Arriving in Marseille early than expected we had to have a random drug check on the coach before we could get off. I think the dog was still in training as he seemed to just be doing his own thing, but it was fun to watch.

Having my bag checked the guy asked if I’ve ever smoked ‘swede’, me replying no he goes ‘what never’? Me laughing: ‘does it look like a smoke a root vegetable for the fun of it’! He obviously didn’t get my joke.. I didn’t really understand what was going on, with my bag being cleared I asked if I could go now: ‘yes you can get lost now’. The whole mistranslation here was hilarious I kind of wanted to stay.

With it still being very early in the morning it was freezing. I headed straight to the hostel knowing it provides free coffee all day. I took advantage of the hostels kettle, plug socket and WiFi for a couple of hours waiting for a normal time to go out exploring.

I was back to speaking very good English with a French accent, something I think I do pretty good. ‘Eye wuuuuud lyk twa buy buy A Hambbburgarr’. (If you have no idea what I’m going on about then that’s your problem)!

France has me so inspired. Continuing my detox and fitness activities on from Barcelona, I couldn’t stop running! (Just call me Forrest). I was smashing out the 5ks. It was so easy with the sun shining and nice scenery around the port. 2 days here, I ran twice per day. I just kept getting faster. The detox is clearly working.. or maybe I consciously knew there was a knife attack and shooting the day before I arrived here resulting in me to run quicker..

My hostel was right across from an Aldi. I never shop there back home but travelling around ‘attempting’ to save money when I can it’s amazing, it’s so cheap. Although take note that France doesn’t have the same milk indication as us. I thought I was buying semi skimmed milk, turns out I bought fermented milk. It was absolutely disgusting, it tastes gone off, I sneakily used someone else’s milk from the fridge whilst no one was looking!

I had one day around the city walking to different attraction points, taking pictures and soaking up the sun. It was 20 degrees so I had to let my friends back home know about it! ‘ I hope you have sun cream on’.. does it look like I can afford suncream! That’s the price of 3/4/5 sangrias.

(If you want to know if the price of something is good, compare it to a glass of sangria).

On the second day, I managed to get a free bus ride to the national park. I stocked up on water and food beforehand but I took far too much. My bag was so heavy hiking for the day, but it’s all about the gains!

Calanques national park was great. Just what I needed. I decided to create my own path and get lost for a few hours. You had the view of the coast surrounded by cliffs and bays. I hiked to the top so I could get the best picture, the view was definitely worth the hike. If you’re ever in Marseille I 100% recommend this national park. Many people took picnics and spent the day there.

Nice

My time in Nice was better than expected. If you’re reading Nice like nice you’re wrong, it’s Nice!

I’ve already been here so I just planned on spending one day here whilst I was passing. However once I arrived I soon discovered it was their carnival month. With the parades happening the next day I immediately booked another night so I didn’t miss it.

In Nice I increased my running to 10k then half a marathon, following the Nice Ironman run route. Running along the seaside kind of takes the pain away & with Ironman known around here running slowly wasn’t an option!

You can not go to France and not eat French moules and frites! So I wandered the streets to find best price and treated myself for lunch. (I could afford it after being a cheapskate in Marseille)! Lunch followed by a walk up to Castle Hill, to get a birds eye view of Nice just in time for the sunset, was a great way to relax after all the running I’ve been doing lately.

Meeting up with a girl from the hostel we went to the carnival. It was all about celebrating the ‘King of cinema’. A 2hour parade of lights, with loads of different floats, dancers and music. For something so unexpected I really enjoyed myself. Who doesn’t love confetti being thrown over you for 2hours!? The floats were amazing, I especially loved the one of evil Donald Trump. It was only €5 to get in, but with the entertainment we got, I would have easily payed €20 it was that good!

They have this carnival every year, just with a different theme, so If you want to check Nice out and go to a carnival go around February/March time. It’s worth it.

Until next time France.