My Penultimate Provençal Trip
It was the end of my exchange and I had wanted to visit Provence this whole time. This was the perfect destination for me: nature, sunshine, and experiencing more of France. When I saw incredibly cheap flights in early December, I couldn’t resist. None of my friends were on board, so I went ahead on a solo adventure. My outgoing flight departed at 10h20, giving me plenty of time to train from Lausanne to Geneva Airport. The return flight landed at 22h45, which should have left me a safe buffer of time before the last train departed at midnight…
Departure and Antibes (Dec 18)
The flight was just an hour long and the views of the clouds and the Alps were beautiful.
That’s Geneva .-. 
The Alps 
View of Antibes as the plane descends!
When we landed, it was a bit cloudy, but the warmth was much welcomed. I caught a train to Antibes, where I walked through the old town and strolled along the rocky cape. With my heavy backpack, I didn’t want to tire myself, so I frequently stopped to sit and enjoy the sea breeze.
Rocky trail by the sea
The French obsession with “dying for the fatherland” was evident everywhere, with “mort pour la patrie” inscribed on all the old monuments
As the sun set, I took the train to Marseille. French trains, while fast, were noticeably dirtier and wobblier than their Swiss counterparts. No one seemed to mind the 20-minute delay, and neither did I as it was miniscule on the scale of a 2.5h journey. However, this would have been unacceptable to the Swiss. When the notoriously delayed Deutsche Bahn trains reach the Swiss border, they’re turned back to avoid disrupting the Swiss network.
Marseille (Dec 19)
The walk to my Airbnb in the old town wasn’t particularly pleasant. While the area isn’t as dangerous like the northern arrondissements of Marseille, it was still dirty, with narrow streets and steep hills. Tourist guides describe the old town as charming, but it felt more like a neglected residential district filled with the city’s oldest and smallest apartments.
I had hoped to visit Château d’If the next day, but the ferry was closed for no apparent reason. Instead, I rounded the port and visited the Plage des Catalans, another location featured in The Count of Monte Cristo 😉
The beautiful port of Marseille
As I set out in the morning, I was struck by the sight of the Basilica Notre-Dame de la Garde perched high on a hill, dominating the city skyline. I had never seen a structure command such a presence over a city—not in San Francisco, Barcelona, or even Rio de Janeiro. The climb was long, but the view from the top was worth every step.
Enfin, j’ai trouvé mon habibi
On the way down, I wandered through streets lined with tourist shops and stumbled upon a Christmas market. Unlike in Switzerland, the prices here were reasonable! I treated myself to mulled wine and had a freshly baked chimney cake for the first time. I loved the soft and crispy dough. I also visited the Marseille History Museum, which, despite having few artifacts, did an excellent job of showcasing two millennia of history. This was followed by the Centre de la Vieille Charité, a small museum of civilization and artwork. All these museums were free for European (not just EU) students! It makes me happy that attractions here don’t charge foreigners exorbitant prices like in Istanbul or Barcelona.
Chimney cake 😋
Bleu de Chine. Interestingly, I would see this same sculpture three weeks later in NYC.
Centre de la Vieille Charité, a museum of civilization and artwork
Sunset over Marseille
My UNIL friend had left his windbreaker at his friend’s place in Marseille and I was tasked with bringing it back so he could use it for skiing. By now it was dark, and the wind had picked up to 50 km/h. Walking along Prado Beach and through Borély Park, I could hardly see. The wind made it impossible to enjoy the night. I put on my friend’s windbreaker and immediately felt better. I’m glad he left it in Marseille for me to use 🙃
Les Calanques (Dec 20)
The next day, I bussed to Cassis for a long day of hiking in the Calanques. I had originally planned a four-hour loop around Cassis, but upon reaching the halfway point, I figured this route wouldn’t satisfy me. I discovered I could hike all the way to Luminy and head home from there. It would take all day, but I had enough food and water—why not?
Everything was so vast and beautiful!
So windy
First, I had to climb out of a calanque. To avoid a long detour, I opted to take an unmarked trail up its side. The 180-meter climb was exhausting, and I found myself on all fours. I slipped twice and had to stop multiple times to catch my breath. With no safe way to descend, the only option was to keep climbing.
Zooming in, you see that this was hardly a path
I thought the worst was over, but for most of the remaining hike, I was exposed to the Mistral winds. Contrary to the forecast, the winds grew stronger throughout the day. I kid you not—the average wind speed during my hike was 73km/h, with even fiercer gusts! On narrow rocky paths along ridges and mountain sides, I had to drop to the ground every few minutes to avoid being blown off. Thank goodness for my friend’s windbreaker!
Talking to myself as I wait out the gust
Starting to worry I wouldn’t make it before dark.
I started the hike at 09h30 with what I thought was enough food for the day, planning to grab an evening snack back in the city. However, the cold and intense physical exertion led me to burn through all my food by 13h30. I rushed to reach Luminy before sunset when temperatures would drop. Luckily, I reached a paved road by 16h00 and arrived at 17h00, just as the sun set. Cold and hungry, I looked forward to a massive kebab waiting for me in Marseille.
This was the most challenging hike I’ve ever done, both in terms of terrain (the climb out of the calanque) and physical stress from the relentless winds and unstable rocky trails. The only thing that could have made it worse was if I had to carry a drunkard down the mountain 😆. Despite the exhaustion, I woke up early the next day feeling refreshed and ready to take an early morning train to Toulon.
Toulon (Dec 21)
I arrived an hour before the Naval Museum opened. Not wanting to tire myself out by walking with my full backpack, I took a ferry across Toulon’s harbour. When the captain asked where I was heading, I explained I was staying on the boat to loop around the harbour. For the price of a standard metro ticket, I got the full tourist harbour experience.
Toulon’s a beautiful little city
The French Mediterranean Navy to the left, Toulon in the center, and Mont Faron behind
The naval museum was small, and I guess there wasn’t much to showcase about the French Navy. Unfortunately, they couldn’t hold on to my backpack after I left, so I had to carry it all day.
The farmer’s market was huge! The stalls sold produce, hot food, and clothing—no overpriced Christmas market stands here 🐷. I tried fried zucchini balls and paella for lunch. The zucchini balls were delicious but the paella was disappointing. I had expected more, even for just six Euros.
I then took a bus up the foothills of Mont Faron. The paved road was long and winding, so I went up a rocky trail that led straight to the top. It was a rather steep 350-metre ascent over 1500m where my backpack destroyed me. I took a long rest at the panoramic viewpoint.
To avoid the long winding road back, I had to take the same trail down, which was just as difficult. Still hot from the hike, I got gelato for the first time. The server patiently answered my questions as I picked my flavours :)
Arrival in Nice (Dec 21)
Everyone in Toulon (and Marseille) had been so accommodating, patiently speaking French with me. I was pleasantly surprised by this, and the contrast was stark when I arrived in Nice that evening. At the first two restaurants I entered, the waiters responded rudely in English, “no, full,” without replying to my “bon soir.” The third restaurant had space, but after being told to sit anywhere, I was ignored. The waiters were fooling around, so I walked out. I have no idea why so many Chinese tourists were eating at that restaurant with such bad service.
Thankfully, the rest of my experience in Nice was good. I found a good place to eat and write in peace. After dinner, I visited the Christmas market for some mulled wine. The Nice Christmas market was large and lively, comparable to Montreux but without the inflated prices. As I walked around the market, a girl called out, “Pardon, monsieur.” She paused and said in English “could you…” and handed me her phone with the camera app open.
“Prendre une photo de vous trois?”
“Yes, can you do like…” she gestured to rotate the camera.
I turned it vertically.
“Comme ça?”
“Yes.”
By now, her friends were laughing that she hadn’t processed I was speaking to her in French. They pointed it out and we had a good laugh.
Nice (Dec 22)
Still tired from carrying my backpack the previous day, I started this day slow. I walked along the boardwalk to the farmer’s market, where I got to try Socca and bought a vanilla flan for just 2.5 Euros. Vanilla flan is my favourite dessert in Europe—the good ones are not overly sweet while still rich and creamy. Socca, a local specialty made from chickpeas, has a nice texture: crunchy on the outside and sticky on the inside, but it lacked flavour.
I headed up a hill overlooking the city. I asked a couple if they’d take a photo for me and I received a “we don’t speak French” response in English. I hadn’t registered that I was at a tourist destination for the first time on this trip 😂
On the back side of the hill, I discovered a beautiful cemetery. Once again, I saw “died for the fatherland” engraved all over tombstones.
Kundera, I wasn’t expecting to see you again1
Next up was the Masséna Museum. The first thought that came to mind was the only Masséna I know: André Masséna, marshal of France 😉. To my surprise, it’s indeed named after him! The museum, housed in his grandson’s villa, was filled with royal decor, portraits, and paintings of battles. I loved this mini palace of Versailles.
At the ticket counter, the lady asked for my department. When I explained I lived in Switzerland and was from Canada, she repeated, “Canada,” with a suspicious look. I wonder what she was thinking…
Cursed EU flag 
My next stop was the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Turns out the Russian Baltic fleet once leased a nearby port, birthing a Russian diaspora in the area. I loved seeing the Eastern Orthodox and Tsarist artifacts in the basilica and basement museum—it reminded me of my Russian comrades in high school 😌
The highlight of my day, however, was dinner at a Lebanese kebab restaurant. The waitress, chef, and waiter/DJ were all incredibly friendly. Unlike the food workers I encountered the previous day, they smiled and welcomed me in. I was about to walk past this place as there were only two customers inside, but the food looked so good that I had to stay. Indeed, the kebab plate was delicious. While I waited, the DJ-waiter struck up a conversation with me and we switched to English. After I paid, I returned to my table to write my travel journal. The waitress brought me mint tea and asked what I was writing—perhaps she thought I was a food reviewer. She came back once more with sweets and this time I had to protest.
Finally, some flavourful food
I then headed to the coast to check out the souvenir shops. As an old lady was closing up her stand, an old man passing by asked if she’d be open until midnight. She replied sarcastically, “half past midnight!”—how bizarre.
Èze and Monaco (Dec 23)
I got off the train at a small seaside stop and hiked up the Chemin du Nietzsche2 to reach the hilltop town of Èze. At the top was an exotic garden that charged a five-Euro entrance fee. While the garden itself was unremarkable, the views from the peak were good. The garden was just their excuse to charge a fee.
The top of Èze
I asked a young man with his family if the buses took credit card. He requested English and I gladly switched over 😂. Once again, I should have known that I was at a tourist site.
The bus was supposed to come through the village four times a day, but when it didn’t show up, people started talking (in Chinese and American English) of ridesharing. The Indian-American couple beside me booked an Uber to Monaco and I asked how much it was. They invited me to join, and we had a fun ride together. In the car, I asked the guy how I should pay him. To his surprise, I happened to have a single 20 USD bill on me and he had 10 USD for change. He asked why I carried USD in my wallet and I explained that I work in America. The two are software engineers in San Fransisco and I knew all about their companies and city.
Monaco was incredibly wealthy and pristine. Clean, free public toilets were everywhere! This comes at a cost. I had anticipated the food would be expensive—twice the price of Nice—so I brought supermarket sandwiches with me. I spent the afternoon walking across the city.
The Return Flight
EasyJet Switzerland packs flights back to back, all of them starting or ending in Geneva. It was snowing in Geneva on this day, where the airplane accumulated more and more delay with each trip. My flight scheduled for 21h45–22h45 was pushed back to 23h30–00h30, 30 minutes after the last train left Geneva Airport.
At the gate, the man sitting next to me asked an EasyJet staff member what to do when he landed after the last train left. She said to ask customer service in Geneva. Since he and his girlfriend were heading to Neuchâtel, I offered to split a cab, as Renens was on the way—I didn’t want to pay 150 CHF for a solo ride home. He would wait and see what happened when we landed. I, knowing Easyjet, knew we wouldn’t get any help.
Geneva Airport was dead quiet. The two said they’d wait until the next morning train, so that’s what I did too.
I found a dark place to sleep on the floor. To my surprise, I fell asleep for an hour and a bit before the noise of the airport getting busy at 03h30 woke me up. I laid on my back for another hour, as my hip was aching from sleeping sideways. I caught the 05h00 train and slept soundly until my alarm woke me at my stop. I reached home at 06h20 and collapsed right into bed. When I woke up at 11, I felt surprisingly normal aside from my sore hip. It’s so nice to be young and healthy. In the future though, I’d pay extra for earlier return flights to GVA in winter, when there’s a chance of “bad” weather—it wasn’t even that bad; these people can’t handle any snow 🙄
Le Fin
I spoke almost exclusively French during this trip! I hadn’t planned to, but it felt natural after doing so in Switzerland. Unlike other places I’ve travelled, Southern France was full of immigrants. Whenever I ordered food and heard the staff speaking a foreign language, I’d ask where they were from. The chimney cake stand was run by Guyanese, the kebab shop by Algerians, and there’s the Lebanese restaurant.
I left feeling replenished by the sun and the sea. I should come here to recharge every year like Nietzsche did 😌
Footnotes
See Petřín Hill in my 2023 trip to Europe ↩︎
Nietzsche would come here every year to rest and recharge ↩︎