Cycling from Fontaine-de-Vaucluse,  France to Marseilles, France

Leaving Fontaine-de-Vaucluse was hard as the hostel was a nice one, but to warm up in the sun sounded better. After a late start and a salade nicoise at the cafeteria back in Salon-de-Provence, another visit to Aix was too close, so it was on to Marseilles, another 30km. The approach from the northwest takes you down a narrow piece of land that all the roads and trains funnel into. To avoid this, the plan was to sneak down the coast of the Etang de Berre, which worked for a while, but the roads around the big Shell refinery were all closed off and I soon found myself on a too-big Nationale going through Vitrolles. Just as it looked like no bikes allowed, the last road open to bikes was the D986 over to Garvons. I called the hostel, said I'd be there in an hour, he said no you won't! Well it took two hours to descend into the city and pick my way over to the neighborhood where a friendly bar patron showed me the rest of the way. Altogether about 110km that day. Of course the hostel was at the top of a hill, a large building from the second empire with a very ornate coeur, as well as a complete view of the city right down to the sea.

The day had been getting warmer and it was real warm in Marseilles. Couldn't face trying to leave the next day, so wandered around the old port and the old town for a day.