Day 4 - Monday April 17, 2023 - Marseilles France

By Ellen Outten

 



The beautiful city of Marseille, France is the 2nd largest city in France, 2nd only to Paris.   We had a bus tour that gave us the highlights of the city.  Some of the streets are very narrow and the bus driver sure did his job getting our big bus through those streets.

We opted to only take the bus tour which also gave us free time in the downtown area, also the tourist area, right along the harbor.

Most of these pictures were taken from the bus window so there's a good bit of glare.  

















The private boats are stuffed into the marina.  They are so close together, I don't know how they can get out.





  

We stopped and bought a few souvenirs and had a coffee in town.  Our tour guide told us about a drink, an aperitif, Patise!   It's flavor is similar to anisette.  I tried it, instead of coffee.   It was pretty good.   It actually tasted like water when it went into my mouth 


This picture is taken from the city center.  We did not go up to take the tour.  It is the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde.  It is very famous and known to the local citizens as la Bonne Mere, (the good mother).  It is a Catholic basilica and the city's best known symbol  It is the site of a popular Assumption day pilgrimage.  It is the most visited site in Marseille.

Tonight we had dinner in one of the speciality restaurants, The Chef's Table.  A fixed five course menu with wine pairings.  We laughed a lot but the food was really good.  I never ate FOAM before.  




Tomorrow we are off to see Monte Carlo, Monaco and at 3 pm tomorrow afternoon, we're going on a tour of the bridge of our ship.  

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