Another beautiful day in Marseille…I was NOT regretting my decision to travel down here. Another beginning to what looked like a weather perfect day. What was happening though was that we had a very early morning rainstorm. I could feel it and smell it on the breeze when I got up. And see the puddles down on the street. Storms heading north to Paris it turned out.
As you might imagine, after a month doing the tourist dance in Europe, I was getting to a point where I wanted to take my time and spend more time sitting than walking. I felt I should leave walking, jogging, and running to those times I’d need to catch a form of public transportation or escape a band of thieves. Not that I worried much about thieves, but doesn’t hurt to be constantly prepared and vigilant.
Today was going to be a tour bus day, but not until after I visited the outdoor market for some fresh fruit and veggies.
I did find some nice veggies and fruit, and high tailed it back to the apartment to prep and store. Then I walked over across the street from that carousel I’ve showed pictures of before and got aboard the city tour bus. They hand you free, take with you when you leave earbuds which you plug into your private audio amp and distribution device where you can select the language. So I did. And off we go.
It doesn’t take long at all to get past ‘downtown’ and into the suburbs. Below is Fort St. Nicholas. Pretty cool looking from the air.
Oooo, a nice beach.
Memorial for the members of the Army of the Orient for service in foreign wars. This is dedicated to the French army not the Foreign Legion (Légion étrangère).
Way over there is kind of a new city. The tour guide told us about it. Only a few years old as I recall. Those skyscrapers over there are mostly condos. Then there was a huge harbor filled with sailboats.
This church on top of the highest hill in Marseille was our destination. It’s the Notre-Dame de la Garde.
Kind of cool looking. Had a hell of a view of Marseille.
This is only part way up the pathway. You can see all the tour buses down there. 
A little further up the path.
This was the tour I took. It was OK. I liked the open air, smallish bus. About half the size of the tour buses I’d taken in other cities. Printed on the side of the bus are all the places we passed by, or paused at. This site was the only place we got to get off the bus and go visit. It was a 30 minute stop.
Back on the bus, head count showed everyone there, off we head downhill. Yeah, this was a US tank that stalled on this street the very day of liberation. Nobody cared about returning it to the US and it sat here for years before someone thought of making a monument to US forces with it.
Don’t know what this is. Or why I took a picture. Might have been a resistance hideout during WWII.
And way off in the distance, Notre Dame again.
This is the Cathedrale de la Major. Yawn. But it’s look is interesting what with the banding.
I forget.
On the way back, we took a different route where we passed this Irish Pub. So I jumped off the bus maybe 200 yards from the normal stop and soon was enjoying a nice beer.
The next day, I just hung out, did my laundry. My host only had drying racks so it took quite a while for my clothes to dry. But the nice breeze sure helped out. I wandered the neighborhood and found new fun places too. Late afternoon, after the laundry was dry, went back out to my favorite bar and spent an hour or two surfing the web. Not having a set itinerary still requires advanced arrangements, unless you’re rich and can afford city hotel prices.
Later that night I asked my host Jonathan if there were any fancy French restaurants nearby and lucky for me, there was. His favorite place for a fancy dinner. So I sauntered down there for dinner. I seldom saunter, but this time I did. Since I’m in Marseille, next to the sea (well, a block away, but still close), had a seafood dinner. The little English flag next to the plate tips off the waiters that I only speak English.
Wow. With tip, 36€. Near $50 USD. It was good. Not spectacular, but good. I was seated next to 2 large tables filled with good looking women so there’s that too.
I found on the web that there was a nice train ride to Cassis…several miles outside of Marseille. And that the fjord’s there were spectacular. Plus there was a fleet of tour boats ready to give you a ride. So that’s what I’d be doing the next day. Road trip to Cassis by train to take a boat ride. The short video below shows you why I planned on that trip to Cassis in the first place.
See you next time!