title Olympic Non-Sailing, Notre Dame, and the Journey Home, Marseille, France - 8th August 2024 intro It's the last half of the week in Marseille, and we head down to the sailing venue for another brutal day in the baking sun. There's even less wind than the last few days, and the men's ILCA 7s are laid up on the beach as their sailors hang around with nothing to do. Meanwhile, Hannah comes down to spend some time with the Team Snellgrove massive, do a lot of selfies, and continue looking for other sailing teams to trade pin badges with. The next day, Nosher and Hamish set off early to walk the few - but very steep - miles to the church of Notre-Dame de la Garde on the top of the hill overlooking Marseille, where the early start is made easier by the fact that Nosher has been up since about 4.30am. After we get to the church and have a look around, Hamish comes down with some sort of flash stomach bug, so we have a gentle walk down to the old town area and then get a cab back to the villa. Unfortunately, it's an Uber and as usual it's relying on SatNav, and so drops us off in a gated community that looks connected to where we're staying. Sadly, we get to the top of the very long hill to find that we're only about a metre away from the house, but it's on the other side of a locked gate, which means an additional two or three kilometres' walk to get home. Then, we meet up with the rest of Hannah's gang on the beach for a nice evening in the sunset, and after a quiet day mooching around the house we go out for dinner on the sea front with Sean's kids and Phil. Finally, it's a non-stop drive right across France, followed by a drop off at the Ashford Premier Inn and the return leg on the train to Diss on the following day. imgp5283 Sean pauses at the top of the steep footpath imgp5286 The men's ILCAs are laid up due to lack of wind imgp5292 Two boys shelter from the sun imgp5301 Tipping water on the head is another option imgp5310 There's a big contingent of Belgian fans imgp5311 An Australian boxing kangaroo imgp5313 Irish and GB fans on the pier imgp5314 Hannah gets in a photo imgp5318 There's a hug for Hannah imgp5333 It's time for another selfie imgp5335 It's another hot day crammed into the tent imgp5337 Hannah shows off one of her home-made banners imgp5348 Team support for Micky Beckett in the men's ILCA7 imgp5352 A Cayman Islands sailor comes over for a chat imgp5355 Hannah swaps pins with the Cayman Islands imgp5359 Another flag-waving photo op in the tent imgp5368 Sean leans in with a gurn imgp5370 Hamish roams around in the InterMarché imgp5371 Hamish wanders the aisles looking for something imgp5372 A faded green door with rescued number plates imgp5373 The pool is nice and quiet imgp5377 Proof that Nosher actually had a swim imgp5393 Nosher and Hamish set off early for a walk imgp5398 A dog guards a side street imgp5399 Hamish points up to our destination imgp5400 Notre-Dame de la Garde, or la Bonne Mère imgp5401 A view from the hill imgp5406 Inside Notre Dame imgp5407 A stripey church imgp5408 Hamish looks out over Marseille imgp5411 A nice old telescope imgp5415 A statue tells the world to shush imgp5416 A view up at the tower of Notre Dame imgp5418 An old-school cyclist fills up a bidon imgp5420 Hamish walks down the steps imgp5422 We narrowly miss a herd of cruise-ship tourists imgp5425 Graffiti by a shrine of some sorts imgp5430 Graffiti on a door imgp5431 We head down a wide sreet to the old town imgp5432 Banksy-esque graffiti on a wall imgp5435 More intersting graffiti on a roof imgp5436 A very high washing line with a solitary item imgp5437 A curious Cosworth Vega imgp5438 Up.Town music school imgp5440 Down by the waterfront in Marseille old town imgp5441 The marina in Marseille imgp5443 Hamish walks about imgp5445 A café sets up for the day's trade imgp5446 Hamish shows off something on his phone imgp5448 A building undergoes some renovation imgp5449 La Tour de Pizz has lost a crucial letter imgp5451 A statue by some fountains imgp5453 Café culture imgp5454 Hamish on the street imgp5458 A throng of people is reflected on a shiny roof imgp5460 Hamish waits for the cab to arrive imgp5461 We're off to the beaches again imgp5463 There are actual police snipers on a rooftop imgp5464 Someone gets interviewed imgp5465 Crowds cross the road near the InterMarché imgp5471 We're on the beach imgp5474 Hamish has a bit of left-over pizza imgp5477 The sun sets imgp5479 Sean stands around in the evening sun imgp5480 A line of palm trees gives us some shade imgp5485 Sean has a swig of water imgp5487 There's some fishing going on imgp5495 The gang on the beach imgp5497 The sun sets over Marseille imgp5498 People on the rocks watch the setting sun imgp5503 The illuminated balloon seller does the rounds imgp5504 The ferris wheel is lit up imgp5506 Chatting on the beach imgp5508 Sean signs the Hannah teeshirt imgp5511 Hannah's teeshirt imgp5512 Sean in the lounge imgp5515 The bedroom is a bit of a tip imgp5518 One of several terraces around the house imgp5522 Phil, Sean and Hamish have a swim imgp5527 We walk down to the seafront for dinner imgp5529 Phil checks out an ancient Renault 4 imgp5531 Casey, Sydney and Rowan in the sun imgp5532 Phil and Hamish imgp5533 Hamish does one of his non-PC monologues imgp5537 We load up the van for the long drive back imgp5544 A heavily-graffitoed part of Marseille imgp5547 It's just like the Hollywood sign imgp5550 Rowan looks for stuff in the service station shop imgp5551 We head back to the van imgp5554 The wide empty expanses of midlands France imgp5555 We stop for a wee at a packed services imgp5557 The road is fairly busy imgp5559 A tractor hauls around straw bales imgp5560 A very French water tower imgp5562 Hamish gives his van a little wipe imgp5563 We're at the LeShuttle terminal in Coquelles imgp5564 We're earl so have lots of time to kill imgp5565 Hamish crosses a giant zebra crossing imgp5566 Nosher's Premier Inn bedroom in Ashford imgp5569 Waiting on Platform 5b at Ashford International imgp5572 On the Hitachi Javelin to Stratford International imgp5573 The train leaves Stratford for St. Pancras imgp5574 A long escalator to the shopping centre imgp5575 A long corridor leads to the world of shopping imgp5576 It's busy at Stratford imgp5578 London 2012 Olympics legacy at Stratford imgp5579 Westfield shopping centre at Stratford imgp5580 More passengers pile onto a packed train imgp5588 The old Midwich offices in Diss are looking derelict