Day 78 – EU – France [Martigues to Marseille]

21/02/20

35km

  From Martigues (France) to Marseille (France)

Europe

Beautiful mountain road out of Martigues and a chaotic arrival in busy Marseille

I set out of Martigues early morning and soon found secondary roads devoid of traffic. I followed them towards the D568, which took me all the way South across the “Vallon du Douard” or “Douard Hills”. The road was quiet with a wide enough shoulder, surrounded by hills – and the Mediterranean sea in the background. I enjoyed the quietness and beauty of the surroundings. Then…

Then I hit the North West of Marseille. And the next 10kms to reach my hotel were sort of chaotic. Roads with no shoulders. Sidewalks with giant holes. Branches to the motorway with no way out for pedestrians. A true navigation challenge for someone with poor skills! This is not where I am at my best, especially as I approach big cities, where I tend to lose my sense of direction. I swore a lot, tripped and fell a few times.

And as I hit the city centre, it was “midi”: lunchtime,.. the busiest time of the day! The centre was filled with people and the last 2km were spent swerving around, like a video game in which I’d have to avoid people springing in front of me constantly. I was glad when I reached the front door of the hotel.

I now leave at 7:15 to 7:30 in the morning. This means I am done by 12:00 or 12:30 depending on how many kilometers I am running. The upsides are that, as I leave a city, I avoid the morning traffic of commuters going to work & I get in time for lunch in my arrival city. The downside is I arrive at the busiest time of the day. You can’t have it all!

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: