Marseille musings

Nice, Cannes or Monaco?

The tentative plan for today was to wake up early, reach the train station at 7.15am on time for a whirlwind 3-stop tour of the above places that would end at 10pm back in Marseille. It was supposed to be our Mediterranean journey similar to the "uncharted waters" computer game that Ping played in secondary school, albeit one by train and not by ship as in the game.

Thankfully for our aching feet, common sense prevailed: at 6am this morning, we decided to sleep in.

And so here we are at 9am still in our rather cosy serviced apartment.

Some thoughts on the last couple of days:
-- France was, and is still, an economic force to be reckoned with. What was particularly impressive was the headstart Europe as a whole had over Asia in terms of technological and economic development.

Most visually striking was the fact that their 17th century buildings are on average 3-4 stories in some places, and far bigger in scale than our 20th century ones. To see that level of security and sophistication that Europe had at that time was mind-boggling for Asians like us. Especially as this was repeated throughout the cities and towns we visited, so it was not only the rich who had these comforts but also a good number of the masses.

-- the intellectual richness of this place was also impressive. It's a really colourful place, literally. There are so many layers of understanding here... it seems that Europeans, including the French at that forefront, are continually re-assessing their world and seeing/ expressing it in a wholly different manner.

Asians on the other hand, even in our artistic pursuits, tend to keep improving on the same known modes of expression.

-- the next observation is rather frivolous: the French people like carrying their baguettes only partially covered up. Everybody does this: from little old ladies carrying a baguette under their arms to student-types sticking a half-eaten loaf from their backpacks.

Is France really that clean that dust/ germs on food is not a concern? Or do the people here just have strong stomachs? Or maybe baguettes have some antiseptic quality we don't know about??

Wen is happy to report that she is now an expert in navigating the train/ tram and bus routes in France.

Ping is happy to report that Wen is finally ready to go out... :-)