And despite being topless in a French Doctor's office, I still am sans French husband. I'm kidding. But marrying an EU citizen would make this whole thing a hundred times easier, I think. I got mostly annoyed that they would take my word that I had had all my vaccines, but were concerned over a mistake in my address and wouldn't believe me when I told them where I lived? Which would you rather have documentation of?
After finally washing that day off me, I started day two in Marseille. We had a training at the University at which point they walked us through filing for social security and our medical visits. The things which we had done in the days before. I sat, baffled as to why, knowing that the information (social security) had to be done at least a few days in advance in order to get paid, why they would have an informational session on it days afterwards. But that thought was pushed out of my head as the lot of us sat trying not to doze off, including Gianni, a very funny Italian guy who wears his sunglasses indoors.
Afterwards, my friend Sarah (from Texas. You can read her blog here) and I made our way to the Appart'city. Originally we were going to stay in Sausset-Les-Pins, but discovered quickly that the cab itself would be about 25 euros a piece. So we scrapped the hopes of our own private beach bar in order to stay at a studio apartment in Marseille.
Marseille is not my favorite city in France. It does have very beautiful parts, but it's beachy atmosphere gives it a tendency to be loud and crazy. The main route near the port is called Canabiére, so called after the plentiful cannabis crops that grew here when mariner ropes were made from hemp. But overall...I feel like the explains a lot about Marseille.
However, Sarah and I decided to pursue some beach time after hob-knobbing and doing some consular activities. (ZZZZZzzzzzzzz) We were close to the old port, which is truly magnificent with its old buildings and rocky cliffs that stop the peaceful waters of the Mediterranean from crashing on the shore. Walking in the shadow of enormous cruise ships, we joked about how far our combined 70 euros could get us. After finally stumbling past the Fort St Jean, we made it to a rocky pier and we just sat and looked out at the blue water. We were too high up to dip our toes in the water, but we just stared and reveled at knowing we were at the Edge of France. We also enjoyed watching the Japanese tourist who nearly fell in because he thought it would be a good idea to jump on the rocks below.
So do you think that any point in its history, that the Old Port was called the New Port? Or just port? At what point did it get old?
I have a few hours to kill, I'm planning to meet back up with Bettina, who happily found an Austrian friend in town. I'm taking a bus back to Gap, a city that is surely MUCH quieter than Marseille and definitely more suited to me. This will by my first time making it back home without Bettina. Bettina has an incredible sense of direction, unlike myself, so this should be eventful. I've had a lovely time this week and am looking forward to getting settle into my job as a teacher this week.
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