We arrived in port about 7 am. We opted for an interior room on this trip and we don’t have any idea of when we get to port or the weather until we go up to the Lido for breakfast. Beautiful sunny day and very warm.
We are docked in a working port and HAL had a shuttle to town. Our cruise director said it would be $16 roundtrip for the shuttle. It would be tacked on to our account. I’m not sure how they are going to do this as we just climbed aboard the bus without anyone checking names. I suppose they could be tracking us using the Navigator app used on aboard the ship. We shall see.
Marseille is the second largest city in France and it is also the oldest. A lot of the city reminded us of Paris. Quaint little shops and bakeries. Restaurants with great food.
We decided to do a walking tour of the old city using an GPS mycity app.
First stop is the Vieux-Port originally established by the Greeks in 600 BCE.
The Church of Saint Ferreol. The original building was built on land owned by the Knights of the Templar. This building was dedicated in 1542.
Jardin des Vestiges
While clearing land for a shopping center, ruins from 2000 years ago were found.
Hotel de Cabre 1535. Oldest building still in use in Marseille
InterContinental Hotel Dieu. Originally a hospital that opened in 1188 and for 600 years underwent several alterations. The present building was inaugurated by Napolean III in 1866.
Hotel de Ville 1656 – now city hall
Fort St. Jean
Views from the Fort
A long day of walking to see the sights. We did stop for lunch in a nice little Brasserie. We decided to take the little people mover train up to the fort in the interest of time. All aboard was 4:30 and we were back on the ship in time for dinner.
The evening entertainment is still not where it was pre-pandemic and we opted to play some cards before bed.…