I wouldn’t want to leave. A big quiet park a few minutes’ walk away from the car horns of the city centre. After saying goodbye to his friend we had time for a slower walk past this Amphitheatre on the way back to our Miramas bound train. No time to go in but one Amphitheatre is enough history for one day and besides it is 3 metres smaller than Arles.
Nimes - Les Jardins de la Fontaine
Now I was half
away though my holiday and we had visited 3 cities already, so Friday we
decided to take it easy and only visited one city Istres. While waiting for our train, we went to the
other side of the Miramas track and had a drink in the square - Place Jourdan, Very
quiet, sunny and relaxing watching the fountains opposite the church.
Miramas - Place Jourdan
The centre of
Istres was undergoing a lot of road works and it was too noisy to eat at some
of the popular restaurants but further up the road we found a plat de jour for
lunch. Friday’s fish and chips with a
difference, unlike the English Friday meal it wasn’t wrapped in paper and it
came with salad and rice. After lunch we
took a short bus ride to the pond, and Étang de Berre was a massive pond, a
very steep walk down to the port, lots of boats, not many people, and brilliant
views of the pond which to me looked like the sea. The blue view made the steep
walk back up worth the pain in my legs. Luckily there was a direct bus back to
Miramas, so no walking back to the train station.
Saturday
consisted of lunch at Aux Trois Viandes, 36 Avenue Général de Gaulle, Miramas,
there was only the two of us in the main street at lunchtime. 2 large pizza and
drinks for around 35€ - bargain. Then two buses to Aix-en-Provence, one to
Salon-de-Provence, a long wait and a beer for the next bus to Aix as there are
not so many buses on a Saturday. 30
minutes bus ride to Aix and it was just like any other Saturday in any other city
– very busy and had to hunt for a table in the bars situated around the Hotel
de Ville (town hall) maybe even busier because the Ironman competition was
happening the next day and all the barriers were set up.
My last full
day was a relaxing Sunday in Miramas, sitting in his garden trying to find some
shade to read my book and after lunch we worked off our large lunch by walking
though the Miramas countryside, getting a little closer to old Miramas - Miramas
le Vieux… maybe next time. Boredville is going to feel even more boring now.
Merci Monsieur
X for a relaxing break and
Merci Bouches-du-Rhône for the beautiful views.
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