On board

Markets of Marseille

"Achetez vous cette madame?"

Pulling her eyes upwards from the large orange she was spinning gently in her hand, the powerful colour of the citrus seeming to grab her attention, Dianne looked in the direction of where the thick French accent had come from. Her eyes meeting the weathered look of a somewhat elderly gentleman with his hands in the pockets of an apron he wore around his waist. His head tilted slightly as a small smile poked through an uncontrolled greying moustache, whilst a kindness seeped through his dark brown eyes which were shielded ever so slightly by a flat-cap placed gently on his head, keeping the sun out of his eyes as he stood underneath the bright yellow canvas of his market stool.

Looking at him in return, Dianne allowed her eyebrows to furrow slightly in confusion. Her lips quivering slightly in uncertainty as she tried her hardest to understand what it was he had asked her - the French language not being one of her strong suits.

"Ah... Anglaise." He chuckled softly a few seconds later, recognising the panicked look of a tourist who didn't know what to do or say next. "Umm... you are... buying?" He questioned in broken English as he nodded down to the enormous orange in her hands. The colour and the scent of the fruit being something which attracted her, yet knowing she was heading back to a fully equipped cruise ship in a few hours time, a spot of food shopping wasn't exactly on her list.

"Oh no thank you... I mean, No merci." Dianne hit back with a smile, deciding it was only appropriate to at least attempt a little bit of the native language to the people who spoke it, given that she was the one out of place here.

Nodding in understanding, the old man who ran the little market stool entwined with all the others in the large town square backed away slightly, his attention turning to a portly woman beside Dianne who was placing a few limes and lemons in a paper bag.

Spinning on her heel Dianne took in her surroundings as she gently moved around the space available to her. The large town square having been cut into mini streets and cross sections by hundreds of market stools barring colourful items of all kinds of foods from fruit and veg, to fish, sweets, bread, and one particularly whiffy stool in the middle of one of the rows of stools selling cheese in the heat of the summer sun. Something which Dianne's judgement told her to just walk past rather than examine the cheesy contents. From dark green broad beans, to luminescent yellow fruits, to bright red peppers of both the spicy and non-spicy kind which made her red hair seem rather mundane in comparison, every square inch of the place was covered in a rainbow of colours which made the Australians heart sing. The shouts of advertisement of produce and the bargaining skills of the locals and of confused tourists seeming to make her smile as the rich tapestry of life continued just as it was supposed to.

Dianne had never been to this part of the world before. She had been to France a few times on various tours around the globe. Experiencing the cultural joys of Paris in the north and the culinary joys of Bordeaux in the West. Yet never had she been into the southern territories of the country famous for all things fine and cultural. And now that she was here, the Australian could do nothing but kick herself for not coming here sooner. The heat of the southern sun boring down on her reminding her of home, the gentle signs of sea life across the promenade and the shores of the town. The friendly people and their traditional ways of life seeming to be enhanced by the seeming safety of the seaside city. With markets, refined buildings of old and new and an abundance of city life moving in between the contrast the redhead had never experienced anything so supposedly perfect on its face value. And with the sight of the masterful architecture of a grand church atop one of the large hills which towered around the city, Dianne truly felt as if she were in the presence of something god like as she wondered around the heavenly location, not that she truly believed in it.