We started our day (Tuesday) with a bus tour to get a sense of the city. Here are a few shots along the way. The Mediterranean was gorgeous and the sun was out. Beautiful ride.
One of my favorite stories in high school
, and one the few books I've read twice, is The Count of Monte Cristo. Today we got to see the Chateau d'If where Edmond Dantes was wrongly imprisoned. Maybe I'll read it again.
Here are a few more photos from our first day in Marseille.
Dinner offerings in this seaside city of course involve a lot of fish. We happened on a place that had grilled sardines, a favorite of mine. They were delicious, but the truly amazing thing about the meal was that Linda ordered them too. Those of you who know her will understand what a surprise that was (I think Noah's truly excellent grilled sardine appetizer was the breakthrough). Here we have Linda sitting down to a plate of sardines with anticipatory pleasure.
Monday afternoon we took the #60 bus up a series of winding streets to pay a visit to Notre Dame se la Garde, "La Bonne Mere" that overlooks the harbor of Marseille. It's a wonderfully restored church with a nautical theme inside - wooden boats hanging from the ceiling amidst the angels and biblical figures, boat-shaped sconces in the walls, and memorial plaques to sailors lost at sea. The exterior was gorgeous in the golden afternooon Marseille sun and the view was definitely as spectacular as Eileen said it was. There was an interesting juxtaposition of ancient and modern with QR codes posted around the paintings so you could scan them and learn more. Linda was i heaven, taking photos, though the winds were fierce up there and it was challenging to stand still enough to take a picture while being buffeted about. I kept imagining the centuries of old women trudging their way up that steep hill in colder winter winds in order to get to mass.
This fellow was really good. Unfortunately I can only upload a snippet.
After a yucky delay of several ill-informed hours at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport, we finally got on the plane. Just arrived at Hotel Hermes Vieux Port which really is right on the port. Here's the view from our window
We've successfully crossed the Atlantic and are now cooling our heels in Sciphol airport. I decided to try out the massage pods they have all along the gateways. I decided it must be effective since there was a fellow dead asleep in one of the pods. Verdict: a little firmer than the ones I've tried in the US and not a bad wakeup before the last leg of the journey from Amsterdam to Marseille.
Hello all. This is mostly a test post. We're about to leave for our Southern France trip - 2 nights in Marseille, 8 days on a Viking River Cruise on the Rhone and Saone rivers and 2 nights in Lyon.
I know the Northern California coast is beautiful, but it hits me anew every time
