marseille and aix en provence . . .

to be fair, it was Sunday and Marseille was closed up tight. Really about the only things open were some street vendors:

and it was once again very cold and raining. But truly, Marseille was not my cup of tea . . . at all.

Docking was delayed until almost 11:00 by the French officials and the cruise port is quite a distance from Marseille proper, but we managed to grab a cab with four others and off we went to old town.



We stopped at the tourist office for a map and the lovely little girl behind the counter was thrilled to meet someone from Florida. Seems she had worked at EPCOT for a year and had been to our area and it just tickled her to meet someone from there.



We took off walking and explored a bit but between the weather and the dog droppings, we headed back to the port.

Aix En Provence was another story. Katie and I took one of the ships tours and headed north through the hills. Poor Katie was freezing in short sleeves in 61 degree weather since her brilliant mother told her it would be hot and long sleeves were not necessary. Bad Mom. But it did warm up late in the day and all was well.

What a pretty little town. The tour guide led us through broad avenues and winding little streets and left us on the far side of town. So much to shoot!! My camera threatened to go on strike but not before this:



and this:



a little of this:



some of that:



of course this:



and can't forget that:



and oh my, this:



We all wandered back on our own and found a little side walk cafe so Katie could have some crepes and I could slurp.



A quick mingle with some tour vendors with a little shopping thrown in and it was back on the bus time.

This was the night we had scheduled for one of the two gourmet restaurants on the boat called the Polo Lounge. What's not to love about lobster bisque, a wedge of lettuce with tomatoes, bacon crumbles and bleu cheese dressing, filet mignon with lobster tail and sauteed mushrooms topped off with a brownie covered in raspberry and chocolate sauce. Or, the 9TS's choice of oysters Rockefeller, onion soup, lamb chops, onion rings and NY style cheese cake. Slurp. Drool. Slurp.