1958 Marseille and Velvet

In 1958 when we drove from Gravenchon to Juan Les Pins, one of the places we stopped for the night was Marseille.  It's a city known for seafood and my mother couldn't wait to get her favorite:  Moules mariniere (mussels cooked in garlic, butter, and white wine).  There is something about the sound of those shells clinking against each other even now, 60 years later, that takes me right back.

Moules Mariniere

We walked around the city that night, particularly around the docks.  But what I remember best is what happened the next morning.

We had our dog Velvet with us.  (He went on the trip and stayed in a kennel in Juan Les Pins, for some reason).  The room my sister and I shared had a big window that opened really wide onto a square.  There was a small balcony outside, just about big enough to stand on.  

Hotel Vieux Port, Marseille

I dressed Velvet in a pair of my red shorts with thin white stripes and my white t-shirt, and put him out on the balcony with me so we could watch the people walking below.  After a few minutes, apparently someone spotted him and before long, everyone was pointing up to him (we were on the second floor) and clapping and laughing.  He loved it.  I loved it.  My parents didn't love it so much.  It was a moment that stood out in a long road trip.