1/24/2020
(Above: Marseille, France. This picture was taken about 300 feet from where our apartment is.)
Active Summary: Today began with calisthenics, writing, and a breakfast of oranges and apple-doughnut. This was ensued by our vacating the room at Aix-De-Provence and driving to Marseille. The roads into the large city were easy to navigate, but then we accidentally took a wrong turn.
It was after this turn that we went on a minor adventure. It began with a 3-euro tunnel-ride. This tunnel was very tight – large enough for two cars abreast – and proceeded to go on for at least a kilometer or two. We eventually reached its end and then had to backtrack through the city, contending with much traffic (both vehicular and pedestrian) before finally reaching our intended place of residence for the next three days. Parking was an episode that took us at least an hour. We could not find any street parking, so we instead had to use a garage that costs 25 euros a day.*
Finally, we reached the Airbnb where our hostess greeted us, showed us around, and then departed to go tend to her own shenanigans. My brother and I set up our computers, bed spaces**, had a snack of salad and sausage, and then relaxed for a little while before venturing out to the town. Our town venture consisted of a walk to the docks and back, stopping by a burger place and bakery on the return journey.
A large building encircled by a pristine black-iron fence. 
A monument dedicated to King Alexander of Yugoslavia. He didn’t want to go out on a Tuesday because three other members of his family had died on Tuesdays. Alas, he could not waylay his ‘state visit’ with France. He arrived in port on a Tuesday and then was assassinated as he was slowly driven through town alongside the French Foreign Minister. 
An example of architecture to be found in Marseille. 
A Marseille street at dusk. 
The port of Marseille. 
The wide forum surrounding the Marseille port. 
Looking backward from the port at Marseille. 
Another view of the Marseille port at night. 
Marseille at night. 
A street in Marseille at night. 
Not Master Blend… but still quite tasty. The FRENCH fries were especially delicious. 
Purty tasty. 
A very well lit building that we found on our way back to the apartment. 
Entry room. 
‘Desk’ and ‘Bed’. 
‘Bed’ and clothing rack. 
Kitchen. 
Brother’s room (and a sleeping brother). 
Toilet. 
Shower and laundry area.
TIL: Today I learned that parking in Marseille is something that should probably be avoided if at all possible, and if it cannot be avoided, patience must be exercised to its fullest capacity. In regard to specific advice, the best sort of parking is probably the type that my brother and I chose – paid and underground – as the car is protected from ‘metropolitan weathering’ (many dents / scratches to be found on every car here on account of the extremely narrow streets and sheer number of vehicles).
I also learned the hard way that naturally-cured sausage should have the skin peeled off before eating. For those wondering, the sausage skin I ate earlier tasted like a mixture of death and raisins. After removing the skin, though, the fig-sausage was especially delicious, containing hints of sweetness to accompany the savory pork fat.
Commentary: There has been quite a change in scenery today. We have departed a quaint old-town type of environment for something equally old (actually, older) and far larger. I am growing somewhat weary of changing my place of residence every few days, and it is times likes this – when it appears that I will be sleeping upon another couch – that home calls quite strongly.
Saying all this, despite my initial impression of Marseilles not being the most favorable (what with the parking exercises), my second impression is much more forgiving. The city is old; of that, have no doubt. However, when compared to Aix and Paris, this places is surprisingly open and the streets are relatively clean. What’s more, the people here in Marseille seem warmer. I don’t know how else to describe it aside from that.
The fellow who served us burgers at ‘Golden Burger’ could not speak English, yet he still welcomed us and even went so far as to pull out his phone and type a few phrases into Google Translate, such as: “How is everything?” and “Enjoy!” The fellow even seemed apologetic that he did not know English, which may have arisen from the fact that he did know French, German, Italian, and a few others that I did not understand. This ‘apologetic’ or to better name it ‘non-superior‘ sentiment is something that I had not yet experienced in France.
Similar, was our stop to a bakery. I greeted the baker in French, and then asked ‘Recommendation for sweets?‘ She smiled, took us over to some particularly delicious-looking fruit tarts, and pointed. I nodded in reply, and she seemed quite happy. And then there was the hostess of our Airbnb. Despite her not being the most attentive correspondent, she welcomed us into her home and even went so far as to show she was leaving some vegetation (lettuce and endives) in the refrigerator just for us***.
Here are some pictures of the in-the-room food that we ate today. The sausages and salad were eaten as a late lunch, and the desserts were consumed after dinner:
An endive and tomato salad. The former ingredient was given to us by our Airbnb hostess. 
Outside of the spicy pork sausage. 
Inside the spicy pork sausage. 
Date sausage. 
Cured sausage with tags facing forward. 
Back of labels for the cured sausages. 
Bakery goods wrapped by the kindly old baker-woman. 
The fruit tart. 
The chocolate truffle. 
Inside the chocolate truffle. 
Inside the fruit tart.
Final Note: Tomorrow we will probably partake in some more wandering. There is an old cathedral atop the hill just west of here (toward the ocean) that is a thirty minute walk away. I think that may be our primary objective.
*After searching for parking with my sometimes-abrasive brother for an hour, 25 euros was a fine price to pay for daily parking. (He did an excellent job driving, by the way.)
**Mine is once again a couch. Fortunately, it is only for 3 nights, and after this, I do not think there will be anymore sofa-sleeping.
*** At least, I hope that’s why she showed the endive/lettuces to us… I suppose it is too late to give it back now, though.