Morgan's Travel Blog

Well if you hadn’t noticed I got wayyyyy behind on my blog. However, I am going to catch up on sharing my adventures before I go on some more next week! Following my time in Scotland, I popped down for a weekend in London with my girlfriend and then we ventured to mainland Europe for a week in France….

saturday, march 21 – london

Carsen and I both arrived in London to different airports in the afternoon and met up at Paddington Station to catch a bus to our hostel together.

After dropping our bags and settling in, we ventured out to Notting Hill to browse around Portobello Market. It was extremely busy and a bit overwhelming, but definitely a good way to experience London on our first day. When we got tired of window shopping we started our walk to Churchill Arms. I wanted to at least walk by this iconic English pub but when I found out they served Thai food I booked a dinner reservation. The Thai food selection in Milwaukee isn’t very strong so whenever I travel I keep my eyes out for good Thai restaurants.

sunday, march 22 – london

This day was our main sightseeing day in London. We started our morning with some breakfast from the hostel and then headed downtown to catch our pink double decker Tea & Tour bus. Since we only had a short time in London we thought a sightseeing bus would be a fun and convenient way to see a lot of the landmarks and buildings. I cannot recommend this ENOUGH!!!

The company we used provided a full English tea and sandwich (we got the vegan option) service with a glass of prosecco. The cherry on top was that Carsen and I managed to get the front seats on the second floor of the bus so our view was spectacular. We were able to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Picadilly Circus, and Trafalgar square. Following our tea bus service we walked over to Buckingham Palace and Big Ben for pictures and a closer look.

When we got hungry again we went to a trendy food market called Seven Dials and got life changing vegan Bao from a stand called Yum Bun. The market also had a photobooth so of course we had to partake…

Next we headed over to Soho to grab a drink at The Escapologist, a bar themed after a runaway criminal. We were pleasantly surprised when our second round of drinks came out glowing.

To wrap up our full day in London we got dinner at TANGRA, a vegetarian Indo-Chinese restaurant serving family style dishes. To be entirely honest, I didn’t love London as a city (was very expensive and felt quite corporate and we already have enough of that in the US), but the food scene was absolutely UNMATCHED.

monday, march 23 – marseille

After a good night of rest, we headed to St. Pancras to catch our Eurostar to Paris. This experience was much closer to flying than catching a train: arriving early, x-ray for bags, full border control, gate for boarding, etc. But it was worth it because Olivia Rodrigo’s new single poses an important question and potential bucketlist that I have now accomplished half of: “Like, have you ever been to Japan? Or taken that Eurostar to France?“

The Eurostar took us to Paris Gare de Nord and we had a few hours until our train out of Gare de Lyon, so Carsen and I caught the metro to the former location of the Bastille prison. There is truly no feeling like standing where a major historical event happened. After grabbing lunch and watching some pigeons, we caught our train to Marseille. The efficiency of the public transit systems in the countries I visited truly makes me mourn the absence of a high-speed rail system in the US.

Prior to my trip when I would tell people all of the places I was going, I got several skeptical responses related to my stop in Marseille. However you will see in my reflection of the next few days that it was an absolutely wonderful city and fear (without research) shouldn’t stop you from experiencing the world.

tuesday, march 24 – marseille

To start our time off in Marseille with a bang, we caught a bus to Parc national des Calanques, a national park between Marseille and Cassis well known for hiking, climbing, and gorgeous water. Carsen and I chose to do a 4 mile medium-difficulty hike on AllTrails called Calanque de Sugiton that had a swimming cove at the halfway point. I won’t even try to articulate the beauty of this place.

The water was freezing but it was too ethereal of a place not to get in so after some acclimating I took a nice swim out to a rock formation. I put my mediocre climbing skills to good use and climbed far enough up that I had some altitude for a decent jump into the water. After enjoying the magical cove we began our entirely uphill 2 mile trek back to the starting point. This day was particularly special to me because I loveeee water.

Full day stats: 945 feet of elevation gained, 8.2 miles, 20,644 steps, 62 flights worth of stairs climbed

wednesday, march 25 – marseille

The following day was our main tourism day in the city. Marseille is the oldest city in France, serving as a port city since ancient times. Our first stop of the day was to check out the port and people watch.

We walked into a vintage shop and found a Waukesha YMCA Basketball shirt, two UW-Madison shirts, and a “Daugherty Lawn Service” shirt, which made the world feel insanely small. We asked the owner about it and he said his wife sources the vintage clothes from all over the world.

After a nice walk around the port and surrounding neighborhoods, we stopped for a bite to eat at a popular rooftop restaurant called Ciel. I had a perfect bowl of Creme de Zucca e Stracciatella and a glass of wine from the province Marseille is in.

Our last stop of the day was to head up the hill and visit Notre Dame de la Garde, known to locals as la Bonne Mère (the good mother). This church was unlike many of the others I saw during my adventures. The striped marble juxtaposed with the ornate ate made it very memorable.

Not only was the church beautiful, but its altitude offered an incredible view of the city down below. Thankfully I was able to get a good photo while fighting the 40mph wind gusts.

thursday, march 26 – marseille

On our last full day in Marseille the wind gusts reached 50mph, so we mostly stayed inside. Our main excursion was to the closest SPAR to grab ingredients for Kir Royales and French 75s. Carsen had never seen Beauty and the Beast, so we watched both the animated and live action versions while enjoying our homemade french cocktails and a homecooked meal.

Perhaps its because I am used to Milwaukee, but Marseille truly did not feel like the “scary and dangerous” city it is portrayed to be. It is considered one of the most dangerous cities in Europe, but when compared to US cities it is on par with “safer” cities like Boston and Seattle, both of which I absolutely love. The locals were kind, the graffiti was cool, and it felt like a bit more of an authentic French urban experience than Paris. This is all to say, don’t only listen to the noise. Do your own research, keep your eyes peeled, and don’t let fear stop you from experiencing a place. Sometimes reputations are unfounded.

friday, march 27 – paris

On Friday morning, we caught our train back to Paris–this time to stay for the weekend! We arrived in early afternoon and checked into our boutique hotel in Marais, the 4th Arrondissement. We grabbed some food at the restaurant underneath our hotel, and then took a walk to see Notre Dame. Fortunately it was free and the line was efficient.

After checking Notre Dame off of our bucket lists, we crossed the river to wait in line at Shakespeare and Company. This famous independent bookstore was founded in 1951 and doesn’t allow photos inside. I purchased a book about world history and an extremely overpriced (but adorable) enamel keychain of a cat on a stack of books.

We stopped back at our hotel to drop off my book and got ready to head back out. Our final stop of the night would be Caveau de la Huchette, an underground jazz club made famous by its cameo in La La Land. This was SO fun: just a room of live music, dancing, chatting, and drinking wine. Entrance was only 10 euro for students, so it was very affordable for such a fun night.

saturday, march 28 – paris

Much like London, we planned one full day of sightseeing in Paris. First stop was The Louvre, most famously housing the Mona Lisa. It was an out of body experience waiting in line to enter such a famous building filled with priceless art.

The art curators of the Louvre did something really interesting in the room containing the Mona Lisa: hung the largest painting in the museum on the wall opposite. At nearly 70 square meters it depicts over 130 figures, including Jesus turning water into wine. While the buzz of the tiny Mona Lisa captivates an entire audience, the largest work in the collection sits barely noticed. To me this felt like a social critique; while society distracts us with popularity we might be overlooking something else equally beautiful and worthy.

The sculpture below is my mom and her parents (my grandparents) favorite art piece. My parents and grandparents visited Paris a handful of times when my dad was playing professional basketball in Dijon in the early 2000s. They made several stops to the Louvre and this became their favorite work there. I did not know this fact until after my visit, where I had already bought a postcard of the piece to send home to my mom. This little bit of kismet made me feel very connected to the city and my family.

After a few hours of looking at art, Carsen and I went outside to sit in Tuileries Gardens for a short while until it started raining and we ran for cover in the nearest metro station.

We dropped our souvenirs off at our hotel and went to Le Potager Du Marais, a vegan restaurant offering classic French cuisine. We shared French onion soup and I got Le Petit Sale. Highly recommend!

Our afternoon tourist activities included walking Avenue des Champs-Élysées to people watch, and visiting the Arc de Triomphe. My grandpa on my mom’s side is of French/French-Canadian descent from the Pelletier (fur trapper) family, and it was super cool to see my lineage carved into the Arc de Triomphe. If they were still alive they would probably be disappointed to know that I eat primarily vegan and don’t participate in fur trapping.

And finally, what would a trip to Paris be without seeing the Eiffel Tower at night. Like the Louvre, it was an out of body experience to see this structure in real life after seeing so many images of it.

As beautiful as the tower was at dusk, it was truly magical to see it sparkle after sunset. Furthermore, I feel deeply lucky that I was able to share this bucket list experience with someone I love so much.

sunday, march 29 – paris & travel day

Carsen had to leave early in the morning for her flight back home but I still had a few hours to spend in the city before my train to Brussels. I packed up my backpacks and took the metro to Land&Monkeys, a highly-rated vegan cafe and bakery.

I had a delicious sandwich and pistachio babka and enjoyed the weather while writing some postcards to loved ones. After breakfast I made my way to Gare de Nord to start on my next adventure…