July 27 – Toulon for Marseille, France

Notre Dame de la Garde

29 degrees, feels like 34 - this is what the weather report says...I don't buy it for a second...it is a lovely warmish breezy day that is perfect for travelling...and not a bit humid.

Notre Dame de la Garde

Last night we were told that due to sea conditions we would not be able to arrive at our originally scheduled port. The plan was to tender and as we found out the hard way, sea conditions can wreak havoc on a tender. It was pretty rocky in the night, so I’m not surprised. We instead were docking at Toulon which would not be a tender arrival…good! The tour we had scheduled for today went exactly as planned, so really…I bet some

Notre Dame de la Garde

people didn’t even realize.

Today’s group was only 16, which was terrific…the smaller the number the better. The drive to Marseille is about an hour, but the time doesn’t seem that long with a bit of morning bus-napping and the scenery which is along the coast of France and the Mediterranean Sea. The scenery also includes rocky outcroppings, vineyards and olive tree orchards.

Our first stop is to Notre Dame de la Garde, a cathedral Basilica that is only about 150 years old…young compared to other churches we’ve seen. The interesting bit about this church is that there is a huge gold statue of the Virgin Mary and is at the highest point in Marseille – it was a bit of a climb to get to - because of this there are pretty great views of the city. Being that it is a pretty popular tourist stop, the military presence can’t be missed.

Then we have some time on our own around Marseille’s Old Harbor. We wandered aroun

d a bit poking our heads into souvenir shops, but didn’t buy. What we were convinced to buy was a couple of glasses of wine.

Marseille and Toulon both are much more popular with sail boats than they are with yachts. We saw endless sailboats today.