"There's dignity in suffering, nobility in pain, but failure is a salted wound, that burns and burns again!"
GCZZZ5: Bruce Trail Dufferin Hi-Land Section
As part of our goal of hiking the full Bruce Trail by 2017, which currently spans 894.1km (555.6 mi) from Niagara to Tobermory, we planned to hike the entire 53.8km (33.4 mi) Dufferin Hi-Land section this past Saturday.
53.8km would definitely be the longest I’ve hiked in a single day. Given how much I’d suffered trekking the first 38.8km section of Caledon (though the 2nd half of Caledon was not bad), I was worried whether my body would be able to endure. A few days before the hike, I came down with flu symptoms – chills and nausea. My legs felt so weak that I questioned whether I would be able to hike even 10km. Fortunately, a couple doses of Chinese herbal remedies and a strict diet and sleep schedule took care of my flu.
Our next obstacle was the weather. Heavy rains and winds were predicted for the entire weekend, with an expected 30-40 mm of rain. Rain or shine. No one said this was going to be easy.
Got up at 4am, departed at 5am, arrived at the end point just before 7am in moderate rain and dense fog. The end point is about 20 minutes from Collingwood, where I go skiing. I did not realize that we had gotten that far north. I’ve pretty much hiked more than my typical drive to Barrie on Hwy 400!
A bit ironic but perhaps fitting is that the end point parking is besides a cemetery, of all places. :|
NorthernPenguin and Fababoo shuttled us to the beginning. We also placed a bailout vehicle and some supply drops at strategic locations along the trail. Met up with a bunch more people at the start. After a group picture, the hikers got into formation and promptly raced off to the first stile.
The first stint of the hike started with Mono Cliffs. I have heard so much about this provincial park, mainly how beautiful it is and its famous Mono Cliffhanger multi. Being a cliff, the trail starts right off with an uphill climb. We passed by the artesian well from ages past. It was interesting to see water just bubbling out of a small little concrete hole. With its close proximity to the lake, I would have never guessed this was a well. Highlight of Mono Cliffs was a lookout from the top of the cliffs. The view was not as spectacular as it could have been, given with the gloomy weather and lack of foliage colours.
It was drizzling rain for an hour or so, which I did not mind too much. I had more problems with the wet ground, as I kept slipping on the boardwalks and logs. The worst was when I lost my footing at the top of a stile. I nearly fell down the rungs on my butt, but at the last possible moment, I pushed off with my other foot and jumped down to the ground. Fortunately, I struck the landing like an Olympic gymnast.
The big group broke up coming out of the Mono Cliffs section, and soon, it was Rovers3, jeff-trex, Team Goju and I leading the charge. As if following a trend of the hike, after Mono Cliffs, we would enter Boyne Valley Provincial Park. Cliffs, now valleys. Great.
The rain had stopped and the sky started clearing. It was turning into a beautiful day for “a walk in the park”. While most of the trees lost their leaves already, their colours blanketed prettily the floor of the trails and forest. I was actually expecting a lot of ups and downs upon entering the park. However, with the exception of detouring to search for our first geocache, the first part of the trail coursed through the valleys without too much change in elevation. The second half was a different story. The trail all of a sudden decidedly turned uphill. Coming out of the forest, we saw a big hill ahead with a snaking trail line; this must be the famous Murphy’s Pinnacle! Good thing that was the side trail in the distance we saw (though we came really close to the summit anyway). Afterwards, we had to trek through many valleys that gave Boyne its namesake. Whenever we came onto a ridge and looked down into a valley, we’d see the trail snake up the opposite ridge of the same elevation. :(
Rovers3 left our group at the 18.7km mark and we arrived at Team Goju’s first supply drop at 20.6km. After a short break for lunch, res2100 stumbled out of the trail to join us. Continuing on, we rode a ridge before coming out onto a road. Then we cut through Mulmur Hills with its rolling hills before arriving at our second supply drop.
Given my experience from the last BT hike, on this trip, I made sure I brought enough food. Hiking while hungry is not fun and with the long distances in this hike, I’d rather carry extra weight than go hungry. Ended up eating five of my six sandwiches and six of my ten bars on the hike. The fresh tomatoes from the supply drops were a godsend.
Continuing on, we saw some very interesting rock formations (aka earth cache) before embarking on 5km road section. Second half of it was all downhill, descending an astounding 150m in elevation into the Kilgorie area. Of course, as with any downhill on this trail, it only means we were due for an uphill climb on the other side. :|
We spent a bit of time exploring the Power House beside Pine River. The only things left standing were four concrete walls and a couple exposed pipes in the ground. Given the ghost town talks earlier in the hike, it felt pretty cool jumping around inside this building.
The trail turned sharply upwards to reach the Bell Lookout over the Pine River area. Daylight was fading fast at this point and we’d only reached the 34.8km mark. At least we were under the 20km to go. Res2100 was hurting quite a bit (feet and shoulders) at this point. For me, I had took a precautionary Advil Liqui-Gel a couple hours earlier, so while my legs were tired, they weren’t hurting yet.
Continued up from Prince of Wales Road before the trail veered off into the woods again. For some unknown reason, the Bruce Trail Association loves to route the trail up through hilltops. To make matters worse, it was pitch black already. Not really expecting any switchbacks up a hill, we spent a few minutes at the base of the hill trying to find the next blaze of the trail. No one expected to look backwards (up a switchback) for the blaze. :(
At 37km mark, I started to feel my knees tightening up. Another advil was in order. Road section until 39.6km, followed by a sharp uphill climb onto a ridge of open pastures. Since we were out in the open, the strong winds really slammed into us. Good thing it was mainly backwind. With the soft pastures, this section ended up being the perfect terrain for sore feet. Also, this was the first time in my life that I’ve seen cow pies. Holy crap, some were the size of small pizzas.
The trail turns backwards on Prince of Wales Rd again (I hate this routing), before descending into the valley towards our last and final supply drop. Despite being only a kilometre away to Centre Rd, the terrain was so rocky that I had to take extra care in my steps. In the dark and with the leaves on the ground, it was impossible to tell where the rocks and crevices laid. Any missteps translated into undue stress on my already painful knees.
During this portion of the hike, TOMTEC came over the FRS. We tried to reply back confirming our location and getting a ride out for res2100. Unfortunately, after some futile transmissions, we lost the channel. We got our final pit stop, spilled out the food and advils to fuel ourselves to the end. Jeff-trex and Team Gojus loaded up on the energy drinks.
Res2100 had considered taking the 5km road to the car, instead of the 9km trails to the end. Fortunately, He decided to finish the hike in the proper fashion, much to the relief of the group. We had heard from Rovers3 that the last 10km featured some nasty rocky descent. From the topographical maps, we assumed it was this section right after our supply drop. The downhill portions turned out to be some easy switchbacks, followed by a very manageable uphill climb. Once we got out of the valley, we trekked along road allowances (first time I’ve heard of such a term) and relatively flat terrain all the way to the end. At certain points on the trail, we spotted glowing red eyes tracking our movements. Also woke up some very large birds sleeping in the trees along the trail.
Well, it was a pretty uneventful hike to the finish. We had to cross a little stream that flowed out into a 20ft waterfall at one point. Knowing all too well how slippery wet rocks can be, I tried to be extra careful with where I was stepping. Ended up losing my step anyway. Dunked my shoe into the stream and broke my hiking stick at the same time. sigh.
From the 1st Line EHS, we made the final left turn onto the home straight to the chequered flag. As a final test of our perseverance, the road took one big dip before coming back uphill to the cemetery where our cars were parked. Not that we had much of a choice at this point but to keep going. The wind was strong and quite chilling, but the sky was crystal clear! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many stars in the sky.
Hiked the final 500m from the car to the finish. I was dead tired. The STOP sign with the final blaze marked the end of our journey. 16 hours and 21 minutes, arriving just before 1am in the morning. 53.8km officially (not accounting for elevation changes). We finished. Our accomplishment totally did not sink in at that moment. We took our pictures and scurried our way back to the cars to warm up. I had such a hard time climbing up the steps into Team Goju’s van. My knees refused to bend.
We waited for a bit, before travelling down 1st Line EHS to see if we can spot the second group of hikers behind us. Team Goju took out a mailbox while backing out his van on that road. I don’t know how he jumped out of his car so quickly given his sore legs, but he returned saying “My van is OKAY!!” lol. The second group ended up waving the white flag at the 42.8km mark.
We picked them up and I got home at 4am. It was a physical struggle to climb the stairs up to my bedroom (at least 5 minutes to get up that single flight of stairs). No words can describe how painful that experience was. I woke up the next morning at 9am (stupid internal clock!) and could barely walk. Both my knees were shot and every inch of my body was aching.
Contemplating back on the hike… Not everyone can hike 53.8km and I definitely paid a hefty price for this little adventure. The biggest satisfaction was not that we hiked the entire section or distance, but that at no point did I even think of bailing out midway. There were definitely many opportunities for us to quit early (especially that little voice inside Res2100’s head). But I was here to do 53.8km. No matter what time I’d finish the hike, I’m damn well going to finish. Knowing that I have this mental perseverance really builds up confidence for the future, and that in and of itself is what is most satisfying.
Of course, I’m a 1-day End-To-Ender now for a full section of the Bruce Trail too. $$
I did not really go through my photos from the hike yet. I’ll get those posted once I sort them out. However, here’s a short video I put together of some of the sights from the hike.
Till next time!
P.S. 53.8KM BABY!
A weekend sojourn to the land of Kabitzin during Canadian Turkey Break. There happens to be a Geocaching Mega Event happening as well, which convinced BlueOrca, Kungfucius and me to invade the town.
Headed down on Saturday morning. Stopped at Grove City Outlet for some shopping before arriving into Pittsburgh around 5:30pm. A lot of construction going on along I-79. Two of the three lanes were blocked off in the last two miles before I-279 interchange. The two lanes were perfectly drivable, I’m not sure why they blocked it off. Of course, being a Saturday, no one is working. Ended up taking 50 minutes to travel those two miles.
Met up at Kabitzin’s (had trouble finding the entrance, until I re-read the directions more carefully, duh!). Got to meet Bunky and was given the royal tour of the really fancy Kabitzin residence, along with that movable wall cabinet. Saw some very awesome Maui wedding photos, and was introduced to Sydney and Toby. :D Much to my surprise, Kabitzin and Kung were researching the Fuji Speedway on the computer. lol. Dinner at Elbow Room. I think Kabizin made the best choice. Kabitzin didn’t make any puns that I caught, much to my disappointment! XD
After dinner, Kung and I parted ways with our gracious hosts. Kung and I got some water and Oreos before heading to Station Square and the Incline. Kungmobile’s GPS reigned supreme as it navigated us around road closures and bridges. I only had to cut off like 3 cars trying to follow Kung. :P
Took the incline (known elsewhere as funicular or peak tram) up to Mount Washington, and was greeted with this awesome view of the Trois Rivers and downtown Pittsburgh. There were these spacecraft landing pads like that of Bespin Cloud City sticking out on the hillside for uninterrupted panoramas.
Walked around downtown for a bit before checking into our hotel. BlueOrca arrived shortly thereafter, and we got the ITV feed for the Japan Grand Prix set up. I do not know whether the internet was just crappy at the hotel, or the stream was bad (I suspect the former), the ITV feed would choke at the most inopportune times. Race started at 12:30am with Hammy at pole. He was last after lap one due to a super questionable collision. That pretty much ruined my night right there. Stewards ruled the race again. A race to forget. :(
Got up the next morning and headed to Meadowland Racetrack (HORSES) for Pittsburgh Geocoinfest 2008. So many TB in the parking lot. Got into Room 266 and the main conference room. Registered (no event geocoin left). Walked around the various vendors and people showcasing their wares. Didn’t see any geocoin that was cooler than Tochi’s Traveller’s Coin. Took a picture with Signal. BlueOrca was having a lot of fun discovering coins, while Kung and I took a walk around the hotel lobby several times. XD
Eventually, we were able to convince BlueOrca to go geocaching in WV and O_o. WV caches were relatively easy to find. Had lunch for the first time (for me) at Cracker Barrel. The first O_o cache was a killer. We scoured the recycling hut, and even the great BlueOrca could not find it (so I don’t feel too bad for not finding it myself). Ended up getting the cheesiest micro in a guardrail to colour the state. BlueOrca found a cache in her dreams.
Headed back into to Geocoinfest and hotel afterwards before fooding at Station Square. Took BlueOrca up the incline. Attempted a difficulty 3.5 or 4 later in Pittsburgh, but DNF at the end of the night.
Kung left the next morning while BlueOrca and I headed out for a Pittsburgh exploring / geocaching day. Schenly Park, UPitts, CMU and PITT STOP (Who’s the NUT again?). BlueOrca spotted some Quaker snacks at a 7-Eleven. After raving how good these Quaker treats were, I could not believe she didn’t open one to share! I still don’t know what it tastes like. Oh well. Drove by Shadyside and I recognized the area from a previous visit. :P Frick Park. Shrine of the Blessed Mother for this shot.
Drove across a railway bridge and found Southside Works. Ate at the Cheesecake Factory (WOOT!), brought a cheesecake, before some caches to finish off the night. Caching in the dark means quadruple checking the same place and then checking it again. Took me about as long to find my headlamp as I needed to find certain caches. Haven’t had this much fun caching in a while. :)
Parted ways with BlueOrca the next morning. Drove back home. There was no lineup at the border. Had a fun chat with the Canadian Border officer, who questioned why I didn’t go gambling in the states, lol. I told him the Canadian Dollar sucks too much nowadays ==> no capital. We ended up chatting for a minute about the exchange rate and politics (it was election day) before he “let me go”. It’s experiences like these that makes me feel welcomed coming back home.
Pittsburgh is a very pretty city. A bit hilly for my tastes, but she does have her spectacular aspects. Definitely a place I would revisit to explore further. Next time, kayaking on the three rivers for sure. XD
Badminton season started a few weeks ago. KP, AA, JZ, and IS all came to “try out” badminton this week. Since JZ didn’t have his own racquet, KP brought along two of his racquets from a $20 “badminton” toy set that he picked up at Canadian Tire.
I had just come off from a game. AA, who was using KP’s toy racquet, asked to borrow mine. A few minutes later, I was up for another game. I thought about asking for my racquet back, but decided I could play a game with this toy racquet. In the warm-up rallies, the racquet balance felt totally off in my hands; I thought I was just too used to my own racquet. The grip (or lack thereof) was hard plastic; I totally expect that with the sweat build up in my palms, the racquet would sooner or later fly out of my hands. The strings had no tension at all; at least I will not hit the birdie out of bounds with this racquet.
This is a story about this toy racquet. Boy, this thing was making me work for my points. Since I couldn’t really get too much speed on the birdie, I had to really focus on the placements of my shots. After a while, I felt the racquet handle cutting into my palm. I just assumed it was the hard plastic. Little did I know, fractures had begun to develop in the handle.
Then, as I got the perfect lob return shot from my opponents. My body arched up, hips and shoulders rotated, racquet head sailed over my head for a smash onto the birdie… at the moment of contact, the handle of the racquet just exploded in my hand. The frame of the racquet flew off into the next court. I had half the handle left in my hand, the rest were shattered into bits and pieces all over the floor.
W.T.F.
“Holy Cow!!!” “What happened?!?!” “OMG!!!” “I’ve never seen a racquet break like that!!” were the general reactions from the crowd. I was so embarrassed and glad that the racquet frame did not hit anyone.
JEEZ.
I picked up the pieces and went back to AA to ask for a trade of my own racquet. He and JZ almost fell over laughing seeing the broken racquet.
My hand was traumatized by the experience. For the next few shots, whenever my racquet made contact with the birdie, I subconsciously expected the racquet to explode in my hand again and felt surprised when it didn’t explode. I can totally understand why people suffer from post-traumatic disorders after a disturbing experience – the reactions are totally involuntary, even if you mentally try to convince your body everything is okay. Don’t worry, I recovered pretty much after a dozen shots.
This experience made me realize other things. Good racquets are an engineering marvel! I always just focused on racquet head angle and speed, and never really thought about the transfer of kinetic energy through the racquet during a shot. It totally makes sense now that I think about it – just never considered how much force goes through the handle and up the frame. Dang.
My trusty Yonex never felt so good in my hands.
To avoid any rigging inquiries by the stewards or backlash regarding certain cities having gained an unfair advantage, I hereby declare the entire Côte d'Azur, by definition, to be 5/5. Côte d'Azur, also referred to as the French Riviera, is arguably the most beautiful and one of the most posh regions of France. I have been told of countless wonders and stories of the French Riviera from various sources over the years, so this has always been one of my must-visit places in the world. Naturally, the many incarnations of E08 itinerary always included Côte d'Azur - guaranteed success! Our plans call for several days in this area, with the first stop in Cannes.
Now… the planning of this E08 trip has, at times, been frustrating. We originally had more people, but various conflicts in schedule forced some to bail out –.-; In the end, we had settled on these two weeks in May which overlaps with Victoria Day and Memorial Day long weekends. When it came time to book accommodations, I realized something was fishy when hostel/hotel prices were up to 10 times more expensive during these two weeks than any other time of the year. What we did not realize when we initially picked the dates is that our visit to Côte d'Azur coincides with two of the most celebrated spectacles in the world – the first of which is the famous Festival de Cannes.
We spent the night in Nice and took an early morning train into Cannes for a day trip. The scene at Nice’s station was a mess. We did not expect such a big crowd! BlueOrca was smart with our EuroPasses; we skipped the lines and jumped onto the next train to Cannes. 40 minute ride from Nice to Cannes.
Having grown up around another major film festival for the better part of my life and knowing how it transforms Toronto for two weeks every year, I was really curious what Cannes would be like. BlueOrca also hyped it up by telling me about a giant Indiana Jones façade adorning some building’s exterior.
The train station was only a few blocks away from the main pavilion of the 61st annual Festival de Cannes. Unfortunately, unlike TIFF, most of the festival’s viewings and activities were held in a private, secluded section of the water front. Only accredited film and media members were allowed in. Too bad I forgot to register myself as a reporter for Tochi Media Conglomerate. :(
What does one do at a film festival? Watch movies, see the stars, interact with well dressed people, ogle at all the fancy cars. :D We had to see at least one movie while at the film festival. Our first pick was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which had came out two days prior. However, Indy was only being shown at a regular theatre, so we opted for the Festival-sanctioned Director’s Fortnight showing of independent films later in the evening.
We took a stroll along the water front promenade, Boulevard de la Croisette, to check out the beaches, booths, boutiques and palaces. We passed by a row of white roof huts (classic Cannes Film Festival icon) that showcased various countries and their films. I really love film festivals because you get to see films that are “non-Hollywood”. So few of these movies ever make it to mainstream theatres back home. Take Pan’s Labyrinth for example – Hollywood would never create such a film. It really is a pity that there is so much art and culture we are missing. Anyway, Cannes is an important showcase for such films, especially those of European origin.
This product of Ukraine was particularly interesting – Sappho – Love Without Limit. Where can you highlight and celebrate such a provocative, erotic film besides a film festival? What made it more amusing for me was that the subtitle resembled the second Umizaru movie Limit of Love.
We made a brief stop at the official boutique store, where BlueOrca picked up a t-shirt to wear at home and I brought the most expensive key chain of my life. There were many performers showing off their arts and crafts along the street. At various times, there were groups of people dancing to music coming out of a boom box. :P
It seems like there was a contingent of adoring fans outside every single hotel, waiting for their idols to come out. BlueOrca and I hung around for a few minutes, but didn't really see the point of wasting our time like this. Chances are, I won't even recognize the stars anyway - although, Harrison Ford was rumoured to be in town. XD We did manage to see a lot of nice cars - Lamborghinis, Ferraris, you name it, they have it. I've never seen so many different colour Ferraris in my life. Also got my first close up look of a Tesla. Too bad Segamatic was not here yet. lol.
The atmosphere here really epitomize the lifestyle of Côte d'Azur - definitely a place for the rich, lavish and carefree. If I ever become super rich, I’d love to get a yacht and sail into Cannes (and probably Monaco and Marseille too), dock and just party.
There were many giant billboards and decorations advertising the latest and upcoming films. Here is the one outside of Intercontinental Carlton that got BlueOrca all excited.
After a quick lunch, we explored a hill that rises above the western part of Cannes. There was a cache there with the longest log ever. Good thing I found it first, so BlueOrca had to roll it back. XD
From the hill, you get a pretty spectacular view of the city. We could see the pavilion and convention centre where the Festival was taking place. On the deck of the helicopter landing pad like building, someone famous must have been holding a press conference. From our super far vantage point, all we could see was a constellation of camera flashes going off every couple minutes. Too bad we didn’t have a super long telephoto. We raided the tail end of a wedding party at this restaurant near the top. All the guests went home with a bottle of wine. :P
There was some church at the top of the hill that we visited briefly. My memory is kind of fuzzy from this point on, as I started feeling the worst of my cold. I seem to get sick at least once on every trip. :( On our way back to downtown Cannes, we passed by a façade of the bus terminal that I particularly liked.
We decided to go through the shopping district (I think this is the first time on the trip where we’ve gone “shopping”. lol). Two of the memorable shops were a pirate candy store, where the loot was literally barrels full of candy and a souvenir shop where BlueOrca spotted an inflatable Orca (or whale, I still cannot tell the difference). BlueOrca was contemplating on starting a pin collection on her slingshot backpack, the first being the palm logo of the Festival. She debated for the better part of an hour – considering factors such as cost, usage, future and anything else you can think of. I was to the point where if she did not buy this darn pin, I would have brought it for her. We ended up heading back to the official festival boutique store where BlueOrca picked up her pin, while I got a postcard. After she paid for it, we found out it was not a pin. Good thing the cashier was kind enough to give BlueOrca a refund.
With some time left before our movie viewing at 7pm (had to get in line by 6pm), we decide to hit the beach. This is, by far, the liveliest beach on our entire trip. The sun had returned. My only problem was that my bathing suit was back in Nice. :( We just took off our shoes and went for a stroll along the water. BlueOrca drew her trademark logo and an unflattering (fatter than irl) version of Tappy in the sand. My attempt at an Orca ended up looking more like a dolphin (in my defense, Orcas are dolphins). I apparently missed some critical part in my design - a part that I still cannot remember. Footprints in the sand. :)
We had some quiches for dinner. Saw a few very spectacular sand sculptures that were nearly completion.
We brought these 7 euro tickets to watch the prestigious independent film guild known as Directors’ Fortnight. I do not think I have ever watched these so-called amateur films. Perhaps the closest would have been Blair Witch. From the program we were expecting to watch a 1hr 20min feature film, timed perfectly to give us some time to walk over to the beach to catch the late night outdoor movie at 9pm.
Everyone took their seats and the show started. This dude in an all white suit and a lady in a colourful dress took the stage and started explaining the mission and purpose of the Directors’ Fortnight. I was like.. wtf. ._.; The show then turned into an awards presentation, kind of like a mini Oscars. Tonight was apparently their closing night gala.
The experience of witnessing the awards presentation in person was quite unreal. You can sense in the atmosphere that this evening was very special for many in attendance. The winners were like any awards show, ranging from some really animated ones to some very humble ones. However, they were all very honoured with and proud of the awards and the guild. I totally felt like an outsider experiencing something truly special, something truly great. The colourful lady I’d mentioned earlier was an interpreter, translating from French to English and vice versa. She was the best part of the show. At various times, after a long speech by the speaker, she would summarize everything in one sentence, much to the pleasure of the crowd.
After the fun stuff was taken care of, the show transitioned to the feature films of the night. The short film was Benny Safdie’s The Acquaintance of a Lonely John. It was the life of one guy (John) as he goes about a day of his life. A little sloppy, John is pretty much the type of person you would not even notice on the street. However, his little actions and gestures of kindnesses are beautifully captured in the film. For example, arriving home one day, he finds a little bird trapped inside his air conditioner. Instead of dismantling his air conditioner to take care of the darn bird, he feeds it some seeds. While subbing in for a friend at a gas station, he accidentally overfills someone’s tank. He tries to make up for the extra with his own money. His friend also pulls a prank on him by “robbing” the gas station and he took it all in stride. The film, while only like 15 minutes long, makes one appreciate the small wonders and joys of the people and life around us.
The next film is the feature of the night entitled “The Pleasures of Being Robbed” by Josh Safdie, Benny’s brother. Story is about this girl, Eléonore, who goes about her life stealing miscellaneous things from people. Film starts of with this girl seeing another girl that she knows (the other girl doesn’t really know her). Eléonore gives her “friend” a hug and picks her purse. Similarly, she goes stealing some DVDs, some grapes, and a basket of baby kittens, the latter gets tossed onto her bed, to the joy and horror of BlueOrca. The weirdest part is that this girl isn’t stealing for money, greed, etc. There is really no reason given for her actions. She just does it. The description for the film states “A curious and lost Eléonore looks for something everywhere, even in the bags of strangers who find themselves sadly smiling only well after she's left their lives. They owe her their thanks.” Unfortunately, with the awards ceremony, we were running late, and the film at the beach was about to start. We decided to leave early, so I never figured out how the people ended up being better off after Eléonore pickpockets them. Even now, as I’m summarizing this, I’m aching to see the rest of the film.
So yeah, the closing night with the Directors’ Fortnight was a pretty cool film festival experience. However, we were heading off to the beach, where every night of the festival, the festival committee selects one film to show to the public on a giant projection screen by the beach. Woot. We were going to see an official film from the festival!
Before that though, we made a quick run to the train station to check the schedule for the last train to Nice. On the way, we saw a mini Hummer, which sounds like an oxymoron until you see one. We got back to the beach and found a good spot on the ledge.
So, why was the film we were watching black and white? We then realized this was a showing of a 1962 psycho-thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? The Festival was not picking a film from this year’s film roster! Argh. Anyway, I would have never watched this film had it not been this festival. The movie was quite a nail biter. The plot is about a pair of sisters: Blanche, a former movie queen who was crippled to a wheelchair due to an accident and Jane, a former child star. Blanche is trapped in a house with her sister who is a little messed up in her head. Her successful childhood stardom which was overshadowed by her sister’s fame and her involvement in her sister’s accident led Jane to her sadistic torture of her crippled sister. Both a horror story and a thriller, I was pretty much glued to my seat the entire time. My favourite character was poor old Edwin. He was only trying to make a buck. In the scene where Jane shows Edwin her doll, that “WTF” look on his face was priceless.
Halfway through the show, fireworks went off out in the sea. It was such a pretty sight… how can one not love Cannes? :) Ironically, we had to leave before the movie finished in order to catch our train. I finished watching the rest of the movie on YouTube after the trip. The movie wraps itself up quite nicely. Many questions including the title of the film are answered. Glad the Festival stewards made a great choice. :)
We caught the last train back to Nice. A ticket officer on the train came awfully close to checking our Europass tickets, but never ended up getting to us. Got back into Nice after midnight and after a walk towards the Promenade, we checked into our Hotel. We’re exploring Nice the next day, so that means we can sleep in a bit!
This Cannes experience has been a most memorable one, to say the least. Even though we didn’t end up seeing any movie stars, Cannes gets a well deserved 5/5. I told you so. :P
Marseille. Legend has it that 2600 years ago, sailors from Phocea in Minor Asia, led by commander Protis landed in Lacydon creek. It just so happens that the native tribe of Lacydon shores was having a festival to allow the tribal chief’s daughter, Gyptis, to pick her husband. Gyptis offered the bowl to Phocea and the northern part of Lacydon was given as a wedding gift. Marseille is born from a love story.
We arrived into Marseille in late evening and took us a while to find our hostel, the Vertigo. The hostel was very clean with a pretty lively lobby. Internet actually costs money here. BlueOrca and I got separate rooms again (though we should have asked for the same one). My room consisted of three bunked beds, and by the time I got into the room, two of the girls were asleep already. Wtf. It was just 9pm!
We went to a nearby restaurant, Sur Le Pouce, for some Couscous and two platters of MEAT (as some would say). The couscous was okay, but the meats were just what we needed after a day of practically no food. yum. There were fans watching an UEFA Champions League match at the restaurant.
After dinner, BlueOrca was tired and wanted to retire early. I wanted to go out to the Old Port area to grab some night shots. Dropped BlueOrca off at the hostel before I headed out. She ended up having a most interesting experience spending the night with her fellow countryman/druggie. :)
The area around the hostel / train station was kind of sketchy. There were some weird people doing something against a window or half hiding in the alleyways. I sped through this area and finally got to Cours Belsunce, the outskirts of Vieux Port. Vieux Port at night was definitely quite a sight, with many historical buildings all lit up along La Canebière. This is the France that I expected to see. :)
I made my way out to the Vieux Port harbour area, which is essentially a rectangular inlet into the heart of the city. The harbour is guarded by two forts at its entrance: Fort St Nicolas and Fort Saint-Jean. All the yachts and sailboats are docked neatly in rows inside the harbour. Here's a view of Quai du Port side of the harbour.
I set up camp at the end of the port, which happens to be the location of the first stage of a multi. Some officers were randomly pulling over cars near while I was taking pictures of the Fort St Nicolas. During one of the lulls, one of them came by for a chat. Fort St Nicolas, while not Carcassonne, is still quite beautiful at night. It just has such a presence above the gentle sway of the water and boats.
Spent quite a bit of time roaming around Marseille, taking photos of her many cooly lit up buildings. Managed to grab the cache minutes before midnight (timed perfectly), to keep my streak alive. Perhaps it was because this was a weekday, but the city seemed very quiet at night. Where are all the party goers?!? Little did I know, the party was going to be…
The next morning, we got up and decided to head to train station (since it was only a few minutes from our hostel) to reserve our train tickets to Nice later that day. I mean, for once, we are not going to leave this to the last 30 minutes! :D Now, this gare is my favourite of the entire trip. A very modern, open-concept design, with trees inside! :P
Anyway, we got to what we thought was the ticketing office, only to find that it was closed, despite its business hours being 24 hours / day. Yeah right. A fairly long line was spilling out of the information centre, so I presumed that’s where they were selling tickets. While BlueOrca waited in line, I scoured the rest of the station to see if there were other ticketing counters. BlueOrca came back saying there’s only ONE train to Nice and it’s at 11 something. WTF?!? They were running only limited trains today, apparently.
Well, what were we going to do? We haven’t explored Marseille yet.. it was 9 something… we would have at most an hour in downtown before coming back to the train station. We fooled around with the ticket vending machines to no avail (well, I know my CC won’t work without the PIN). Ended up getting back in line at the info centre to double check the train schedule. Got to the front and BlueOrca started conversing this guy in French. Now, BlueOrca is quite fluent in French. While I can follow a little, but I could hardly speak a word. We were having trouble understanding the answer to our ultimate question. WTF is going on?!?!
As BlueOrca was conversing, I noticed the unmistakable UNION JACK icon on his name tag. DUDE!!! He can speak English!!! The guy’s English wasn’t perfect, but it was a heck a lot better than our French. lol. Long story short, there was a national strike today (aka public holiday), hence, very limited train service. BlueOrca came up with the brilliant idea of taking a bus to Nice (it was not that far) and to our great fortune, the buses were still running! We scurried along to the bus ticket counter and grabbed tickets for an afternoon/evening ride to Nice. Woot.
Now that we had our day in Marseille back, our first stop was back to Vieux Port and its fish market. Maybe it’s the Hong Kong influence, but I just love visiting fish markets. As we got near Vieux Port, we ran into the procession of union workers on strike - essentially a parade of people cheerfully marching along to music, chanting some french slogans, waving colourful flags, setting off a few flares. Quite the party! Really resembled more of a carnival than a strike. There weren’t really any picketing signs. lol.
Contrasting this to the strikes in North America, the Frenchies definitely know how to do it. This is more or less a national holiday, as if they don’t already get enough. The union workers were apparently demonstrating to protest changes to the state pension system. The people marching in the street were cheered on by folks on the balconies of nearby buildings, including the Chamber of Commerce!
Shooting the protest gave me a weird feeling as a photographer. I didn’t want to be too obvious when taking photos, as some people might not be too happy having their picture taken – plus, the mob vastly outnumbered me. It was also difficult getting a good perspective of the crowd. I guess this is as close to “embedded” photography as I’ll get. If I had my P&S, I would have turned on video mode and interviewed Anderson Cooper, I meant BlueOrca, with the protestors marching behind. I guess I need to find a mic, a helmet and a bulletproof vest too, just to make it authentic. lol.
The protestors continued up La Canebière, while we decided we’ve had enough and headed for the famous Marseille fish market. I bet it was due to the strike, but the market was very lacklustre. A dozen stands selling miscellaneous fish, eels, shells and sea creatures. It was cool to see fishing boats come in to deliver the fresh catch of the day. I really wanted to buy a fish and if we were staying in Marseille for another night, I probably would have. Unfortunately, we were taking a bus to Nice this evening and nothing will get you kicked off the bus faster than a smelly fish.
The tourist guide showed us 3 possible routes to explore Marseille. The first follows La Canbière towards the government centre and palace. That option probably wasn’t the best idea, since it’ll lead us right back to the protestors. We elected to do the other two, each route covering one side of the port. Picked the north side first, which is known as Le Panier, the historical section of Marseille. Along the way, we saw so many seafood restaurants lining the coast. mmm. We saw some armoured guards outside of some building. Why weren’t they at the protest? :P BlueOrca found a sticker for me somewhere along the way too.
Here’s a view back into Marseille harbour. I just love the architecture of the city, starting from the warehouses along the port to the multi-story trading houses with red rooftops that dot the harbour. There was a funky little church near where I took this photo. Location verification pending BlueOrca Research.
We did a quick loop beside Fort St. Jean before heading to Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille. For some reason that I cannot remember, we did not bother going into this cathedral. There is a major avenue that leads right up to the front of the church, which gives it a very strong dominance.
We then cut into the inner streets of old Marseille before reaching Centre de la Veille Charité, which was built between 1671 and 1745. There is a baroque style elliptical domed chapel in the middle of the courtyard. Surrounding the courtyard is a three storied building with very beautiful open balconies and arcades. This place was built as a housing project to provide shelter for the poor. Marseille must have been quite a rich city to afford such housing.
We stopped at a little restaurant in a “village square” style courtyard. Got a table outside and I think I ordered some sardine, which was suppose to be a regional delicacy. While the fish was definitely good, I’m not a big fan of sardines or any fish with small bones. I know it’s safe to eat the bones of sardines, but still… :| Sometime during the day, I had asked BlueOrca whether she wanted to get Bouillabaisse, since it was one of the dishes she wanted to try on the trip. She told me that she can wait till Nice. :|
After lunch, we headed over to the other side of the harbour. Our first stop would be Fort St. Nicolas, the same fort that I took a night shot of above. We came up one of the ramps to the top of the fort. At the top, there was a turret with a giant sword in front of the gate. It had the weathered look of a sword of legend.
Today turned out to be a beautiful day. While I’d have a terribly hard time picking out the most beautiful spot on the trip, this view from the walls of Fort St. Nicolas would be my winner. A visually spectacular vista, a rich sense of history, a mixture of down-to-earth attitude and untold wealth, bustling metropolitan activities, all intertwined by the calm of a sea-side setting. It’s rare to be able to feel so completely at ease, mentally and physically. After taking some photos (happens to be where we took one of my favourite group shots. :P), we indulged ourselves to a super nice, super wonderful, super duper nap.
Boy, did we need that nap. What? Sleeping on the top of a fort wall, just a few feet from a drop to instant death? D80’s left by our side, open to any passerby’s taking!!! But dang, did that nap feel good!!!!!!!! (My CPL took a tumble here. >_<)
By the time we convinced ourselves to leave the fort, we continued down the street to Palais du Pharo. This was a seaside villa that was built for Napolean III, but he never ended up using it. Now it’s a great public space for families to come and relax. BlueOrca and I had a different purpose to be here of course. A young couple on a little used waterfront trail were smooching right by the cache. Kind of awkward, but after a little while, we just decide to go for it. lol.
A brief and fruitless stop by L'abbaye Saint Victor and we realized we were running really short on time! We needed to get back to the train station to catch our bus. We stopped by a supermarket to grab some water. By the time we got back to the fish market (still a good 15 minutes run to the station), BlueOrca asked whether we should take the subway. It wasn’t a hard choice, but as we got to the stairs down to the station and saw the closed gates, we realized … stupid STRIKE!!!! argh. Some French dude, who made the same realization as us, exclaimed “Fermé!!!!”
We made it back to the station in time and boarded our bus. Buses in France are no different than in North America. Some of the folks seated near us were Canadians. It was kind of weird hearing them talk about 407 ETR and Toronto area stuff. Not that I really miss home yet. :P I also fumbled around searching for our tickets when the staff came by to collect them on the bus. By the time I found them, she was gone. lol.
Recap. Marseille is a marvellous city. Almost a pity that our schedule did not allow us to stay longer. There were many more attractions I would have liked to visit. Despite our early misfortunes as a result of the strike, the strike was an experience in and of itself. Vieux Port was spectacular both day and night. Words just can’t describe this place. Marseille gets a well-deserved 5/5. (Don’t worry, not every place I visit will get 5/5, lol.)