Marseille and sleeping in a castle!

It seems every place I go to I am faced with a new experience and something cool!  Marseille is of course no exception!  I slept in a castle yesterday! 

I left around 11am after saying goodbye to my host Cyrille who has been just so welcoming and chill. 

The ride over was definitely a test of willpower.  Even though it was only 60km it was over 3 mountain ranges and the climbs never seemed to end. Luckily I found a really cheap places along the way for fruits and pastries.  Once in Marseille the roads were dotted with potholes and it was a nightmare to navigate the traffic as I arrive just around rush hour.  Crossing multiple round abouts that traversed multi-line highways was definitely not fun. 

In any case I made it safe and sound at my couchsurfer's place.  Loic is a mechanic for helicopters in one of the companies around Marseille and he has been here for 6 years.  He told me we were going to a girls party tonight prior but I had no idea where or who she was. 

So off we went on his motorbike which is 1000cc and he drives like a maniac!  We were swerving in an out of traffic sometimes even passing between 2 cars at the same time.  To make matters worse I had a mat in my bag and he kept checking his rear view mirror to see if it had fallen out.  But to me it appeared as if something was wrong with the bike when we are going 160km/h. Definitely had my heart in my throat. 

We arrived safe and sound; to my surprise the party was in a castle!  It was huge with 3 stories and a full courtyard both front and back. 

We joined the other guests and I met the host Christopher who lives in the castle.  Joanna is the girl who has a birthday and she is a signer for a couple of bands.  So she invited all her bandmates and in the evening we saw them perform and relaxed in the castle. 

Christopher tells me he works for the international school right by the castle.  The castle is actually owned by the school.  So when they employed him they gave him a residence in the castle!  He has the whole second floor all to himself but it looks like the 3rd floor was also empty when we were there so that's where we slept. 

Anyways around 1am I was so tired so I turned in for the night.  But definitely a story to tell the kids when I am older. 

My room 

views into side courtyard from my room

Round bathroom

Front courtyard

Back courtyard

Gig equipment

The guests singing and jamming together

The castle we stayed in. Totally private and free for us! It's called Chateau d'arc

Castle lobby. There is definitely a lack of maintence with random stuff thrown around haphazardly except some rooms which were nicely furnished

Coming into Marseilles requires traversing these multilaned round abouts

Small awesome fruit stand on the way to Marseilles with the chepest prices I have seen in the South. Melons for 50 cents!!!!

Loads of mountains

My feet were burning up from the force of the climbs. Quick internet search told me it was the nerves getting compacted from the pressure. It was so bad I had to take a break. Simply walking hurt. I found the solution in later times to just climb with the middle of my feet instead of using the toes like normally.

Peace from Marseille.