Last night before I went to bed I realized I had not purchased a bottle of water so I went to the local market to buy one. On the way back while waiting for a traffic light I felt something fall down the front of my coat. It had been raining earlier so I thought perhaps it was a raindrop from the tree. No such luck, I realized something was crawling on my chest under my shirt. So as I was crossing the street I look down and realize it is a wasp. I yank my coat open and pull down the neckline of my shirt and try to brush it off without getting bit. Please keep in mind I am using the headlights of the driver stopped for me to cross. I’m pretty sure he thought I was demented and of course not speaking French there was no way for me to explain. So after I did my dance and flashed my chest and was somewhat convinced I had gotten rid of it I practically ran back to the apartment. I stripped my coat off in the hallway and shook it out over the railing, stepped into the apartment and stripped naked. At least I remembered to close the shutters before I left because giving one show a night was more than enough. As a result, I did not sleep very well last night (still had that feeling of something crawling) and woke up very tired.
Today I left Marseille and took a train to Nice. Before I left I walked to the Office Depot to find out if they could mail a package for me to the US. Then I walked back to the apartment, packed the computer bag with the extra items adding weight to my luggage and back to the Office Depot a total of 6 miles for the two trips. As I stated before the nearest Federal Express office was 30 miles away. After much pointing, hand gestures and finally finding someone who spoke English I was able to purchase a box, shipping tape and mail it back to the US – the cost was more than the Eurostar train ticket from Paris to London.
The train to Nice was no reservation required and I was able to use my France Rail Pass for the first time. After finding an empty compartment I had a woman from Paris and a gentlemen join me. The woman said she worked in cinema so I asked if she traveled a lot in her job. She said no but she was on her way to Cannes for the film festival. It evidently started today and will last 12 days. The great thing about Nice is it is a 20 minute train ride to Cannes so I will have an opportunity to go people watch there over the next couple of days.
My AirBNB host picked me up from the train station and drove me to the apartment He showed me the hill which leads to the entry of the steps for the complex and the steps to the tram station. After explaining the two key fobs, three keys and showing me the place he explained the best way to get around would be the tram. Just down the steps, across the street and go straight. Sounds easy enough, until I got to the steps. There are 240 steps down from the apartment complex, another 30 steps across the street to the lower street, all of which does not include the curved hill you have to go down between the two sets of steps which takes 138 steps to go uphill. Remember the other day when I mentioned the issue with all the steps leading to the cathedrals? I am pretty sure this is my answer. The best views are from high above – if I leave the apartment only once a day and return it is a total of 826 steps (half dow and half up). I believe I will be planning my next three days very carefully.
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