Today’s excursion was titled “Scenic Marseille”:

Relax on a panoramic drive through Marseille and soak up the atmosphere of this historic port city. Begin your tour by motor coach through the area known as the Vieux Port, or Old Port, where the Greeks landed in 600 BC. Continue along the Corniche du Président John Fitzgerald Kennedy, admiring lovely views of offshore islands and the shimmering Mediterranean coastline. From the comfort of your coach, take in the splendor of Notre Dame de la Garde, the most magnificent building of its kind in southern France. Built in the mid-1800s in Roman-Byzantine style, this basilica displays a statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of its bell tower. Back in downtown Marseille, you can enjoy some free time among the numerous lively cafés, restaurants and quaint streets of this famous bustling port. Feel the welcome of the Marseille locals, or Marseillaise, and leave with wonderful memories of this glorious city.

This was a very different excursion to yesterday’s. Much more focussed on experiencing Marseille by driving on the coach, with two stops for photo opportunities and some free time at the end.

The first photo opportunity was a stop at the Monument aux héros de l’armée d’Orient et des terres lointaines.

As the coach drove on to the second photo opportunity, we passed a fruit and vegetable shop, displaying its wares on the pavement/sidewalk:

The second photo opportunity was a short stop for us to (try to) take a photo of the Basilica of Notre-Dame of la Garde. Not a particularly easy task given that the sun was behind the Basilica but my phone did do a reasonable job of it, I think.

Finally, we were dropped off in the centre of Marseille for an hour of free time, which my wife & I mostly used to buy some post cards to send to our grandchildren, and walking to a post office to buy the stamps and post them! I did manage to take some photos, one of which was the City Hall where the coach dropped us off.

After returning to the ship, we had lunch at the Pool Grill. We both had a cheese-steak sandwich, I with fries and my wife with salad (of course!). The roof of the pool area had been retracted so we sat by the pool for a while with drinks and then sat on a sofa in the side area enjoying the fresh air, scenery and an opportunity to catch up with the blogging.

For dinner, we decided to eat in the World Cafe again. In addition to the items from the restaurant like Traditional Chicken Kiev, there was an Ancona pizza (porcini, sliced truffle and sausage). Somewhat frustratingly, the Viking on-board app listed a couple of items on the dinner menu that weren’t visibly available, like pavlova. Oh well.

My wife chose Vinologist Cabernet Sauvignon for her wine tonight.

Tomorrow, Monte Carlo or bust, baby!