The Pretty Sea City of Marseille

Day 5 Continues in Marseille
Driving to Marseille was beautiful!  We saw several small and old cities, and dare I say, castles.  It was a trip in and of itself.

Once we reached Marseille we all initially had a bad feeling (this would later subside).  First, our silly GPS led Justin into a bus lane when we exited off the interstate.  This is where we encountered our first, not even close to last, honk during our time in Marseille.  Though Euro road trips are fun, driving in huge cities are not so fun.  God bless Justin for taking on the challenge.  

We eventually made our way to our hotel, right near the train station, where we found a lovely bunch of homeless people to welcome us to their city.  Once we found our hotel, Justin needed to try and find parking.  Another side note about Euro road trips: hotels DO NOT have parking lots or parking garages in big cities.  Find a hotel with parking nearby, or reap the consequences.

Since our hotel was by the train station there was parking nearby.  So Greg, Nicole, and I unloaded our bags and went into the hotel while Justin tried to park.  However, Justin could not manage to find a parking space by himself.  So, as the saying goes, "When in France..." (or something like that), Justin put on his hazard lights, parked in a non-parking-spot, found me waiting inside the hotel, and together we went in search of parking.  We eventually found a spot in the train station once we learned how to operate the parking ticket machine, too bad we don't really know French all too well.  We should have had Gregvior (aka Greg) with us, because he seems to think he knows how to speak French, since he took 3 years of it in high school and all (if you get a chance, ask him how to say the basic word "water" and see what happens).

Thus, begins our Marseille adventures.

After we found parking, we found Greg and Nicole already drinking off the craziness at the hotel bar.  I don't blame them though, because there was a serious downpour going on, so it was best to stay inside anyways.  Justin and I joined them for a drink, and we made good use of our time by planning out our night outing.  Once the rain subsided we headed to the downtown area.  We walked around the streets near the port and waited patiently for the restaurants to open for dinner, as we were all excited to try some French seafood.

Our first stop was the opera house

Our dinner turned out to be quite delicious.  We had appetizers of mussels and oysters, followed by some sea bass cooked in rock salt.  Then, as if we weren't already full, we order bouillabaisse, which is a traditional French soup that originated in Marseille.  We felt a little "tricked" at this restaurant because we thought we were ordering 1 bouillabaisse for 4 people, but apparently that isn't allowed or something, because we ended up getting charged for 4, and these weren't a small fee.  Live and learn.

Day 6: Marseille
The next day we started out early, and headed for the Porte d'Aix, which is the arch in Marseille.

My arch pose

Next, we found La Vieille Charite, which was once an almshouse but is now a museum.

After that we found the Marseille Cathedral and walked along the Mediterranean Sea.  Along our walk we saw Fort Saint-Jean and the Abbey of Saint Victor.

Marseille Cathedral

Fort Saint-Jean in the background

Walking along the fort

Abbey of Saint Victor

We started early enough that after seeing this much of Marseille it was time for breakfast.  We had crepes, of course!

We could see Town Hall from our breakfast table

Did I mention breakfast was on the port with this beautiful view?

Once we were full of energy, we decided to be a bit crazy and take a touristy train ride around the city, which would eventually end at the top of Marseille.  We saw many beautiful things along the way.

Chateau d'If
We were planning on taking a boat trip to this chateau, but the waves were too high.
This is where "The Count of Monte Cristo" takes place.

Poilus d'Orient
A monument dedicated to those who lost their lives in World War I

Once we made it to the top of the city we saw the Notre-Dame de la Garde.  Plus, amazing views of Marseille and the Mediterranean.

Notre-Dame de la Garde

My handsome hubby and the Sea

It was windy at the top

Shhh! Before entering the basillica

Inside the Notre-Dame de la Garde
You know you're in a port town when...there is a ship right above Mary's head.

It was beautiful at the top of Marseille

We had fun on our train ride back down to the port

We saw an old tank on the ride down

After our train ride we had an amazing lunch at a mussel restaurant, also on the port.  We thoroughly enjoyed our food and our view!  Justin and I decided to take a little nap before dinner, so we walked up La Canebiere, a popular shopping street in Marseille, on our way back to our hotel.

La Canebiere

We found a war monument by our hotel on the way back

We also found this beautiful cathedral

After our nap, we met up with Greg and Nicole (who had done a lot of walking) under the Vieux Port Pavillion and took some pictures. 

There we are on the right
This was a fun mirror type object.  Many people took silly pictures like this.

Then, we enjoyed happy hour at a pub on the port, and we played a fun European drinking game,courtesy of Greg and Nicole (the basic rule is drink whenever you hear a honk, which is quite frequently).  We had some gelato and doner kababs to end the night.  Overall, Marseille was a pretty little city by the sea!