France to Marseille on a train
We reached Gar de Lyon station where we waited for the arrival of our train for Marseille. During that time we immediately connected with some French passengers who were also waiting for their train. Lack of common language acted as a barrier in the beginning as they were not able to speak English and nobody from our group knew French.
The difficulty did not last longer as people tried hard to reach out to one another by communicating through gestures and body language.
Despite the obstacle of not knowing the language I could feel the immense warmth radiating from the French people who tried their utmost to converse.
Our bus driver Sam, a Frenchmen who had joined us from France and stayed with us till Switzerland, was a very lovable person who took care of us as if we were his own family members. In his presence we could leave our belongings in the bus without any afterthought.
On reaching Marseille, we soon went to see Palais Langchamp. I was stunned to see the waterfall in the middle of the most exquisite architecture. There are many places in the world where we find waterfall amidst natural beauty but to view the waterfall surrounded by incredible architecture astounded me.
As our trip to Europe was basically to discover places visited by Meher Baba and as soon as we were informed that Baba visited Long Champ in 1934, the members of our group became very excited. In the above picture Meher Baba can be seen standing with the women mandali at Long Champ. Besides visiting the places visited by our spiritual master we were also exploring other tourist places.
I wanted to stay there for a longer duration to satisfy my thirst for beauty but had to quench my desire by just clicking pictures as we had to leave soon.
In the late afternoon we arrived at Versailles Palace. Before entering inside the Palace, our local tour guide informed us that the Palace became the most significant place of administration during the reign of Louis XIV.
On being asked about the style of architecture she mentioned that it is Baroque style. True to her statement the Palace looked ornate with glass embellishments and painted vaults. The splendour of the palace could also be seen in doors and walls gilded with gold.
We then stopped by La Major cathedral near the port. This place was important as Meher Baba, a spiritual Master, met Mahatma Gandhi here on the Rajputana ship.
Then we went to Grand Basicilla of Versailles. The four corners of the Basicilla offered a panoramic view of the city.
After arriving at Notre — Dame de La Garde, we sat inside the church and this was the most blissful experience. One of the travellers from our group later discussed that he was deeply mesmerised by the atmosphere in the church and felt a deep previous life connection to this place.
I did take some shots of the beautiful church but was inwardly drawn to absorbing the divine atmosphere. Our last destination was Victory arch next to the Mediterranean sea.
There was something magical about Marseille . I was intrigued by the amazing architecture, picturesque harbour and astonishing views.
I am Dr Manisha Dixit working as a Professor working in a University love to write and read. I am also passionate about writing and my stint into journalistic writing started when I started working for a national daily. Then ventured into research now would like to explore my potential as a blogger View all posts by manishadixit
Published
Originally published at http://manishasexperiences.travel.blog on April 14, 2019.
