Today we are docked at one of the gateways to Provence.
We have spent several days, weeks in various villages, towns, cities in Provence during our previous travels and the area holds special memories for us. Our only visit to Marseille was a quick half hour spent at the train station to change trains when we were travelling from Italy to Cannes and then onward to the Lot Valley many years ago.
We are on our last full day of the cruise (which has been a great experience) albeit a bit tiring.
We ended up spending our night in Monaco in our stateroom, no energy to get dolled up and go out for dinner ... so some room service and an early night! I was exhausted and today feel refreshed / energetic and ready to tackle the day.
But we did hear from some of our new cruise friends that we missed a fantastic show in the harbour last night!
We pulled into the docks with still some darkness in the sky ...
Marseille founded by the Greeks in the 6th century B.C. is France’s second largest city and the largest port city in the Mediterranean.
It is a city of old and new with ancient remains, medieval structures all inter-mixed with new modern buildings.
Of course the area near the port is very industrialized.
There was shuttle bus service today from the docks to the Vieux Port (the old harbour).
We were lucky to catch one of the first buses and away we went.
Come along with us as we do a bit of exploring.
The Hotel de Ville ...
Pictured below is Notre-Dame de la Garde, the beautiful cathedral sitting on the hilltop overlooking the old port.
She “the Cathedral” seems to follow you all around the harbour as you are strolling.
I read that it looks similar to the Sacre-Coeur in Paris and the Fourviere in Lyon.
We’ve visited Sacre-Coeur in Paris but have not yet been to Lyon, must put that on our list!
One of my photos of Sacre-Coeur April 2015 ... ah Paris!
We strolled along the harbour /waterfront with many other people, tourists and locals.
There was lots of activity for this early on a Sunday morning.
The fishermen had set up shop with their catches of the day along with the puppeteer!
Now we are on the other side of the marina ... looking across to where we had just walked.
This side houses older buildings and it doesn’t appear that as much gentrification has occurred.
The soap museum and next door a soap factory where they make the famous Marseillian soaps.
The Vieux Port has two forts ... Fort Saint-Nicolas and Fort Saint-Jean.
Fort Saint -Jean was built in 1660 by Louis XIV and Fort Saint-Nicolas was constructed at the same time on the opposite side of the harbour.
The photo below is of Fort Saint Nicolas on the top taken from the lower part of the Fort ... where today there was an open house of displays from various regiments of the French military,
The view from the lower Fort Saint Nicolas across the water to Fort Saint Jean ... which is now also a part of the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations.
The views from the Lower Fort Saint-Nicholas were spectacular. Here as we were wandering around we met up with some fellow cruisers from England and we continued our walking tour with them and soon it was time for a coffee/ beverage. Then back to to the boat for some quiet time on the pool deck.
Tonight we dined at Jacques, which feels/ looks similar to a Parisian Bistro and is decorated with “heirloom antiques, pickled wood furnishings and art from Jacques Pépin’s personal collection”.
Jacques Pépin, the world renowned French Chef (was Julia Child’s dear friend) is the Executive Culinary Director of Oceania Cruises.
“ Food, for me is inseparable from sharing. There is no great meal unless it is shared with family and friends “ ... Jacques Pépin
I love this quote because it resonates with me ... all the work in your garden growing fresh herbs, market shopping for fresh produce & ingredients and then the time involved in the kitchen to plan, prepare, cook and bake is only as good as it is when you can share it over great conversation with family and friends. .
We enjoyed a lovely evening of delicious food, wine and company ... tonight we shared a table with a lovely couple from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Here’s just a few of the dishes ...
Heirloom tomato salad appetizer ...
Tiger prawns ...
The best dessert “Mille Feuille” highly recommended by our server ...
there were so many sweet, delectable choices!
Wine and cheese anyone?
We departed Marseille, France at 6:00PM. We will travel 190 nautical miles overnight arriving in Barcelona, Spain around 8:00AM tomorrow morning. We will disembark, taxi to the Hotel Curious and spend another day in the city.
Come back to see the rest of our adventure ...our day in Barcelona, Spain then off to the Céret in the south France for a couple of weeks, then off to the Lot Valley for our last week.
