Today has been a good one, by plane and bus and train and then on foot.

Left Yotel just after 5, walked round the corner and dropped off my bag and straight through to airside before it got too busy. As I had promised myself I enjoyed a Full English at Café Rouge and spun it out until just before the flight was called.

Quite a busy flight but luckily I had a row of three seats to myself. We made excellent time and I was in the terminal on the dot of 10:30 local time and the bags followed soon after. Marseilles airport is not a sophisticated place, you walk from your plane to the terminal which itself reminds me of Marrakech some twenty years ago

Outside I fell in with a young Englishman who also wanted to get to the main railway station and between us we managed to get the right bus.

At the station I found the next train and bought my ticket from a machine including my senior citizens discount (25 percent!). We left spot on time and had a leisurely run to Arles.

At the station I put on my rucksack for the first time, heavy but not as bad as I thought. I walked up through the town and past the amphitheatre and found the hostel but as it doesn’t open until 3 I walked down to les Alyscamps to get my Pilgrim Passport stamped.

I noticed that now you pay to get into everything that was free in 1986, the last time I was here!  Also the old men still play boules by the car park next to the Alyscamps, I remember my girls watching that before when they really were just ‘little girls’.

Next I checked into the hostel which is really a backpackers hostel as far as I can see. Sorted my stuff out then went for a walk to check out my route for tomorrow, take some photos and get post cards

Here is a view of Arles from the bridge over the Rhone

and back to the hostel.

They say that they are full tonight but so far I have one roommate, Fred, a fit young Parisian who has just walked the Tour Mont Blanc.

I wrote the above earlier and since then I have walked about a bit trying to find a post box and then devoted myself to the serious business of dinner.

We have a family habit of looking at lots of restaurants before deciding on one, I just walked round the corner and chose one that looked promising, L’ Escaladou, and I was right!

I started with Saucisson d’Arles – a mixture of pork and beef, with salad and cornichons followed by faux fillet grillé ( sirloin steak but not as we know it) bosom soft meat served with pasta and salad, followed by this apple tart

washed down with some local red wine. It was all DELICIOUS so good TripAdvisor report when I get home.

And so to bed, wondering how tomorrow will go.

Sixwheeler
16 September 2013