Marseille, FranceSep 12, 2011
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Palais Longchamp
Palais Longchamp 2
Palais Longchamp 3
| Monday, September 12 - Marseille, France (Geraldine’s home) After a hurried breakfast in our suite, we were off on a tour of the city of Marseille. Having been founded by Greeks in the 6th century BC, it is 2,600 years old, in fact it is the oldest city in France and the largest port in the Mediterranean. Over the centuries, it has developed a strong and pithy character, depicted notable in the works of Marcel Pagnol. Today it’s colorful Provencal identity is heavily spice with the exotic influence of the large immigrant population, mostly originating in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia but also other former French colonies in Arica. Today this city is going through a major transformation due to it being selected as the European Capital of Culture 2013. There are construction projects going on everywhere in preparation for this huge event, We boarded our tour bus, passed through the fortified walls of the port and slinked our way through the narrow streets on our way to Palais Longchamp - a beautiful water tower monument built to celebrate the completion of the Marseille Canal. It‘s a beautiful monument, only too bad the fountains weren’t running today. Along with this monument, much of the city has been revamped by Napoleon 3rd during the late 19th century and done in the Hausseman style like much of Paris. Our next destination was a drive along the beautiful Corniche President Kennedy lined with restaurants and shops and where the beautiful homes of the wealthy hang on the limestone slopes of the coast. Next stop is Notre Dame de la Garde visible from the entire city perched at 505 feet on the top of a hill to the south of the Vieux-Port. In Romano-Byzantine style, it is clad to the tips of is cupolas with superb mosaics. The base of its walls are heaped up with thousands of exvoto offerings, left here in thanks for answered prayers. The view from the square in front of the church is unbeatable. The church just completed an extensive renovation in 2008 and I must say, it is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen!! Out in the port you have an amazing view of Chateau d’If which owes it fame to the novel by Alexander Dumas’s The Count of Monte-Cristo. As you can see by the photo’s the light was amazing today for photos. After a walk through the Old Port to take a look at the fishermen’s catches of the day, we went back to the ship for our gourmet lunch. Tonight is the big deck BBQ. Since we attended the BBQ last week and didn’t find it as interesting as the main Restaurant, we have decided to spend the evening in the quite of the restaurant rather than the banquet lines of the BBQ. |
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