As I said we left Marrakech at the crack of dawn. Fortunately for me I sleep on planes. By the time we landed I was in a new country, on a new continent and well rested!
We weren't sure how we were going to get from the airport into Marseille, but the options are straight forward and right in front of you.
Bus or train. The train station was a few blocks away and the bus was loading so we picked the bus. Good call! As we arrived at the downtown train station in Marseille we found out that the next train to Nice was leaving in 15 minutes. We tried to buy a train ticket from the bus counter but to no avail, they sent us over to the machine. Quick transaction in English and we were still 11 minutes from departure. We had purchased 1st class tickets, I wanted to see the difference between French rail travel and Moroccan. (Spoiler: No difference!!!)
We were still 11 minutes from departure but hadn't eaten anything all day. We did gain an hour flying to France but it was around noon and we were ready to eat, we found the platform entrance and a sandwich bar just off the platform so we bought a pasta salad, 2 chocolate croissant 🥐, 2 drinks and 2 water €20 later we sprinted to the train and made it with 5 min to spare.
We were once again in a compartment that seated 6. This time we didn't have a prescribed seat, as we were the last ones boarding most of the compartments were full but we found one with two people in the window seats, so we sat by the door. (Like A, B, C seats on a plane facing each other. The B's were empty.)
The one difference we did discover is that more people try to sneak into first class in France. Turns out the girls sitting with us were on second class tickets and were forcefully evicted from there seats. (As were many down the train car) So we got the window and free entertainment!
We arrived in Nice already WOWED by the scenery. The train had gone through Toulon, Cannes, Antibes and Cagnes-sur-mer. The Côte d'Azur is appropriately named - the Azure Coast.
The sun was sparkling off the ocean and the water was 20 shades of blue. However, once we reached Nice, the main street and hotel were away from the beach and we had to go for a walk, after we settled in, to find the water.
Our hotel was a little family run hotel with six rooms(I think) en suites and small kitchenettes included.
The hosts were off getting lunch when we arrived and ran up to the door as we were about to call the cell number by the door bell. We were planning to be here for two nights so we dropped our stuff and headed out to explore the city.
