Europe

Sorry, I am jumping ahead a bit here but we are so busy doing things that I am not getting a chance to download photos and type up blog as well.  Rod pleads ignorance and he has slightly more time than me to do this. So, bear with me please

France & Italy trip 15th April to 1st May.

Destination: Marseille, Nice, Monaco/ Monte Carlo, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Venice, Paris, London.

Marseille 15th & 16th April 2011.

About a 1/4 of Marseilles

We left London at 11.30am in the morning.  The day was warm and clear so we set off with our 3x packed bag and 1 backpack.  We were travelling via a cheap package with Ryanair so any extra bags had to be paid for.  We had an uneventful 2 hour flight after the plane was delayed by 35 minutes due to late arrival from previous flight.  We landed in Marseilles to a dull overcast day with a few spots of rain threatening to get worse.  Where to now? Rod went around talking to staff members until he finally found one who could speak English and off we went in the right direction to catch a bus to Marseilles.  We were about 30 minutes out of Marseilles so first impression of the city was bare rugged stony hills with lots of high buildings.  The housing was all a terracotta colour with tile roofs and plastered walls.  All very square and looking very similar.  Also every window had either wooden shutters or slide down roller door type shutters.  It must get very hot here in the summer time.  Also, most windows have some sort of wrought iron balustrade so the mademoiselles can lean over I guess.  The bus brought us to the Gare du St Charles which is the main train station and we then had to figure out the metro and where it was going.  Once sorted off we went and by more good luck than management we actually disembarked at the right place.  We came up to ground level right outside a information centre and lucky for us Rod spoke to a lady who was fluent in English.  She was most helpful in giving us info and maps and sent us off to find our hotel which was just around the corner.  The Grand Tonic Hotel was set right in Vieux Port overlooking the port and marina.  A beautiful location set in the oldest part of Marseilles.

Our Hotel

Marseilles, Frances second largest city was founded 2600 years ago and is the oldest city in France.  It purports to having 300 days of sunshine per year and has a population of 839,000.  Once we had checked in and dropped our bags into the spacious room, we set off to explore the local area and to get our bearings.  The waterfront was just across the road and the views were spectacular.  There were many boats in the marina, the sun was shining and there were scooters everywhere.  We walked around the port to the entrance where Fort St Jean and Fort Nicholas have stood guard since the 1200’s.   Around the corner in the industrial port there were about 6 or 7 cruise ships and ferries alongside.  There is a lot of construction and scaffolding around as Marseilles is host to the European Cultural Celebration in 2013.  We wandered around until we had found a restaurant where the menu was partially written in English.  We were not very hungry so decided an entrée and dessert was all that we needed.  Lucky!!!  The meals were huge.  Rod had a seafood stirfry which was on a plate about 15inches long and 9 inches wide.  It was absolutely loaded with calamari, mussels, shrimp s and prawns.  I had salmon which was a large meal as well.  We couldn’t manage dessert. Back to our hotel, a spa bath and good night’s sleep.

A tight corner for the buses!!

Inside the church

16^th April: We booked a hop on and off tour bus round the city.  This was a open top double decker and gave a commentary in English.  It was a great way to see the sights and hear the stories behind the different items of interest.  It took us around the coast road and then up into the hills to the Chapel de la Garde.  This chapel is amazing inside and has recently been restored to its original glory.  The mosaic ceilings are just stunning.  The road up to the chapel was very twisty and narrow and we had several very close calls with cars and other buses.  Credit to our driver, he certainly knew where to put his vehicle so that he could get round the corners.  The Port area was preparing for the Marseilles Marathon with over 36,000 runners competing the next day and on our wanders around the town we saw three different groups protesting.  An animal rights protest, a Kurdish protest and another one that we couldn’t make out what their message was.  As evening began to draw nearer, the crowds were getting thicker and thicker.  The wide streets were packed and the sidewalk cafes and bars were full.  We decided to go to the hotel restaurant and  have the local famous dish “Buillobaise” which is kind of like a fish stew/soup thing.  It was terrible and at 21 euros a bowl, we had to eat it.  It was a khaki greeny/brown colour and looked like the sludge that you get from the bottom of a fish tank.   It tasted very gritty.  There were large chunks of fish in the sludge and also about six mussels in their shells.  We were not impressed with it at all.  Again we had a huge serving so back up to our room , another lovely spa bath and to sleep.

Boullibaise

17^th April: Sleep in this morning so down to a quick breakfast as we wanted to catch the boat out to the Isle of If.  This is a small island within view of Marseilles and there was a fort built on there in the 1500’s to protect the port.  In later years it was turned into a prison and has housed mostly political prisoners (protestants) who opposed the King at the time.  It is also the location that Alexander Dumas used to set his fiction novel The Count of Monte Christo.  The fortress is fairly sparse and most of the displays seemed to show the book rather than the history of the fort.  There is another island nearby which had a marina and a few shops.  Lots of people got off there with swimming gear and chilly bins.  Nice beaches are fairly hard to find although it is the Mediterranean coast.  Mostly cliffs and rocky outcrops.  Back to the station and on the train for Nice. 





 

Our Lady of the Guard.  Built on the highest point so that she is able to bless the sailors as they leave the port.
The statue on top stands 11.20m tall and weighs 9796kg on her own.  The bell just below her weighs 8234kg and stands 2.50m.  The clapper in the bell alone weighs 387kg.  The baby jesus wrist measures 1.10m. This all stands on top of a hill which ia 147.85m in altitude.   It was bloody steep!!!