8. Marseilles

Our stop in Marseilles got off to a good start when our excursion was cancelled. To be fair, we had been warned it was likely as we had picked to go on a countryside walk taking in the best of Aix en Provence, and which was described as strenuous. When we booked the man on the desk looked at us and said “I know you are younger but between you and me most of the people on the ship are over 70 and would never make this hike, so I doubt we’ll get the numbers to make it viable.”  But we booked anyway and lived in hope, but he was was right.

Never mind, even getting the shuttle bus into the city was chaotic. We had prebooked tickets but many had not, trusting to get their tickets at the terminal. On the quayside there were no separate lines, nobody knowing where to go and nobody from the ship in sight to help out. Eventually we got where we needed to queue and got on the bus for what was a 35 minute drive into the city centre. (I would add that 30 minutes of which was a scenic drive around the docks, which are vast!)

Marseilles is a big city and we had no intention of doing too much or going too far. The main attraction is the old harbour and lots was going on from fishermen selling their morning catch to a “big eye” Ferris wheel. We meandered around and took particular interest in a section of the harbour at which were berthed classic sailing yachts from times gone by. The oldest we saw dated from 1913.

Following a quick look around the Abbey of St Victor we stopped for a bit of lunch. Marseilles cafe society was in full swing and I’m glad to report that our Pass Sanitaire’s were both requested and worked and that our pigeon French was understood. For anyone interested, lunch was just a coke and a rather delicious feta cheese, avocado and smoked salmon open sandwich. 

A brief walk around the old part of town followed before deciding it was time to return to the ship and a swim.

As I mentioned above, the docks here are vast. There are at least seven cruise ships berthed here today including ourselves, the Costa Fortuna , two NCL’s, and a Regent Seven Seas. Having said that, one or two looked like they were undergoing refurbishment. 

This seems to be a nice time of the year to visit the western Mediterranean. Like Barcelona yesterday, today has been sunny and warm (without being hot), and the seas have been slight. Let’s hope it remains like this for a few more days.