There hasn’t been too much method to my travels on this trip. I’ve just followed my gut.
Over the years, I’ve probably made more trips to France than any other country. It helps that the Eurostar train connects the UK to France, which makes it a very pleasant journey.
I’ve been to one or two places in the south of France but not Marseille. I decided to make the longer than desirable trip from Frankfurt to Marseille.
My general plan is to avoid travelling more than about five hours a day. Today it was unavoidable. There was no intermediate place I wanted to go to and therefore no way of breaking the journey into two.
The train from Frankfurt to Paris was about four hours. When we got to Paris Gare de l’Est, the queue for metro tickets was long. I then remembered I still had some credit on my Paris travel card. I tapped my card and was soon on the metro.
Within 15 minutes, I was at Gare de Lyon waiting for the Marseille train, which was leaving in an hour. Thirty minutes before departure, the platform number was announced. That’s earlier than normal. The train came and we were allowed to board. This was most welcome because Paris was sweltering at 34°C.
The TGV to Marseille was probably the most pleasant journey I’ve had on this trip. I was on the upper deck with good views. The table was well positioned to allow me to use my laptop. Often, I have to lean forward or sit on the edge of my seat. Even better, the Wi-Fi worked.
Weekday trains to Marseille take about three hours. This Saturday train took closer to five hours. But between using my laptop and reading, the time went quickly.
In Marseille, I had booked to stay at Toyoko Inn. I’d stayed at the same chain in Frankfurt.
The hotel rooms were identical. They are practical. They have Japanese style toilets with their control panels. There’s an Ethernet cable if you want a wired internet connection. Each room has a fridge and safe. The air conditioning is good and quiet. It’s a shame there are only two branches in Europe.
The person who checked me in said that building the France hotel took eight years longer than expected. The hotel chain had to grapple with French rules and regulations. The first appointed contractors did a bad job and had to be replaced. Apparently, in Japan, there are branches in every major city. Curiously, despite going to almost every major city during my last trip to Japan, I didn’t stay in any of them.