Marseille with Florence!

Confession: I have discovered that there are lots of things I like doing on my own, but sightseeing is not one of them.

I arrived in Marseille Friday afternoon, and had to get Florence at the train station on Saturday, just 24 hours later.

Roman remains outside of museum

Roman remains near museum

Since I was in another city, for crying out loud, I felt obliged to spend my day "productively"; in this case, it meant doing some sightseeing and shopping (to work on French! I swear!). I spend most of my time in the main museum, which had a wide variety of items displayed. The oldest of the items included a boat (relatively recently discovered) that came from (I don't quite remember, but I'll guess) the 4th century B.C. It was of Greek construction, so dated to that period...it was well in the B.C. era, though. The boat was found about 20 years ago during the course of some excavations for new construction...very exciting because it was relatively intact. Meaning that the boards that were still there were all placed pretty much as they would have been at the time the boat was used.

I went to a very well-regarded craft store which turned out to focus on buttons (lovely) and trims (incredible variety) but less of what I was looking for. Michael, you'll be sad to know that I didn't spend a dime there!

View of the city from the station

After a good bit of general wandering, which included a trip to the tourist office, I can tell you that the old part of Marseille is now the new part...thanks to widespread razing during the early 20th century for reasons of "hygiene". The new part of Marseille is due to an expansion started at the time of Louis XIV. There are some really lovely buildings as you wander away from the old port.

View of the city from the platforms

Fruit stand...part of our evening's meal

Florence and I spent the day "doing" the churches. There are three notable churches somewhat in the vicinity. We started off with Mass at Notre Dame de la Garde, which is high above the city. Yes, we walked. It was actually no worse than going from Porta Romana to San Fortunato, but it always feels more of a struggle when you don't know exactly where you're going and how much further it is!

Liberation Day celebration

At the base of the final climb to the church, we happened across a band and lots of fellows in cute military uniforms. Upon asking, we were told that it was a celebration for the anniversary of the Liberation! Speechifying and band playing were clearly the order of the day.

Steeple of Notre Dame de la Garde

Looking up...

After allowing a few minutes for admiration of the uniforms, we hoofed up the final stretch to get to Mass. Let me tell you, the basilica is really amazing! We had time to gawp, light some candles, pray, and were then told that Mass was "surprise!" going to be in the crypt today. They had to get the basilica ready for the special Liberation Day Mass. Fair enough.

...and looking down

View from Notre Dame de la Garde

View of one of the forts

We scuttled down to the crypt for Mass, after which we went to the church's museum. Turs out, the church was actually constructed in the 19th century, so the museum was quite small. They did include the original architectural drawings, though, so that was absolutely fantastic!

Florence telling Michael about camp...wait for her post!

View of Notre Dame de la Garde from the port

We wandered towards the town; next stop the St. Victor Abbey!























This is one of the oldest standing structures still remaining in Marseille. Mass was still going on, so we could only peep in.

Cathedral of Marseille

Lunch! Kebab/falafel...mmmm! Then off to the Cathedral. Another church on the way was closed, so we could only admire from the outside. The Cathedral (another 19th century construction) is really lovely. The ceilings are in a honey yellow and medium blue, mostly geometric with some Christian iconography (crosses, mainly). So pretty!

Footsore and worn out, we have wandered back to the apartment for a rest.

Love,

Alexandra