Barbados meets France...and beyond: Marseille

All of the language assistants had to be formally welcomed, so we had to go to Marseille (well those who didn't live in Marseille). The ones who didn't live in Marseille (like me), stayed in a hotel for two nights and also got free lunch and dinner provided by the university (all paid by the Rectorat in Marseille). First let me just say that the hotel we stayed in was AMAZING!!! And to top it off we also got free breakfast for the days we stayed there (2 days). In addition, getting to Marseille was exciting for me because I had to take the train. Yes! It was the first time I took a train. Lol. It wasn't bad, it just felt like a bus ride to be honest, but just one that moved really quickly, lol. I thought for my first time on the train that I would have to go by myself, but luckily for me, one of my upstairs neighbors which is also an assistant came with me and also another assistant (Rachel). It wasn't their first time on a train, so it was just me being the excited one, lol. Marseille was beautiful. It was big (of course), but it was amazing. We had the official welcome at the university, but before we found where we were supposed to be, there we were, the assistants, just in the courtyard standing in the cold. No one came to show us where we were to go, we were just there! Lol. I can laugh now, but that morning I couldn't believe we were there standing up. However, a group of the assistants decided to walk and find where we were to go. As suspected, the other assistants followed. We found where we were supposed to be, did what we had to do and we were very much welcomed. As mentioned before, we got free lunch at the university's cafeteria. Now I don't know, but in my mind, a university's cafeteria is ON campus, but for some reason this university's cafeteria was maybe half an hour away... WHAT!?!? Who does that? Lol, no joke, we were walking for maybe half an hour to get to this cafeteria, smh, lol. I think though it was a trend (walking so far for food) because the first evening I came to Marseille, it was a Sunday, that night some of us (assistants) decided to go for dinner and the amount of walking we did...my gosh! Man I walked the whole of Barbados...TWICE!!! Lol. Ridiculous! We finally stopped at this pizzeria and enjoyed pizza. Let me tell you, I never thought I could eat a whole pizza, until I came here. Lol. I mentioned about walking for food, but walking in general...!! Those people living in Marseille don't need a gym! They don't! Lol. Of course being in Marseille, we had to explore it a little, so we wanted to go to the famous Notre Dame Cathedrale and so we walked, climbed, hiked...we did it lol. I must say though, finally reaching there and getting to the top was worth it because inside the Cathedrale was amazing and the view of the city at the top was equally amazing. The Tuesday we were there, which was also the last day of being in Marseille, we had training. During this training session we talked about different activities that can be done with the students during class and mainly a few things to expect in class etc, so that was fun (well my training session, because we got split up according to the beginnings of our last names). Training then was over and it was time to go back home. I thought though that staying in a nice hotel was like a pre-birthday gift. Yes! My birthday was going to be the next day (Wednesday) and I spent a lovely 2 days in Marseille, :). What made my birthday though, was that I didn't have to work! :p. All in all, those days spent in Marseille were amazing. I got to see a bigger city, and some of the things that make up that city, like the Old Port (which is really beautiful) and as mentioned before the Notre Dame Cathedrale and who can forget the walking?? Lol. By the time I get back home, I may just walk any and everywhere, lol. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few pics from when I went to Marseille...

Me on the train :)