Parlez-vous Anglais?

...is a common phrase I now use, as well as "Merci Beaucoup."

I didn't realize that different countries have such different keyboards until this trip! My first challenge came in Germany, but that was easily solved by borrowing someone's American Mac. Czech was slightly different as well as Switzerland, but this board is by far the most difficult. If I zqs typing the q,ericqn zqy this is zhqt it zould look like::: (translated: if I was typing the American way this is what it would look like...)

Anyways, this morning we woke up "early," or what has now become early for us :), gathered our belongings, and hitched a ride to the train station with John William. I had printed out our itinierary which was fortunate because we quickly realized that we were supposed to be looking for a bus and not a train. (we're improving somewhat in the transportation department) We then took a tram to the train station where we caught two trains to end up in Marseille! So far our travels have never been completely smooth, and this one also had a hiccup, but fortunately not a big one.
When I'd printed out our hostel reservations, there were always directions (some better than others) to the hostel. As we were nearing Marseille, I figured I should get out the directions to start figuring out where we'd go. Literally, this is what our "directions" said, "The Hostel is located in the Old Port area 5 minutes walking distance from the Metro Vieux-Port." and that was all...how detailed and helpful!...NOT.
I looked up at Stephen with a sheepish smile and read him the directions. poor guy...but now he just shakes his head and laughs.
This trip has certainly sharpened our map reading skills and our reasoning skills as is evidenced by the relatively short amount of time it took for us to find the hostel. We had no idea where Old Port is, but we followed the signs to the Metro and based on a map, we figured out which train to take. Our short ride dropped us off at Old Port and we only got slightly lost (we'd found Avenue Fort Notre Dame but not Rue Fort Notre Dome), so I asked someone if they knew where our street was. We were really close, so she pointed us in the right direction and we soon came to the correct address and thus our hostel.
Our room wasn't quite ready yet so we decided to explore the city of Marseille. It has a strong Mediteranean atmosphere and reminds me a lot of Israel. Unfortunately, the streets are dirty and it often smells, but there are also really cool buildings and views of the ocean. A prominent feature is a fortress built on a hill overlooking the ocean. We tried to get near it, but only succeeded in walking around it. We also found a good view of the Chàteau d'If (from Count of Monte Cristo!) and a few other churches.
The weather today was very hot so at one point we stopped to rest and order drinks. It was also around 5pm and we were both hungry for dinner, however we soon found out that nothing opens for dinner before 7pm. So to pass the time, we continued exploring and searched for the nearest Starbucks which Stephen had previously mapped out (very important! :) ). The atmosphere was so relaxing so we grabbed a couch, pulled out our Kindles, and read until 7. Dinner was eaten right by the harbour, then we walked to a different beach to the West to watch the sunset. Sunsets are absolutely my favorite part of creation and this was no exception. Before it got too dark, we found our way back to the hostel and since we didn't get much sleep last night, we'll try to get a good night's rest.

Bonjourné!