On my way from Barcelona to Marseille, I make a stop in Martigues – the so-called Venice of France. (Every country seems to have one of those. In Germany, I guess it’s the Spreewald?)
I’m visiting friends of friends, and once again my theory proves true:
You can’t go wrong with friends of good friends.
From the very first moment, I feel welcome.
Marco di Coco and Gabrielle de la Montagne (names slightly softened for privacy) are musicians too – they play in a band called Mana Sound. You should definitely check them out – seriously impressive.
Marco sets up a show for me at La Rullmeur, right in the heart of Martigues.
About 40 people show up. The energy is warm, open, curious. They keep asking for encores – one after the other.
Eventually, I run out of songs on my setlist and ask the crowd if they’d like to hear something in German.
I play “Am Ende denk ich immer nur an dich” – and on a whim, I switch part of the chorus into French:
“À la fin, je pense toujours à toi.”
They sing along. It’s wild.
That night, I decide: I’ll play here again.
But the next morning has other plans.
I wake up with a cold – temperatures had dropped overnight, and I left the van door open, hoping the local cat would come visit.
(I don’t even like cats all that much… but this one, I kinda do.)
I’m down for two days. And finally decide:
I’m done. I’ll skip Marseille and head home.
This trip has been full of stories – more than I could ever have imagined.
Now I need time to process it all.
From Aveiro to Martigues, doors opened for me that I never even knew existed.
The world is a beautiful place.
Despite everything.
Thanks for coming along.
Time to rest – the next tour starts end of May.
