Marseille airport | Tales from the Hutt

Sunday, 07-July-2024

After my walk out into Les Calanques, I headed home, showered, rested a bit… and then made my way to the airport!

I was excited – I’d been adventuring solo since Iceland, and while I was having an absolutely blast… I was looking forward to spending a bit of time with other people for a change. My Mom and Steve had, ages back, mentioned wanting to go on a trip to Europe… and, while I was planning my own adventure through Europe, we had discussed the options for them to come out and visit me on my tour.

France had landed as the ideal spot – somewhere we could stay for a while, comfortable, and that good type of touristy that we could enjoy and appreciate without being overwhelmed. Cassis was perfect, and I couldn’t want to dive into it with them.

The pickup went smoothly and easily – no issues and no hassles. Yay for French airports!

Thursday, 04-July-2024

On July 4th, I learned that the robots have started taking over Austria.

I hadn’t expected to learn this, of course – so far I hadn’t seen any hints of an AI overthrow while in Vienna. Just normal people, everything running smoothly… I should have known it was too good to last.

As I walked through the Vienna airport, looking for a good spot to settle in and have some breakfast, I heard a beeping ahead of me, and saw one of those floor cleaning things puttering along… though its driver seemed to be taking a break, because I didn’t see a person on it.

Of course, the reptile part of my brain got curious, and told me to jump on and take it for a spin while the driver was away… I wouldn’t do that, obviously, but the call of the void exists whether we listen to it or not. As I got closer though, I noticed that it was moving… and that there was caution tape around the seat. It wasn’t that the driver was taking a break… the machine WAS the driver! The caution tape proved it, reading “Caution: Autonomous cleaning in progress”.

So yeah, robots. Takin’ our jobs.

Aside from that, the flight to France was lovely and quick. I had a lovely Viennese brunch, read a bit on the plane, reviewed a whole ton of photos, and even got some climbing recommendations from the guy sitting in the row with me.

Got some great views as we descended into Marseille, and… yeah. Definitely a nice and lovely flight! Fully recommend both Vienna and Marseille airport