Above - un chocolat chaud caramel.During the night there was a storm. The thunder so loud it woke me up. When I got up on Sunday morning it was raining. Torrentially. Typical. Angéline and I had arranged to meet at 11h devant la pharmacie to do a spot of shopping before going to Chez Noel for lunch. Due to the rain we rearranged and decided to meet outside Chez Noel at 12h30. I stayed in in the morning talking to the other people I was sharing a room with in the hosel. I hoped the rain might ease. It didn't. I left just before half twelve and lazily took the metro one stop from Saint Charles to Réformés which is right by Chez Noel. The rain was incessant and it was windy too. In all my time in Marseille I had not see such heavy rain that continued over such a period of time. The streets couldn't cope. There isn't sufficient drainage. The streets became rivers and everyone was paddling whilst battling the wind with their umbrellas. It made me want to stay inside but at the same time I wanted to make the most of my short stay in Marseille. We ate lunch - I had the raviollis à la brousse and Angéline had un pizza royale. It was, as Café Simon had been, as delicious as I'd remembered. But we didn't want to leave! We didn't want to go out into the rain! But we had to. Angléline had to go and give a private lesson and I went to Monoprix and down Rue Saint Fé. We met again at 15h05 in Galeries Lafeyette on Rue Saint Fé. We did a spot more shopping and went down to La Folle Epoque where I tried a chocolat chaud with caramel and Angéline a chocolate chaud blanc. Towards 17h30 we made our way back. I went to the cinema - Variétés on la Canebiere. I saw 'Read after Burning' which I really really enjoyed. Although I don't know whether it had just been released in France or whether the persistantly heavy rain had driven everyone to go out to the cinema but the queue was gigantic - I'd never seen anything like it at Variétés before. When I came out of the cinema the heavy rain had been reduced to a light drizzle. The streets were littered with broken umbrellas which people had clearly discarded after they had broken in the wind. By the time I got home I was tired and somewhat soggy. Thank goodness for the radiators to dry my trousers and shoes for the next day!
