Bienvenue, Marseille

We have just arrived in Nice. We left the Vendee on Tuesday, leaving the Gite at 5:30 AM, arriving in Nantes to drop off our rental car at the agency before 7, then at the Ryan Air gate by 7:15. Our 8:15 AM flight was delayed about a half hour -- passengers all cleared for boarding and gathered at the gate itself, and no plane to be seen. But it finally arrived, and we were in Marseille 70 minutes later. Not bad for 12 euros each -- about 17 dollars. (But then there were taxes of about 83 euros, but still cheaper than the train, and saved us two days of traveling to Paris and back).

So we are playing catch-up from Marseille to Nice....

The Vieux Port at Marseille.

Since we were so early in Marseilles, we were able to spend a few hours having lunch, then taking their much-talked about Little Train (we now think every city, village and hamlet worth its salt has a Little Train) around the town and up the magnificent Notre Dame de la Garde, a church high over the city, with spectacular views outside and mosaics inside. It is dedicated to sailors; note the strings of ships dangling from the ceiling, everything from old masted ships to native canoes to modern yachts. We were surprised to see airships included in the strings as well.

We arrived in Marseille just as the daily fish market was shutting down, and this spaniel was ready to go home for lunch.

This lady was busy shooing her snails back in their box -- they had been making a run for it while she was distracted with customers.

The best part of my lunch was the entree (first course) -- a fig and chevre tart and green salad.



The Little Train on a tree-lined street in Marseille.

The view of the Vieux Port from the church.

The exterior.



The interior.

Note the string of boats hanging from the ceiling of the church.

The crypt.

Then we were off in the rental car to Cassis....