After that came the ramble starting through Belsunce and lunch at a Tunisian restaurant. Couscous has the texture of prawn roe and the approximate taste of millet. Interesting.
Marseille today was somewhat livelier than it was yesterday, but large parts of it were still not back to business, because it was lundi de Pentecote (Whit Monday). A little strange that a nation that takes secularism so seriously should still celebrate such a holiday ... but then holidays and festivals do have a tendency to transcend their original contexts and become pure occasions for celebration, or just rest.
The train from Marseille to Aix was awfully empty ... wonder how much SNCF's annual losses are, or if they actually manage to make profits. You wouldn't be able to tell from the Marseille St. Charles station though. The place is imposing, and grand. A new glass-and-concrete hall just opened next to the old one, there is a large spacious plaza fronting the building, and leading up to the plaza is a grand staircase which would not have seemed out of place in front of a palace or important government building.
Aix is rather smaller than Marseille, but seems to have rather more tourists around. Strange. The place does also feel a touch less chaotic than vast, sprawling Marseille.
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