Emily and Linda’s Travel Blog

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

Jo's friend John and his mom, Claribel

The trio of old friends 

Yesterday was another laid back day. Jo had some business to do so we wandered around the square in Arcata. Lunch at Cafe Brio was very good. Their food is all locally sourced and the bread is baked fresh. Linda had a kicked up grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough with jalapeño corn chowder. I had a tuna salad platter that was way above the usual with lemon cucmbers, heirloom tomatos and pickled onions as well as fresh microgreens and a really tasty tuna salad with huge chunks of tuna. The pastries in the case looked fabulous, but we had no room left by then.

 Dinner was an adventure of a different sort. We had dinner with Jo, her friend John, and John's 96 year old mother. We ended up at The Alibi, described by Jo as a "dive bar with good kitchen". The atmosphere lived up to the description and so did the food. Dogs playing cards (and other games) on the walls, loud juke box, but surprisingly good pork and lamb chops with fresh vegetable sides. Jo said all their meat is all from local farms as are the vegetables. John's mother, Claribel, a graduate of Swarthmore '40 was quite a character and told stories of her youth at Swarthmore and growing up in a Chicago suburb. Four of the five of us had lived around Chicago, as had our waiter so that was  one shared theme for the evening.