Travel
Early evening drinks in Cours Julien, Marseille; the stonework glowing in the light of the setting sun.
Views from the window of BA0369 from Marseille to London, showing principally Mont Blanc (4,808 m.) but also Monte Rosa (4,634 m.) and the Bernese Oberland Alps (Finstaarhorn, 4274 m. etc).
Moments earlier in the flight, views of Barre des Écrins (4102 m.) and Mont Ventoux (1909 m.) immediately after take-off from Marseille Provence airport runway 31R.
Revisiting the Village Vacances « La Baume » at La Roque d’Anthéron which was the accommodation for the 1998 GLME Summercamp, organised by the French bike club AMA (Association Motocycliste Alternative).
Arriving here after the long ride down from London, the blocks had more than a whiff of a Stalag Luft prisoner of war camp. But the hosts and location, the company and the bike rides were all fantastic, the wine copious and included. The pool and the forest saw many games too.
That summercamp twisted my head; since then I've set up in Marseille. Finding « La Baume » again after so many years and finding it pretty much the same was great nostalgia, especially as I was able to share tales with a couple of the staff .
Rose-tinted nostalgia apart, La Roque d’Anthéron is a chic town in the Pays d’Aix between the Canal de Provence and the River Durance. I found no less than three boulangeries in operation and at least two fine restaurants. La Roque d’Anthéron is more widely known for its piano festival, which takes place in the park of one of the châteaux.
More photos: La Roque d’Anthéron revisited - GLME Summercamp 1998
Sunset at a restaurant at the waterside of the Lac d’Annecy with my friend Arno, the destination of my journey from Provence to Savoie. I would have liked to see more glaciers but tragically, it’s getting more and more difficult. Now there are so many more screes of grey gravel, the debris remaining where there was shining glacier until so recently.
Mont Blanc, from the Col du Glandon
Finally I get to enjoy the Provence sunshine and blue sky in Marseille again. It’s been a long time, many cancellations, due to the travel and health regulations on both sides of the Channel. That’s been more than a year since I was last here. My flight was from London Heathrow to Marseille Provence, then the airport bus in to Marseille St. Charles railway stationAnd I still very much like Marseille. I’ve always used the word “alluring” to describe the city’s charms and that’s still apt. There’s the colour, the energy and the tolerance so long as you are “one of us”, which I feel includes me. The blue sky and the sunshine have obvious attraction but you have to understand the French, specifically the Marseillais, to be included in the rest.
