First off, let me just say that our goal was to see as much as possible at each port of call, while paying the least. This meant exploring the various locations on our own, without the aid of a cruise sponsored excursion (which with the currency exchange rate would have been$150.00 per day for both of us). Going out on our own meant seeing what we wanted to at the pace we wanted. The only problem was that we only had travel guide books for Spain in our possession, so we did some clever research with the help of the ship's offered excursions and their points of interests as well as the daily program which always highlighted the port of call. We would find a city map and make our way to the highlighted areas. We felt so resourceful. I kept saying we were "beating the system." Our system of travel was so much better. I got high off of our resourcefulness!
Happy October 31st!!! We spent our halloween in Marseille, France, the oldest city and the largest commercial port in France. Marseille was a unique port in that you had to take a bus into town. All the other ports were right in town and required no "extra" fare. But we forked over $15 bucks for bus fare so that we could get into the town. Don't think that this kept us from having to walk though. We climbed up a huge hill in Marseille and booked it around the city (we definately worked off the huge dinner from the night before and maybe some of our breakfast).
While on the bus we got to see the Arc de triomphe, the gateway to the city completed in 1839. The bus then let us off right next to the harbor. I loved the way Marseille looked and knew it was going to be a great day. The weather was cool and nice, with splashes of clouds and sun. The water complimented the buildings and hills and everything looked so picturesque. I grabbed a quick picture of Cody on the water (back-lighting).
But we decided to come back to the water later and start our journey up the hill to see the Cathedral of Notre Dame de la Garde (a basilica built in the middle of the 19th century to match its sister church, the Cathedral of Sainte Marie Majeure, located at the bottom of the hill, opposite side of the harbor). What a breathtaking climb, view, and church. See me exhausted from the journey up the hill, but also the inspiration that kept me going (the view of the church above).
I never knew I could love a church so much. I couldn't get over the huge gold statue of Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus atop the church, the interior details, the tile floors, the stain-glassed windows, the ceilings, the pictures, murals, mosaics, the hanging model ships, the maritime decor, and the overall location of this church, above the city, amungst nature. The views, the views, the views - were so impressive. We didn't have to pay to go to the top floor of a skyscrapper...these views were free (well, almost free after costing us some sweat on the walk upward). I encourage all to click on these pictures to make them larger.
Here are the exterior shots, the views from on top, and the front entry.
Here are the interior shots. We spent a long time in the church to enjoy the atmosphere and catch our breath.
We made our way back down the hill and enjoyed the lower city. We stopped off at the Palace of Justice, meandered through little squares and streets, and walked down the Rue de Saint Ferreol (a great and lively street for shopping). Tons of locals were shopping and I managed to get a crepe from a street vendor - yum, yum! The picture of me doing a weird pose is the beginning of Saint Ferreol.
Next stop was L'eglise des Reformes (aka Eglise Saint-Vincent-de-Paul). It was built in the 19 century in gothic style. There is a statue of Joan of Arc out in front and this church was being used by locals for worship (less touristy). I think because I was trying to take the pictures fast as to not disturb the reverence in the church, most my interior shots came out blurry. Bust!
After, we decided to make our way back to the sister church of the one we went to this morning. We walked along the harbor to get there and enjoyed some street performers.
The following are the pictures of Cathedral of Sainte Marie Majeure. It is much bigger than Notre Dame de la Guard (Lady of the Guard), but also much simpler. I personally liked the church on the hill better, but her older sister ain't so bad I guess :)
That was our last stop and we had to make our way back to the bus stop. The following are random pictures on our way back.
We made it back on the ship in time for dinner and a show. I forgot to say that we were super lucky to have our very own sweetheart table. One stupid thing about cruises is that you can be put at a table with people that rub you the wrong way. It would have been particularly worse with people who didn't even speak English. Thank our lucky stars! This picture is of us, on Halloween, eating dinner at our sweatheart table.
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