David Frey's Waste of Tubes

Happy Canada Day

July 2, 2005 - Tagged as: Travel

Freiburg Germany was a cool city. I climbed up a hill which had a big observation tower on the top that gave an amazing view of the city. The hostel I was staying at rented bikes, so I spent one day pedalling around and getting lost. One night while I was wandering around aimlessly in Freiburg, I was approached by someone handing out flyers for a club. The girl handing out the flyers described the place as "a bit seedy", but I was bored, so I checked it out. It was in the bottom of an old metro station so it was indeed quite seedy, but it was fun.

My next stop was Marseille, France. The train I caught arrived at the Marseille train station at approximately 10pm. Note to all of you: the Marseille train station and the surrounding area are not a good place to be at night. After walking through the streets filled with garbage and drunk homeless people for a while I found an Internet cafe and was able to locate a hostel.

The hostel was a long way away from the train station and in a much nicer area by the beach. The next day I hung out on the beach and watched a big skateboard competition at a park that supposedly is world famous. I also got my second worst sunburn of my trip. The first being when I forgot to put sunscreen on my feet while I was on a beach near Venice.

As an aside, I should point out that I have started referring to my travels as "The Ice Cream Tour of Europe". The hot weather and the seemingly universal availability and tastiness of ice cream has created somewhat of an addiction. Best ice cream so far: chocolate chip mint from Freiburg. Sorry Venice, better luck next time.

I was lucky enough to meet a French girl who was working in some sort of promotions job, so I was able to get a ride into central Marseille in a garish Smart Car. It was early in the day, so I walked around for a quite a while even though I was carrying my heavy backpack. I walked to the train station which was much less grungy during the day and got on the next train to Miramas.

Miramas is a small town about 40 KM from Marseille. I went there because I thought it would be fun to go somewhere small and family friend Jan Oliver had done an exchange there with a very hospitable French family who would probably be willing to give me a place to stay. I was a bit apprehensive about calling people who I didn't know directly. I also didn't know how much english they spoke, but I knew that I spoke very little French. I think my French teachers would be very unimpressed. At this point, it wasn't clear whether the Delcros family even knew that someone might call them, so I didn't call.

Instead of calling, I walked around Miramas casually looking for accommodation and getting to know the town a bit. After walking around for quite a while and eating some food without finding anywhere to stay, I decided to walk to the next town. This was a bad idea. I reached the edge of Miramas and I saw a sign that said "Istres 9". 9 was the number of kilometers to the next town. For some reason, this did not discourage me. I thought to myself, "I can run that far, so walking with a backpack should be roughly as difficult". I arrived in Istres a couple hours later (about 11pm) very tired and sweaty. In the 9 Km, I hadn't seen anyone else on the road except for people in cars. This made sense because the road was definitely not designed for pedestrians, as it had virtually know shoulders.

I wandered through Istres a bit and found a bench in a small park to rest at. There was a large group of police officers hassling drunk drivers at a roadblock. I saw them pull a number of people over and it seemed like the more drunk they were the longer they were hassled for before inevitably being allowed to continue on without so much as a ticket.

I asked the police if they knew of any hotels in the area and one of the officers directed me to one very near by. The sign outside the hotel read "complet". It means full and it was a word that I would see many times that night. The police directed me to a second hotel that was also full. Rather than return and bug the police for a third time I decided to look around myself. I didn't find any hotels, but I found a large group of people playing boules. I hung out there for a bit and tried to talk to people who spoke english about as well as I speak french.

As the boules was winding down, one of the players offered to take me to a hotel in the neighbouring city where he lived. I can't remember the name of the city right now, but what I can tell you is that it was full of hotels with "complet" signs outside. Eventually, my driver gave up and went home. At this point it was pretty much determined that I would end up sleeping outside. I had realized much earlier in the day that there was a possibility that I might be sleeping outside, but I never would have guessed that it would have been in a town 20 Km away from Miramas.

At 2 AM, the streets of the unnamed city were very quiet. I think I was actually on the outskirts of the city in an industrial area. I walked around trying to find the train station so I could catch an early train back to Miramas the next day. I used a map on a bus stop and my trusty Mag-Lite flashlight to locate a train station nearby. What I found was very disappointing, but perhaps a blessing in disguise. I walked up a small gravel road to the tiniest, oldest, most run-down and pathetic train station I have ever seen. It was off the main road and nobody could see me there, so I decided to add a layer of clothing and go to sleep.

I slept uncomfortably with the mosquitos for a few hours and then awoke to the sound of a car behind me. I think it was just someone who took a wrong turn, because they took off again shortly. In the daylight, I was able to see a train schedule that was out of date, but indicated that this crappy little station was used twice a day. I walked to the next station which felt really far away at this point because my feet were killing me. I arrived at the train station just in time to catch the first train to Miramas.

The day before, I had looked around for quite a while before finding a computer store that offered overpriced Internet access. Unfortunately, I had arrived back to Miramas on a Sunday morning so the computer store was now closed.

I was pretty sure that the Delcros family would know by this time that I was in Miramas, so I was going to call them shortly. First I asked in a book store using a very crude mix of english and french if they knew of anywhere I could find a computer to use the Internet. The clerk said no, but as I was leaving the store, a middle aged woman asked me if I wanted to go to her house and use the Internet. Obviously I did, so I went with her and met her husband who spoke english reasonably well.

I was releived to find an e-mail in my inbox saying that Jan had called the Delcros family and they were expecting my call. The people whose computer I was using offered to let me use there phone as well. I said a few words in horribly weak French before the French man whose name was Eric I think, took the phone and said a bunch of stuff in french.

Eric told me that Jannine Delcros was waiting for me. They offered me a ride for the roughly 1.5 km to the Delcros' house, but they had done enough for me already so I walked. The walk was easy knowing that I would be able to sit down and rest when I arrived.

I met Jannine, Pierre and their daughter Lorre. I'm not sure if I have the daughter's name right, but that was what it sounded like when they said it. The hospitality there was wonderful. I ate well, and slept extremely well the first night I was there.

I stayed two nights with the Delcros family which included watching goldeneye dubbed in French. For some reason, a wussy sounding actor had been chosen to voice James Bonds role. I think goldeneye was easily the best Pierce Brosnan Bond movie. During the day, I rode a number of trains to Barcelona which is where I am now.

I stayed at a little hostel on La Ramblas which is the big party street in Barcelona. The hostel was small and crowded, but had a good social atmosphere, so I was able to meet people easily. I went to the beach and a park with Anna and Charlotte from Belgium. The next day I went to The Picasso museum and Sagrida De Familla (sp?) with Michelle from Chicago. We went to Parc Guell which was designed by Gaudi and wandered around the former Olympic village yesterday. The Olympic village was actually a bit of a wasteland.

I thought I would be in Granada right now, but the night train I wanted to catch was full, so I stayed another night in Barcelona. I ened up in what I'm pretty sure is an unlicensed hostel, but it's comfortable, so I'm not complaining. I now have a train reservation and I have reserved a bed in a hostel for when I arrive. I am actually feeling fairly organized for a change. I'm not so organized that I know where I am going after Granada, but hey, it's a start.

I have just one final thing to add that will shock and amaze you all. I have actually been reading on my trip. So far, I have read

1. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
2. Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
3. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
4. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

I just finished The DaVinci Code, so I am open to new suggestions.

Comments

That is an incredibly grueling tale of your stay in Marseilles and the surrounding area. I'm sure, if not a highlight of your trip, you will remember it always. I wonder if the people who took pity on you in Miramas, before you got to the Delcros' place, had a son of their own who had done some travelling. The first night with Jannine and Pierre must have felt like heaven. Barcelona sounds like fun. Is anyone travelling on to Granada with you? I am thinking about the reading list. Glad that you are reading!

Reading - I can't believe it. What next? If you are looking for some amusing light reading, try to find some Carl Hiassen books. They are almost always set in Florida and involve a sleezy group of individuals acting outrageously against a backdrop of some social or environmental issue that the author has targetted. You know, stuff like plastic surgery, funeral home rip-offs, damage to the Everglades from rampant condo development.

It sounds as if you are going to set some sort of record for the number of kms walked each day with a heavy pack in 35 degree weather. You will be ready to join the commandos when you return.

David - what a trip! I don't know where you are now but if you are still in southern Spain, you could always go over to Morocco. This is a fasinating country, You can take local buses - I recommend the trip over the Atlas mountains and down the semi arid desert to Quarzazate and then on to Marakesh. Fez is the university town and is fasinating. Rabat on the coast is also nice and Tangiers is well - Tangiers. If you go my only advise is that there is lots of opportunities for hash (still the drug of choice) and you really don't want to go that route in this country. Get yourself some good sandels

Dad:
A Carl Hiaasen book was actually the last thing I read before my trip. I read "Sick Puppy" on the bus during my first work term in Vancouver when I was living in North Van.

Hey there kid, It sounds like you've become the midnight rambler of southern France. Your mother is typing this message otherwise you would be home before I finished it. Be careful during your nocturnal travels. I have work for you and your brother at my place when you return. I know you can hardly wait. Glad to see that you seem to be popular with young ladies from all over the world. I look forward to your return and hearing about the ice cream tour first hand.
Love Uncle Brian

That's quite an update!

If you haven't read A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, it's not a bit overrated. You'd be hard pressed to find a used bookstore which doesn't have a copy and it's one of the best books I've ever read.

Have fun with the chicks.

Justin

You're reading??? hahha
At least with all the walking you've been doing you don't have to worry about how much ice cream you eat!
I loved the part about the night at the old train station.

Well, there may be a decent message in all of this. Save yourself walking for a whole night and just talk to the ppl in the first place. Sounds like it was a decent adventure, if not a good story. I managed to get a few of those under my belt between getting to and from greece. Im not going to be much good with the book thing. I had my stint of reading and it died out for the mean time. I hope everything is still going well. see you when i get back

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