Marseille

Claude

Two weekends ago on Saturday, we had a program excursion to Marseille. Having everything organized by someone else was really nice and relaxing! We had a guide named Claude who showed us around the city. First we went to a museum where we saw the "treasures of Marseille" which were artifacts, i.e. rocks, pieces of pots, that were found in the area. There were many other exhibits too, including a really neat black-and-white photography series of places in the Mediterranean that were taken over a period of 20 years (1991-2012). Seeing the beautiful pictures made me want to find all of the places that were photographed!

The center building had the artifact exhibit; other exhibits were on the different levels of the surrounding structure

The view from the restaurant

After the museum, we had a lunch break. A group of us walked to the water and picked a café to sit outside at and eat moules-frites, a specialty dish in the area consisting of mussels and fries and whatever type of sauce you pick. I had an herbs and olive oil sauce and they were delicious! Unfortunately, I found out a few days later that I am allergic and can't eat mussels. :( At least I was able to enjoy the rest of the trip that day though! The dock area was so pretty with all of the boats, and it was so nice to sit and walk along it in the warm sun.

Dock with the Notre Dame de la Gard cathedral in the distance

Next we went to a small cathedral/monastery that looked kind of like a castle from the outside. At one point as Claude was telling us about the architecture and history, a boy (maybe 9 years old) stopped and started listening intently to Claude while sucking on a lollipop. Then Claude had us move to show us something else and the boy followed right away behind Claude. It was really funny!

Cathedral with a view of the city below

Notre Dame de la Gard

We finally made our way up the hill to the Notre Dame de la Gard cathedral, climbed the stairs to get to the top and had a magnificent view of Marseille! It was very peaceful and beautiful looking down at the city and the sea, with the mountains in the distance. The church had an interesting interior design that kind of made me think of a candy cane. There were strings of little toy boats hanging down and the walls and ceiling were covered with designs. It was neat looking! But not the prettiest cathedral I have seen. The best part was definitely the view from up there!