Day 36 - Marseille, France

It’s our last day in Marseille so we… slept in. Then we were on the way to Marseille Marina. We tried to Uber, but figured out that the cars can’t get close to the stadium/hotel because of the games. So we walked to an area we thought would be better and stumbled on the bus going to the Marina. Sure, why not.

Once we got to the Marina, we were looking around at what to do as we didn’t have tickets to watch any of the sailing events. I’m not sure why you’d buy tickets to watch sailing from the beach, but many did.

Instead we found Club 2024 hosted by the city of Marseille. This was a free area with big screens, food, drinks, and most importantly, SHADE! It has definitely been a hot minute since we’ve been clubbing, but this was for us. It was a temporary compound built by the city to attract people without Olympic tickets and possibly those who want a drink, lol. We are in France. The furniture was very cheap; made out of wood pallets with cushions. And the fencing was just a bamboo screen. But it was effective.

We found a spot and settled in with a beer and eventually food. It was still hot but there was a breeze and SHADE.

We randomly ended up sitting next to a French Longhorn. If you know me you know I’m a very proud Longhorn, class of 1985. Marie (class of 2001) was great and translated what they were saying on TV.

There was an area where you could watch sailing and windsurfing, with binoculars.

Also caught the beginning of the men’s skiff finals, but it was cancelled due to minimal wind.

For those of you who’ve travelled internationally, you know your body functions change a bit but toilets change even more. We should be thankful every day for US toilets. Today we experienced our first Compost Toilet. As mentioned, this was a temporary event including the Porta Potties. I mean more so than normal. Here they were constructed of cardboard, even the doors. There is no water. You are supposed to scoop in wood chips to cover your business. We’ve never seen that before. And no, lol, we didn’t take pictures. You cannot unsee that. Thank God for Lysol hand wipes!

Watching French athletes with French people is pretty fun. I have no dog in the fight, so I’m just spectating. Watching a table tennis quarterfinal with the French guy winning a tough fifth set, exhilarating!!

Marie pointed us to a “Welcome to Marseille” booth that was giving away tote bags, posters, and hats, for free - Martha’s love language. Finally, she can give up the damn Yankees hat. Sorry cousin Tim, the Yankees hat was left behind, waiting for a new owner.

IMO, every city in every country in every universe should allow tap and pay to get on public transportation. I can’t read French, 💯 on me, but a little machine inside the bus to tap and pay, genius. I know the NYC subway system uses this and also London. It should be universal! It makes life so much easier for us stupid tourists, which isn’t the point, but kind of is.