Disembarking and on to the highlands

I was surprised that I got a little emotional saying our goodbyes to everyone (fellow passengers AND crew) as we disembarked Saturday morning. We had a couple of hours to kill in Aigues Mortes before we caught the train to Marseilles so we stopped at a little cinema for tourists that showed a movie of the town's history.  Apparently this is where Louis IX began several crusades in the 13th century to 'take back Jerusalem from the heathens'. His attempts were not successful and thousands of men died trying (including Louis who unfortunately died of dysentery in Tunisia).

Our train to Marseilles included at transfer at Nimes where we had a 1.5 hour stop.  There is a huge feria or festival in Nimes this weekend celebrating Pentecost (50 days after Easter) but mostly including a huge bullfighting competition.  We walked down a long boulevard to the fair and found a stall selling a very popular dish around here - moules frites - Mussels with fries - and the mussels were delicious! While we ate, brass bands marched down the street - in fact at one point it was like duelling bands. We ended up having a 'conversation' with a older man, who was here to see the bullfighting (and also eating mussels), and the guy operating the stand - a volunteer with a charity organization raising funds by selling food at the fair. Between our french and their English we found out a bit about the events taking place. He gave us the program that lists all the matadors and where you can make notes of their performance in the ring. Lots of revellers in the streets even at noon.

Back to Marseilles for one night and currently leaving for Scotland this morning. By 10:00 the temperature is already 30 and rising. I'm sure it will be likewise in Edinburgh ;)