MARSEILLE

So now as I sit looking out at the harbour in Marseille - all is right with the world.  I am enjoying a café au lait avec sucre et un peu de lait froid.   Ahhhhhh.  The old harbour is full of vessels some for fishing and some for pleasure and high above on a hill sits Notra Dame de la Garde. 


We will take a hop on and hop off bus that will take us to 13 stops around the city.  I am looking forward to having a lovely and relaxing tour of the special spots of the old city of Marseille.  The weather is pleasant enough that we can sit outside on the top of the bus so it should be good for picture taking.  We have English translation earphones - and that is a bonus after our little tour in Savona.

What a great tour of the city on the hop on and hop off.  They are a good overview of the highlights if your time is limited and ours is when we are only in port for a day.  Marseille is a good mixture of vielle and neuveau. 


The port as in all ports is picturesque and we were fortunate to see a European Christmas market.  The temperature is quite warm and lovely sunshine.  So it was nice to do away with coats for a bit.  We were also in the midst of a fish market for a while...some of the offerings were not for our taste...like urchin, octopus, snails (or something like it from the sea) and various other things.  I didn't see anyone buying anything, but there were lots of people, including myself taking photos.

Right now I am sitting with une verre de vin blanc and looking out into the harbour.  This charming restaurant has free wifi and I am taking advantage of it to compose while connected.  I will also download some pictures as it is easier to do while connected also.  Diana has gone back to the ship as she has contracted a cold and not feeling like doing more wandering.

So now on my own, I am able to just sit and enjoy the city and all that it has to offer with people passing by - enjoying the view, resting in quaint little cafe's drinking a wine or a coffee.  Love this - a contented smile is constantly on my face.  Travel is truly amazing.  I don't have to be back to the ship for a while yet, so I will just sit, type and enjoy.

And now I will try and find the bus that I prepaid for and get back to the ship.  I almost feel as though Diana has shared her cold with me, I might stop at the apothecary shop and pick up some cold fx for something similar to halt the symptoms.

I will see you on board tomorrow.  We have an at sea day before I venture off the ship in Casablanca to go see Fez.  13.5 hour tour of which 8 hours is the bus ride to and from, but Pam's ramblings in Morocco have interested me enough that I must venture out there, but not by myself - with a tour.