Tres Belle Marseille

When we began planning the cruise (if this is your first time tuning in, you may want to start at the beginning of this voyage with Amsterdamin') I'll admit, I was a little bummed because the three places I had the most interest in (Mallorca, Valencia, and Marseille) were the shortest stops of our journey. Plus another bummer - there was only one stop in France and for those who know me, know that I am French at heart. My first international trip was to Paris... way back to when Hubs and I started dating. One day, we plan to go back to Paris and rent a car so we can try out the different regions of Wine that the French countryside has to offer.

Anyway, I digress. Marseille is a beautiful city, there's tons to do and some very impressive architecture throughout the city. One place we had hoped to get to but didn't during our short stay was Chateau D'If. It was the inspiration for Alexandre Dumas' book - The Count of Monte Cristo. If you're planning a trip to Marseille, I'd encourage you to at least look into doing this.

Beautiful sunset from the night before

Love these clouds

It just kept getting better

This time our ship docked in early afternoon, so we decided to disembark as quickly as possible since we only had seven hours. We were able to get to a taxi within a few minutes and were heading to our first stop Notre Dame de la Garde (translates to Our Lady of the Guard) Cathedral, which sits upon a the highest point in Marseille. The cathedral is extremely impressive and the views of the city are unprecedented. We enjoyed soaking in the sunshine while we admired the architecture of the cathedral. One thing to know, it's easy to get a cab to the cathedral however, getting back can be a pain. The closest place you can pick up a cab to leave is from the Vieux Port (meaning Old Port). It's all downhill but it is extremely steep, you've been warned!

Views from the Cathedral

Pano of the view

Despite the sunshine in the photo, I love this shot

I thought this statue was cool

More views

Another of the church

You can just barely make out the football (soccer) stadium that was built for the Olypmics

Inside the church was incredible

I love the ceiling

We made our way down the steps towards the next stop on our list the Palais Longchamp which is a grandious monument built in 1869 to celebrate the completion of the canal bringing water to the city. Even from blocks away, the monument will take your breath away. Once you head up the stairs, you're able to walk behind the large fountain to either the Botanical Gardens, a park, the Natural History Museum or the Musee des beaux-arts. If we'd had more time, we could have seen at least one of these but we had a long list of things to see and miles of city between them.

Beautiful statue on our walk to the Palais

If this had been open, I would have ridden it

Giraffe!

Another beautiful church -  La Chapitre

Far away from the Palais and it was still huge!

Beautiful fountains

Cool shot from behind the fountain with the Notre Dame de la Garde in the background

More city views

Digging the detail up above

Another fountain shot

Looking down on the fountain

Side view

After we'd had our fill of the girnomous fountains, we decided to take a slight detour and see the Porte D'Aix built to celebrate peace in Marseille. It's not as impressive as the Arc d'Triomphe found in Paris, but still beautiful nonetheless.

The Porte D'Aix

The arc was only a four minute walk from Cathedral La Major - one of Europe's largest cathedrals! It's facade was extremely unique and the inside was beautiful. If you're in the area it is definitely worth a visit but if you only have time for one, I'd stick with Notre Dame de la Garde.

Beautiful shot of the Cathedral La Major

Entrance to the Cathedral

It was huge!

Front entrance to the Cathedral

Love this side view

We have been walking for about three hours at this point and were starting to get a bit thirsty so we decided to find a cafe where we could rest our feet and perhaps have an early dinner. We quickly realized dinner was out of the question, most places weren't even open until 4 or 5 and it was just 3:30pm. Finally we came upon Cafe Le Major  and decided this spot would do for a glass of wine and some dessert. The owner, Jon, came over as we were sitting down and offered us some water and asked if we would trust him to choose a bottle of wine for us. Since we are still learning which notes we like, we decided to be open to suggestion. Let me tell you, that bottle of wine was probably the best we've ever had! The French certainly know their wine!  For dessert we took another suggestion from Jon and tried the strawberries with homemade whip cream and mint, which a bit of pepper. Another fantastic choice. Seriously, if you're in Marseille, you'd be silly not to stop in and see Jon. We had the best time sitting on the patio, drinking wine and enjoying conversation with him.

Be sure to go and ask for Jon!

Soon enough, time was running short. Reluctantly, we hailed a cab and made our way back to the ship for one our last dinners aboard the ship. Next time... we'll be back to Italy in Genoa! Ta ta for now!

Another amazing sunset as we were leaving

It was a great feeling to be out on the water each night looking back at the city we'd just explored

Enjoying our balcony

Viva Valencia!

Of all the ports from the cruise, Valencia seemed the most intriguing. It's Spain's third largest city and is actually located pretty close to Barcelona. It's one of Europe's busiest ports and is in fact the busiest in the Mediterranean. It is a city with some history - it was founded in 138 BC by the Romans and has Moroccan and Arab influence due to the nature of crop trades in the 700's. It was an incredibly beautiful city with a lot to offer any type of visitor and we definitely recommend it!

Pulling into port

The ship docked pretty early which was great because we were able to catch a cab from the port and made it to the city center by around 9:30. As we got out, the first thing we saw was the Valencia Cathedral. The Cathedral was built in the 1200's but through the years it was added to quite a bit. It is a very large church and one that I definitely think you should make time for if you go to Valencia. You can schedule a guided tour on their website but we chose to do the self tour which was absolutely worth it. I believe it was around 12 euro for both me and Hubs. Note - that does not include the ticket  for entrance to the Bell Tower (also a must see, there are some amazing views of the city up there) which were an additional 4 euro for both of us. The Cathedral offered some amazing views, beautiful stained glass, a crypt in the Cathedral Museum and bonus - what historians believe to be the Holy Grail. There is a smaller chapel within the Cathedral where visitors can sit and look at the grail while they sit in prayer. Whether you're religious or not, this Cathedral is an impressive site and has a blend of many cultural influences which make it a must see in this girl's humble opinion. Also, nearby is the Plaza de la Virgen which is incredibly stunning - another must see.

The Cathedral up close

Side view 

In the Plaza de la Virgen, I loved the architecture

Another plaza shot

Torres de Serranos - these looked super cool and probably offer a great city view, unfortunately we didn't make it up there this time.

Another shot of the plaza 

The Bell Tower - yes we climbed this and it was exhausting!

Inside the Cathedral, it was stunning

The detail in these paintings is magnificent

 A relic in the museum

The crypt underneath the museum

Remains found under the church

I think I need this window in my house!

Close up!

If you look closely, you can see the Holy Grail

Views from the Bell Tower, worth it!

The aforementioned bell tower

More city views!

We were loving the warm weather and the amazing views!

Views of the church below

Since our visit to the Cathedral had taken a couple of hours, we decided to split off from my family and head towards Jardin del Turia. The jardin used to be a river bed but now is a greenspace with tons of recreation facilities and even a Zoo! It was a super cool park and  since it is over 6 miles long, offers many amazing city views as well. We had a great time getting to be a part of Valencia's culture and experiencing the amazing Architecture all at the same time.

Beautiful bridge view from the park

After walking a couple of miles, we both started to get hungry so reluctantly, we exited the park and found a cafe. This time however, we realized we were too early for lunch so instead we settled for water and split a beer. Once our thirst was quenched, we meandered on a ways until we stumbled upon a mall with outdoor food options. Since it was such a beautiful day, we decided we'd enjoy a beverage and some torta's at a place called 100 Montaditos!

Love the architecture despite the graffiti

Unfortunately after we finished lunch but we weren't able to get too much farther into the city because the boat was leaving early that afternoon to head to our next stop Marseille.  We walked back towards the Cathedral the same way we came, soaking in the sunshine and enjoying the sights. Once we had made it back to where we started, we hailed a cab and headed back to relax on the boat for the rest of the day. Be sure to come back next week for the next stop on our cruise - Marseille!

It was the perfect day!