Big Trucks and Busy Roads

To Marseille, France -- 37 miles, 11.6 mph, 1625 ft

Bonjour! Meg here. We had an interesting ride to Marseille today. We had some of the most difficult climbing of the trip so far getting up and over the granite cliffs to the east of Marseille. The steady line of huge dump trucks roaring pass did not improve the situation.

We have been trying for days to get somewhere to stay in the city that wasn't over $300 per night.  Apparently, as we've finally figured out, the big Euro 2016 football (soccer) tournament starts today, and France is hosting the month-long event with a big game scheduled here tomorrow. 

Shanty town on the outskirts of the city

In any event, by the time we rode into Marseille, it was about 3 or 4 in the afternoon on a Friday. We had just found out that our last remaining hope of an AirBnB studio was not available, so we were going to have to cross the entire city (2nd largest in France) and cross a second range of cliffs to get to a campground that would possibly still have a spot open for a tent.  I had called in the morning, around 8 a.m., and they would not allow me to reserve a spot, despite having availability.  I tried explaining that we were on bikes (velos) and there wasn't anyway we could predict when we'd arrive. It was way too much for my meager French!  The other part of that was if we did get to this campground and we didn't have a spot, we'd be in a smaller town with fewer options -- 50+ miles for the day and no end in sight, not a good combo for me.

So, back to our ride into the very bustling Marseille. With lots of lights, cars, trucks, motorbikes and pedestrians everywhere, it was becoming stressful to the point where Dex was feeling pretty anxious. 

At one point, Dean didn't see that a light had turned red and was zipping in front of a tram car before he realized his error.  That was a nail biter, even for me.  So, as we were still making our way through the heart of the city, I saw a sign for a two star hotel.  Knowing full well there was no chance, I went inside.  Besides, Kylie had to go to the bathroom. Kevin, the front desk manager, aka Guardian Angel number 4572, had a room that could hold us... for one night... for under $200!  That was all I needed to hear.  The Hotel Paradis, couldn't have been more aptly named.  

Tomorrow, we learned, England would play Russia right here in Marseille, while tonight, France played Romania in Paris.  Dean and I thought it would be fun to watch the game at a restaurant with the crowd cheering along.  As we wandered around the busy downtown, looking for a place to eat, we started to realize that although the game didn't start until 9 p.m., there were an awful lot of people who must have started drinking around 9 a.m.  

Suffice it to say, when we saw the police in their riot gear, clouds of tear gas billowing up at the end of an alley, and a mob of drunken soccer fans running towards us, we turned and high tailed it out of there.  We decided to head back to the hotel and eat the few snacks we had in relative safety. Luck was with us, however, as just a block from the hotel, we found a fabulous Italian restaurant, jazz music playing, and the game on a big screen TV.

We had originally hoped to spend a rest day and look around this historic city, but I think we'll head out tomorrow and leave the crowds behind. Hopefully we'l get ourselves booked with rooms a few days further ahead to avoid another "Marseille Situation" in the future.

We're thinking of all our friends and family back at home and appreciate all the thoughts and prayers. I'm certain they are paving our way.