Marseille

Before flying to Oslo, I spent the day in Marseille, the heart of the French Riviera. Marseille has been an important figure since the Roman Empire, playing the role of one of the busiest ports in the region. The unique shape of the harbor along with the mouth of the Rhone River allow for both an easily defended area and fresh water, making Marseille invaluable. During my visit there, I wanted to see as much as possible of the city is about six hours.
I arrived at the Gare St. Charles by train at 8:30am, put my bag in a locker, and immediately bought an all day subway, tram, and bus pass for the city. On a quick side note, the transit system in Marseille, a city with less than one million inhabitants, is extremely efficient. Subways and trams allow quick access to all areas of the city, and where they don’t go, buses do. The recently constructed system is quick, clean, and easy to navigate, making any tourist’s visit very frustration free. My first stop was Vieux Port, the historical harbor area of Marseille. After stepping off the subway, while still underground, I could smell the unmistakable scent of a fish market, telling me I was in the right place. The harbor area is lined with a market of every kind of fish in the area, all for sale by local families. In the water behind them, boats of every shape and size fill the harbor, providing enough surface area to walk clear across the harbor without getting wet. Apartments and restaurants lined the area, providing a perfect mix of tourists and locals.
I proceeded to walk to the end of the harbor area towards the beaches east of the historical area. On the way, I passed the two forts which overlook the city, both still in near perfect condition. In the near distance, I could see the island from which the “Count of Monte Cristo” comes from, surrounded by crystal blue water that I have only seen so clearly in some areas of the Caribbean. The walk east was lined with small coves, many providing perfect swimming and snorkeling areas. Also, two small beaches provided a great recreation area, with volleyball courts and protected swimming areas. Apartments and houses lined the coast, many with a priceless view of the Mediterranean Sea. Every half a kilometer, there would be a small bike rack where on could rent bikes anywhere in the city for a very reasonable price. Bikes were kept on magnets that could be released by credit card, which would hold a 100€ deposit until the return of the bike anywhere in the city. Although I didn’t try one, I’m sure that the bikes are very practical, especially for those short on time.
Walking inland a bit, the roads became small and buildings taller. The streets were lined with street vendors, hostels, hotels, and restaurants. I stopped at a small Italian owned restaurant for a quick burger and fries after realizing that the classic “Marseille Fish and Chips” couldn’t be found for less than twelve Euros. After lunch, I made my way by bus to the north east part of the city, where there are great overlooks of the area. Old churches and art galleries are common in this area, providing a very cultured experience in just the hour of walking through. The view from above gives you an idea of just how many boats are in the harbor, many of which people actually live in for the summer. After spending some time here, I hopped on a subway and arrived back where I started in less than ten minutes. My flight for Oslo left at 4:55 p.m.
In an earlier post, I mentioned that Marseille now takes the place of my favorite city in the world. Let me elaborate. Marseille provides many of my favorite features, including coastline, a large but not dense population, French language, and class. By class I mean the way in which the city looks. There are those cities that come across as well cared for, well run, and which contain an overall very happy population. That is how I saw Marseille in the short time I was there. All this provides what I personally feel is the perfect setting for a classic international city. Small details, such as reasonable real estate pricing, an efficient transportation system, and a still vivid historical background just add to my delight in the city. Overall, Marseille would be somewhere where I would love to spend some time in the future. If you ever get the opportunity to visit, I highly recommend it.

One of two Forts Overlooking the City

A Church in the NE part of Marseille

Typical Inland Street

A Giraffe of Books in the NE district

The Coastline

Coca-Cola!

Love the buildings along the coast

The World War I Memorial

Perfect Dining Experience (Not where I ate)

BLUE water

The walk east

To give you an idea of how many boats are there

The Historical Harbor area

The Coastline - Notice the small natural (and not) swimming areas

Les Aérienne Economique

On my recent trip to Norway, I decided to take advantage of the o’ so popular discount airlines. After seeing prices beyond belief, I was lured in and soon realized that the eye-popping low rates quickly climb with taxes and small fees, not to mention a serious baggage restriction. However, all that said, the final price came out to be less than half that of a major airline, so I went for it.

The catch with discount airlines is that they normally leave from small secondary airports and at odd times of the day (not good for business travelers). My flight left Marseille Provence airport at 4:55 p.m. (qualifying as odd), and actually ended up to my advantage, as traffic in the airport was low. The plane was a Boeing 737 which had been fitted with more seats than a major airline, meaning seats do not lean back and leg room is minimal. Still, the flight was overall comfortable. In flight drinks and snacks are very costly, and music and reading material must be self-provided, which is to be expected. Upon landing at Oslo’s secondary airport (Oslo Torp), the real meaning of “cheap” struck me. As I boarded the bus to Oslo, costing me €18, I soon realized that not only was I not in Oslo, but I had landed two hours outside of Oslo. After all was said and done however, I reached my destination and my trip went as planned.

The important fact to remember when traveling economically is that you get what you pay for. With discount transportation, don’t expect much more than arriving at your final destination alive and you won’t be disappointed. My round trip from Marseille to Oslo with Ryan Air, even after the extra bus tickets to and from the airport, saved me over €200, making the trip affordable in the first place. I expect that in my future tight-budgeted travels, Ryan Air, Easy Jet, and other small airlines will be utilized whenever possible.

Norvège

On Friday, July 3rd I left Marseille for Oslo, Norway. In 2008, while in Costa Rica, I became friends with a Norwegian girl and have since maintained email contact. Well, she just happened to be in France a couple of weeks back, so we met in Avignon and I showed her and her friend around. She said that if I ever wanted to come to Norway, I have a free place to stay. So, I bought the tickets. Norway is not a member of the European Union and still maintains its’ own currency, the Norwegian Crown (Kroner). It is the home of the Midnight sun during the summer (in the northernmost half), the most vivid sights of the Aurora Borealis during the winter, and Nordkapp, Europe’s northernmost point. Oslo is a city of about 500,000 people and is the fourth most expensive city in the world and is an important port with a great history. I would be staying in downtown Oslo for two days before traveling an hour and a half north to Kolbu, where I would stay until my flight back to France on July 8th .
I arrived in Norway the night of July 3rd at an airport named “Oslo Torp”. What I failed to realize is that when they named this airport “Oslo Torp”, they really meant “Nowhere near Oslo”. I took a bus to meet Tina downtown. After twenty minutes in, I noticed a sign saying “Oslo – 120 kms”. It was then I realized why my tickets were very cheap. After a two hour bus ride (an hour of it probably spent in tunnels) I ended up downtown safely. The next day we pretty much walked all the way around Oslo. I visited the home of the King and Queen of Norway (pretty much like the queen of England, just a country figure), visited the historical port of Oslo, the Oslo Opera House, and an overview of the entire city. The city is beautiful, and is very spread out. The transit system in the city was flawless, with a mix of buses, trams, and subways, making it easy to access any part of the city quickly. The city was also very multicultural, and is a popular attraction for tourists of all parts of the world. The common language used is English, as Norwegians take English every year of school, making the majority of the country fluent in English. However, it is still respectful to try to pick up at least a little Norwegian while there. The exchange rate for the Norwegian Crown is approximately 9 Crowns to one Euro. The average sandwich cost about 60 Crowns, or about €6.50 to give you an idea. Oslo has very beautiful architecture, with few buildings taller than five or six stories. The people (at least those I met), are very nice and very interested in your visit to Oslo. They share tips and locations on seeing the city and all share a sense of pride in their country (more noticeable than most). Overall, my two days in Oslo were great, and the city was quite exciting.
After two days in Oslo, we headed to Tina’s family’s house in the small town of Kolbu. If you want an idea of what Norway looks like, let me help you. Imagine rolling hills and scattered lakes, now put every shade of green possible on and around everything. Norway is by far the greenest country I have ever seen and the care put into the fields is great. I can understand why environmentalists and “tree-huggers” enjoy trips to this country. Kolbu is very much farm country, with tractors driving on the roads and fields surrounding the area. Her family was great, all speaking English of course (making me feel a little bad), they were eager to tell me about their area. On a side note, Tina’s mom, Heidi, lived in the United States for a while in the 80s. When I asked where, she responded with the town of Conway, SC, which is the town where I was born (small world?). On another note, Kolbu lies at a longitude of 61° North (Juno, Alaska is 58° North), meaning that in the summer, the sun sets very late and rises very early. For example, the first day was the only very clear day I had, and the sun set around 11, just to rise again between 2 and 3 am. Also, it never really got completely dark. Even during the night, the sun being not far out of sight provided a light, well enough to not have to turn lights on in the house to read. If I would have driven just a couple hours north, I would have reached a point where the sun never sets during the summer months.
The nearest large town, Gjøvik, is a very historical city and very significant in this part of Norway. While visiting Gjøvik, I visited the sight of the 1994 winter Olympics. For the Olympics, Norway constructed the “Olympiske Fjellhall”, the world’s largest underground cavern in the side of a mountain in Gjøvik. With a full arena and complex underground system (including swimming pools), it was quite impressive. Also in Gjøvik, the “Skibladner”, the world oldest working steamship does voyages in the nearby lake, Norway’s largest lake. We made sure to visit that as well, and chat with the captain of course. Also in Gjøvik, we visited a famous glassblowing site, which specializes in their very rare “blue glass”, well-known from that area. I got to witness the entire process, which is extremely intricate.
Overall, the countryside of Norway struck me as a very peaceful, untouched area that was full of culture. Sheep in the fields, moose crossing roads (although I didn’t see any), and the overall innocence of the place made it a great place to visit and I would recommend it to anyone. I know that if I ever get the chance, I will definitely return to Norway for a road trip to Nordkapp to see the Northern Lights. I really enjoyed staying with a family that could tell me anything and everything about the area, and provide me with some great food! For example, typical Norwegian meatcakes (believe me, they are better than they sound), Norwegian pancakes, and of course Norwegian brown cheese, all of which was amazing. Oslo was also gorgeous, and I will make sure to provide as many pictures below as possible without putting too much on the page (for loading reasons).
Before flying to Oslo, I spent the day visiting Marseille, where I flew out of in the evening. Marseille now marks as one of my favorite cities, or at least the first impressions make it so. I, however, locked my camera in a locker in the train station and did not have it with me during my tour of the city. My friends whom I was with took plenty of pictures, and I will wait to write about it until I have swapped pictures with them.

The "Skibladner"

Aboard the World's Oldest Working Steamboat

The Underground Olympic Park - Pictured Here the Hockey Arena

A Small Nearby Lake

Sheep get in the way, so you have to be firm with them

Marshmallow Field

Norwegian Countryside

Lake Mjøsa, Norway's Largest Lake

Glass blowing in Gjøvik

Oslo Harbor

Oslo Opera House

Downtown Oslo

A Small Parade in Oslo. We still were not sure why though...

Oslo Harbor

Oslo Harbor

Norwegian Guard in front of King's Palace

King's Palace. The flag means they are there at the moment.

Hade Bra!

La Fête de 1 Juillet

July 1st is Canada Day...July 4th is U.S.A. Day...July 14th is France Day. We at the base decided that three back to back parties would not be the best of ideas (seeing as half of us would be gone for the last two), and also that some of those countries by themselves couldn't really warrant a full-out party *cough* Canada *cough*. The base supplied 24 pieces of turkey, and Andy and I grilled them. As we sat down to eat, Byron began orchestrating each national anthem while playing it on a laptop. It wasn't all that moving, but it was fun to watch. The party overall went really well, and it was a good time to get everyone together, even those not in YWAM at all, just members of local churches.

Everyone enjoying their meal

Byron conducting

The first time I have grilled turkey

In other news, the heat here has been crazy. It has been hovering around 35 Celsius lately, and England recently had to announce its' first dangerous heatwave in media history. Also, without any recent winds, it's hard to get away from the heat. Tomorrow, however, I leave for Norway. Being close to the arctic circle, I'm expecting slightly cooler temperatures. I will let you know.

A plus

Le Course a Pied

To you, this may seem like an insignificant train schedule, but to me it is so much more. For me, it is proof. Sunday night, I left for my run. Now not having ran on Saturday, I wanted to get a little more in. I left around 8pm because of the hot weather, still with about two hours of sunlight left. I ran to the town center, and still feeling energized, decided to circle the town. I did it again, then as I was running along the edge of town, I noticed the sign for Pierrelatte and headed that way. I reached the outer point of town, and decided to keep going. At this point I said, "Why not, lets go to Pierrelatte". At about 5kms I reached "The Wall" for any of you athletes out there. Basically, there is a point where cramps and soreness reach their peak, then drop off completely as your body goes into a "routine". After this point, you basically become a machine and feel very little soreness. So ya, I reached that point quickly and kept going. I ran around the far side of Pierrelatte and then stopped at the trainstation to pick up this train schedule. The trainstation has no water fountain, nor does anything else in France. Public water fountains are unheard of. Coming back, I stopped at a friends house and he kindly gave me some water. I arrived back at the base just after 11pm. I ran a total of approximately (give or take 2kms) 30 kilometers in about 3 hrs. Now that is still 12kms short of a full olympic marathon, but still a personal record. Now that I am at this point, maybe sometime this fall I will actually try a full marathon. O, and if you are wondering if it is dangerous, not really. All the roads in France (well, most) have a "bike lane" on each side of the road allowing for seperate traffic, even at round-a-bouts. So even on highways there is plenty of space, plus the shoulder.

Genève, Suisse

This past Thursday, I jumped on a train and headed for the 8th most expensive city in the world, and one of the banking capitals of Europe, Geneva, Switzerland. After taking a train to the French city of Lyon, there was a two hour ride through the beginning of the Alps into Switzerland. Geneva sits literally right on the border of France and Switzerland, and throughout my two days there, I constantly crossed the border, many times without noticing. Geneva is commonly known as one of the major players in the Protestant Reformation, and during my time there I went to one of the major churches in the city where John Calvin's personal chair still remains. The architecture of the city is beautiful, especially the older part of the city. From the top of the church tower, the city is breathtaking, especially with the lake and the huge fountains. Also, Geneva definitely keeps to its rank as one of the most expensive cities in the world. I saw a mix of some of the most exotic and expensive cars, along with shops that would send most people packing. The banking district makes even wall street look bland, with its extravagant buildings and surroundings. Overall, Geneva was a great experience, and definitely worth visiting. During my time there, however, it was overcast most of the time, limiting my view of the surrounding mountains. I stayed with the family of a previous staff member for YWAM France, which turned out to be a really good experience. For example, playing cranium in French, watching the entire Bourne series in one evening / morning, and of course getting a guided tour of an awesome city.

Returning from Switzerland, I stopped in Lyon to see the city that I have traveled through multiple times without ever actually seeing. Lyon is an ancient capital of the Roman empire, and it is very obvious while visiting. First note, the metro system in Lyon, although not as extensive, is very much like that of New York's. I was impressed, seeing as Lyon has nowhere near the population. Also, another neat feature is that on every other corner, there are bicycle racks where you can insert a euro, take a bike, then return it to another rack anywhere in the city. Pretty convenient. While in Lyon, I visited an old ancient Roman theater. This amphitheater is still in pristine condition, with even the side shops being intact, with stone tables and areas for the shopkeepers. I feel like these ruins were probably in better shape than most ruins in Rome itself. Also, the ruins overlooked the entire city, make for quite a great view. Another interesting fact is that they still use the amphitheater today for concerts and such. When I was there, they were setting up for a music festival involving quite an intricate setup. I was also informed that this is quite common and that somewhere south of Lyon there is a fully intact Roman coliseum which is still used for musicals and plays, most recently, Phantom of the Opera.

John Calvin's Church in Gevena

Canons of the Swiss Guard

The Historic Part of Geneva

Shopping District

The Wall of Reformers

Praying my princess rescues me from the tower?

Some visibility

That fountain is huge!

Roman Amphitheater

Riding through the Alps on the way back this was about all I saw

The U.N. Notice the three legged chair. It represents those who have lost limbs in wars and leftover mines from wars.

University of Geneva

Lyon from the Roman Ruins

One of the side shops. Notice the table on the right still intact.

On another note, I will be heading to Oslo, Norway this Friday. So next week look for an exciting post!
A bientot